1995–96 UEFA Champions League
Stadio Olimpico in Rome held the final.
Tournament details
DatesQualifying:
9–23 August 1995
Competition proper:
13 September 1995 – 22 May 1996
TeamsCompetition proper: 16
Total: 24
Final positions
ChampionsItaly Juventus (2nd title)
Runners-upNetherlands Ajax
Tournament statistics
Matches played61
Goals scored159 (2.61 per match)
Attendance1,870,462 (30,663 per match)
Top scorer(s)Jari Litmanen (Ajax)
9 goals

The 1995–96 UEFA Champions League was the 41st season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the fourth since its rebranding as the UEFA Champions League. The tournament was won by Juventus, who beat defending champions Ajax on penalties in the final for their first European Cup since 1985, and their second overall. It was the only Champions League title that Juventus won in the 1990s, despite reaching the next two finals, and one of only three Italian wins in the final, despite there being a Serie A club in every final for seven consecutive years from 1992 to 1998.

It was the first tournament in which three points were awarded for a win instead of two.

Teams

24 teams entered the competition – the national champions of each of the top 24 nations in the UEFA coefficient rankings, including UEFA Champions League holders, Ajax. The national champions of the associations ranked 1–7, plus the title holders, all received a bye to the group stage, while the national champions of the associations ranked 8–24 entered in the qualifying round. The remaining national champions from the associations ranked 25–47 were only allowed to participate in UEFA Cup.[1]

Group stage
Netherlands AjaxTH (1st) France Nantes (1st) Spain Real Madrid (1st) Portugal Porto (1st)
Italy Juventus (1st) Germany Borussia Dortmund (1st) England Blackburn Rovers (1st) Russia Spartak Moscow (1st)
Qualifying round
Belgium Anderlecht (1st) Denmark AaB (1st) Poland Legia Warsaw (1st) Hungary Ferencváros (1st)
Turkey Beşiktaş (1st) Sweden Göteborg (1st) Romania Steaua București (1st) Croatia Hajduk Split (1st)
Austria Casino Salzburg (1st) Scotland Rangers (1st) Norway Rosenborg (1st) Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta (1st)
Greece Panathinaikos (1st) Switzerland Grasshopper (1st) Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv (1st) Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv (1st)

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held in Geneva, Switzerland).

Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying round 12 July 1995 9 August 1995 23 August 1995
Group stage Matchday 1 25 August 1995 13 September 1995
Matchday 2 27 September 1995
Matchday 3 18 October 1995
Matchday 4 1 November 1995
Matchday 5 22 November 1995
Matchday 6 6 December 1995
Knockout phase Quarter-finals 6 March 1996 20 March 1996
Semi-finals 3 April 1996 17 April 1996
Final 22 May 1996 at Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Qualifying round

Dynamo Kyiv won their tie against AaB, but, in their first group game against Panathinaikos, they were accused of a failed attempt to bribe the referee, Antonio López Nieto, to get a win. Despite an appeal, they were ejected from the competition and banned for two years, with Aalborg BK replacing them in the group stage. Dynamo's ban was eventually reduced to one season.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Grasshopper Switzerland 2–1 Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv 1–1 1–0
Rangers Scotland 1–0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta 1–0 0–0
Legia Warsaw Poland 3–1 Sweden IFK Göteborg 1–0 2–1
Casino Salzburg Austria 0–1 Romania Steaua București 0–0 0–1
Dynamo Kyiv Ukraine 4–1 Denmark Aalborg BK 1–0 3–1
Rosenborg Norway 4–3 Turkey Beşiktaş 3–0 1–3
Anderlecht Belgium 1–2 Hungary Ferencváros 0–1 1–1
Panathinaikos Greece 1–1 (a) Croatia Hajduk Split 0–0 1–1

Group stage

Location of teams of the 1995–96 UEFA Champions League group stage.
Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D.

11 teams of 16 made their debut in the UEFA Champions League group stage: Aalborg BK, Blackburn Rovers, Borussia Dortmund, Ferencváros, Grasshopper, Juventus, Legia Warsaw, Nantes, Panathinaikos, Real Madrid and Rosenborg. Panathinaikos had already played in the group stage of the 1991–92 European Cup. Aalborg, Ferencvaros, Grasshopper, Legia and Rosenborg were the first teams to play in group stage from Denmark, Hungary, Switzerland, Poland and Norway respectively.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification PAN NAN POR AAB
1 Greece Panathinaikos 6 3 2 1 7 3 +4 11 Advance to knockout stage — 3–1 0–0 2–0
2 France Nantes 6 2 3 1 8 6 +2 9 0–0 — 0–0 3–1
3 Portugal Porto 6 1 4 1 6 5 +1 7 0–1 2–2 — 2–0
4 Denmark AaB[lower-alpha 1] 6 1 1 4 5 12 −7 4 2–1 0–2 2–2 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. ↑ After matchday 1 in the group, Aalborg BK replaced Dynamo Kyiv, who were banned following a failed attempt to bribe a referee.

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SPA LW ROS BR
1 Russia Spartak Moscow 6 6 0 0 15 4 +11 18 Advance to knockout stage — 2–1 4–1 3–0
2 Poland Legia Warsaw 6 2 1 3 5 8 −3 7 0–1 — 3–1 1–0
3 Norway Rosenborg 6 2 0 4 11 16 −5 6 2–4 4–0 — 2–1
4 England Blackburn Rovers 6 1 1 4 5 8 −3 4 0–1 0–0 4–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification JUV DOR STE RAN
1 Italy Juventus 6 4 1 1 15 4 +11 13 Advance to knockout stage — 1–2 3–0 4–1
2 Germany Borussia Dortmund 6 2 3 1 8 8 0 9 1–3 — 1–0 2–2
3 Romania Steaua București 6 1 3 2 2 5 −3 6 0–0 0–0 — 1–0
4 Scotland Rangers 6 0 3 3 6 14 −8 3 0–4 2–2 1–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification AJA RM FER GRA
1 Netherlands Ajax 6 5 1 0 15 1 +14 16 Advance to knockout stage — 1–0 4–0 3–0
2 Spain Real Madrid 6 3 1 2 11 5 +6 10 0–2 — 6–1 2–0
3 Hungary Ferencváros 6 1 2 3 9 19 −10 5 1–5 1–1 — 3–3
4 Switzerland Grasshopper 6 0 2 4 3 13 −10 2 0–0 0–2 0–3 —
Source: UEFA

Knockout stage

Bracket

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
          
Germany Borussia Dortmund 0 0 0
Netherlands Ajax 2 1 3
Netherlands Ajax 0 3 3
Greece Panathinaikos 1 0 1
Poland Legia Warsaw 0 0 0
Greece Panathinaikos 0 3 3
Netherlands Ajax 1 (2)
Italy Juventus (p) 1 (4)
Spain Real Madrid 1 0 1
Italy Juventus 0 2 2
Italy Juventus 2 2 4
France Nantes 0 3 3
France Nantes 2 2 4
Russia Spartak Moscow 0 2 2

Quarter-finals

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Borussia Dortmund Germany 0–3 Netherlands Ajax 0–2 0–1
Legia Warsaw Poland 0–3 Greece Panathinaikos 0–0 0–3
Real Madrid Spain 1–2 Italy Juventus 1–0 0–2
Nantes France 4–2 Russia Spartak Moscow 2–0 2–2

Semi-finals

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Ajax Netherlands 3–1 Greece Panathinaikos 0–1 3–0
Juventus Italy 4–3 France Nantes 2–0 2–3

Final

Ajax Netherlands1–1 (a.e.t.)Italy Juventus
Litmanen 41' Report Ravanelli 12'
Penalties
Davids soccer ball with red X
Litmanen soccer ball with check mark
Scholten soccer ball with check mark
Silooy soccer ball with red X		 2–4 soccer ball with check mark Ferrara
soccer ball with check mark Pessotto
soccer ball with check mark Padovano
soccer ball with check mark Jugović
Attendance: 67,000

Top goalscorers

Rank Name Team Goals
1 Finland Jari Litmanen Netherlands Ajax 9
2 Italy Alessandro Del Piero Italy Juventus 6
Spain Raúl Spain Real Madrid 6
Poland Krzysztof Warzycha Greece Panathinaikos 6
5 Netherlands Patrick Kluivert Netherlands Ajax 5
Russia Yuriy Nikiforov Russia Spartak Moscow 5
France Nicolas Ouédec France Nantes 5
Italy Fabrizio Ravanelli Italy Juventus 5
9 England Mike Newell England Blackburn Rovers 4
Chile Iván Zamorano Spain Real Madrid 4
11 Denmark Erik Bo Andersen Denmark Aalborg BK 3
Norway Karl Petter Løken Norway Rosenborg 3
France Reynald Pedros France Nantes 3
Russia Sergei Yuran Russia Spartak Moscow 3
Chad Japhet N'Doram France Nantes 3

See also

References

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