1994–95 UEFA Champions League
Tournament details
DatesQualifying:
10–24 August 1994
Competition proper:
14 September 1994 – 24 May 1995
TeamsCompetition proper: 16
Total: 24
Final positions
ChampionsNetherlands Ajax (4th title)
Runners-upItaly AC Milan
Tournament statistics
Matches played61
Goals scored140 (2.3 per match)
Attendance2,328,515 (38,172 per match)
Top scorer(s)George Weah (Paris Saint-Germain)
7 goals

The 1994–95 UEFA Champions League was the 40th edition of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the third since its rebranding as the UEFA Champions League. The tournament was won by Ajax of the Netherlands with a late goal in the final against defending champions AC Milan of Italy. Ajax won the competition without losing a game, either in the group or the knock-out stage in winning the title for the first time since 1973.

Compared to the previous edition of the European Cup, radical changes were made to the format of the tournament, due to a recently expired contract that bound UEFA to the EBU for the transmission of the final. This gave occasion for a general review of the format, which attracted the interest of new and financially well-off private television companies. This edition included four groups of four teams each in the group stage, up from two groups of four teams each in 1993–94. It was also the first year in which eight teams advanced to the knock-out stage and the first of three years in which the champions of smaller nations entered the UEFA Cup instead of the Champions League. It was also the first time that this competition was known as the UEFA Champions League from the first to the last match of the competition: in two previous seasons, the UEFA Champions League involved the matches played between the second round and the European Cup final.

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's entrants were unable to participate for the third season in a row due to the UN economic sanctions. Milan were the defending champions, but were defeated by Ajax in the final.

Teams

24 teams entered the competition: the UEFA Champions League holders, Milan, as well as 23 best-ranked national champions according to UEFA club ranking. The title holders and other 7 best-ranked national champions received a bye to the group stage, while the national champions ranked 9–24 entered in the qualifying round. The remaining national champions were only allowed to participate in UEFA Cup.[1]

Group stage
Italy Milan (1st)TH Germany Bayern Munich (1st) Belgium Anderlecht (1st) Spain Barcelona (1st)
Portugal Benfica (1st) Russia Spartak Moscow (1st) England Manchester United (1st) Netherlands Ajax (1st)
Qualifying round
France Paris Saint-Germain (1st) Austria Casino Salzburg (1st) Greece AEK Athens (1st) Turkey Galatasaray (1st)
Scotland Rangers (1st) Switzerland Servette (1st) Denmark Silkeborg (1st) Romania Steaua București (1st)
Sweden Göteborg (1st) Poland Legia Warsaw (1st) Israel Maccabi Haifa (1st) Hungary Vác (1st)
Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv (1st) Croatia Hajduk Split (1st) Luxembourg Avenir Beggen (1st) Czech Republic Sparta Prague (1st)

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows. The draw was held in Geneva, Switzerland on 20 July 1994, where qualifying round pairs as well as group formations were drawn. The knockout phase pairs were made automatically by a predetermined bracket.

Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying round 20 July 1994 10 August 1994 24 August 1994
Group stage Matchday 1 14 September 1994
Matchday 2 28 September 1994
Matchday 3 19 October 1994
Matchday 4 2 November 1994
Matchday 5 23 November 1994
Matchday 6 7 December 1994
Knockout phase Quarter-finals 1 March 1995 15 March 1995
Semi-finals 5 April 1995 19 April 1995
Final 24 May 1995 at Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna

Qualifying round

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Group A
Avenir Beggen Luxembourg 1–9 Turkey Galatasaray 1–5 0–4
Sparta Prague Czech Republic 1–2 Sweden IFK Göteborg 1–0 0–2
Group B
Silkeborg Denmark 1–3 Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 0–0 1–3
Paris Saint-Germain France 5–1 Hungary Vác FC-Samsung 3–0 2–1
Group C
Legia Warsaw Poland 0–5 Croatia Hajduk Split 0–1 0–4
Steaua București Romania 5–2 Switzerland Servette 4–1 1–1
Group D
AEK Athens Greece 3–0 Scotland Rangers 2–0 1–0
Maccabi Haifa Israel 2–5 Austria Casino Salzburg 1–2 1–3

[2]

Group stage

Location of teams of the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League group stage.
Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D.

Ten of the sixteen participating teams made their UEFA Champions League group stage debut: AEK Athens, Ajax, Bayern Munich, Benfica, Casino Salzburg, Dynamo Kyiv, Hajduk Split, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and Steaua București. Two of these teams, Benfica and Dynamo Kyiv, had previously contested the 1991–92 European Cup group stage. Casino Salzburg, Hajduk Split, Manchester United and Steaua București were the first teams to qualify for group stage from Austria, Croatia, England and Romania respectively.

It was also the last edition of the Champions League that saw teams in the group stage awarded two points for each win, with one point awarded for each draw.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification GOT BAR MU GAL
1 Sweden IFK Göteborg 6 4 1 1 10 7 +3 9 Advance to knockout stage 2–1 3–1 1–0
2 Spain Barcelona 6 2 2 2 11 8 +3 6 1–1 4–0 2–1
3 England Manchester United 6 2 2 2 11 11 0 6 4–2 2–2 4–0
4 Turkey Galatasaray 6 1 1 4 3 9 6 3 0–1 2–1 0–0
Source: UEFA

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification PSG BM SPA DK
1 France Paris Saint-Germain 6 6 0 0 12 3 +9 12 Advance to knockout stage 2–0 4–1 1–0
2 Germany Bayern Munich 6 2 2 2 8 7 +1 6 0–1 2–2 1–0
3 Russia Spartak Moscow 6 1 2 3 8 12 4 4 1–2 1–1 1–0
4 Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 6 1 0 5 5 11 6 2 1–2 1–4 3–2
Source: UEFA

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BEN HAJ SB AND
1 Portugal Benfica 6 3 3 0 9 5 +4 9 Advance to knockout stage 2–1 2–1 3–1
2 Croatia Hajduk Split 6 2 2 2 5 7 2 6 0–0 1–4 2–1
3 Romania Steaua București 6 1 3 2 7 6 +1 5 1–1 0–1 1–1
4 Belgium Anderlecht 6 0 4 2 4 7 3 4 1–1 0–0 0–0
Source: UEFA

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification AJA MIL CAS AEK
1 Netherlands Ajax 6 4 2 0 9 2 +7 10 Advance to knockout stage 2–0 1–1 2–0
2 Italy Milan 6 3 1 2 6 5 +1 5[lower-alpha 1] 0–2 3–0 2–1
3 Austria Casino Salzburg 6 1 3 2 4 6 2 5 0–0 0–1 0–0
4 Greece AEK Athens 6 0 2 4 3 9 6 2 1–2 0–0 1–3
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Milan were docked two points for crowd trouble against Casino Salzburg on Matchday 2.

Knockout stage

Bracket

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
          
Germany Bayern Munich (a) 0 2 2
Sweden IFK Göteborg 0 2 2
Germany Bayern Munich 0 2 2
Netherlands Ajax 0 5 5
Croatia Hajduk Split 0 0 0
Netherlands Ajax 0 3 3
Netherlands Ajax 1
Italy Milan 0
Spain Barcelona 1 1 2
France Paris-Saint Germain 1 2 3
France Paris Saint-Germain 0 0 0
Italy Milan 1 2 3
Italy Milan 2 0 2
Portugal Benfica 0 0 0

Quarter-finals

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Bayern Munich Germany 2–2 (a) Sweden IFK Göteborg 0–0 2–2
Hajduk Split Croatia 0–3 Netherlands Ajax 0–0 0–3
Barcelona Spain 2–3 France Paris Saint-Germain 1–1 1–2
Milan Italy 2–0 Portugal Benfica 2–0 0–0

Semi-finals

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Bayern Munich Germany 2–5 Netherlands Ajax 0–0 2–5
Paris Saint-Germain France 0–3 Italy Milan 0–1 0–2

Final

Ajax Netherlands1–0Italy Milan
Kluivert 85' Report

Top goalscorers

Rank Name Team Goals
1 Liberia George Weah France Paris Saint-Germain 7
2 Finland Jari Litmanen Netherlands Ajax 6
3 Sweden Magnus Erlingmark Sweden IFK Göteborg 4
Italy Marco Simone Italy Milan 4
5 Spain José Mari Bakero Spain Barcelona 3
Brazil Romário Spain Barcelona 3
Bulgaria Hristo Stoichkov Spain Barcelona 3
Argentina Claudio Caniggia Portugal Benfica 3
Germany Christian Nerlinger Germany Bayern Munich 3
Germany Mehmet Scholl Germany Bayern Munich 3
Ukraine Viktor Leonenko Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 3

See also

References

  1. 1994–95 European Cups FAQ
  2. "Bombo caro". hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com.
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