The 1970–71 European Cup was the 16th season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Ajax, who beat Panathinaikos in the final at Wembley Stadium in London, on 2 June 1971. It was the first time the trophy went to Ajax, beginning a three-year period of domination, and the second consecutive championship for the Netherlands. It was also the first time that a Greek team reached the final.
UEFA had introduced for the first time penalty shoot-out as a way of deciding drawn ties – doing away with the unsatisfactory tossing of a coin. They had also decided that the away goals rule should apply to all rounds, and not just the first two, as had been the case.
This season marked the first time in European Cup history that Real Madrid failed to qualify for the tournament, having appeared in all 15 previous seasons.
Feyenoord, the defending champions, were eliminated by Romanian club UTA Arad in the first round.
Teams 17 Nëntori Austria Wien Standard Liège Levski-Spartak EPA Larnaca Slovan Bratislava Boldklubben 1903 Everton KPV Saint-Étienne Carl Zeiss Jena Borussia Mönchengladbach Panathinaikos Újpesti Dózsa Keflavík Waterford Cagliari Jeunesse Esch Floriana Ajax Feyenoord TH Glentoran Rosenborg Legia Warsaw Sporting CP UTA Arad Celtic Atlético Madrid IFK Göteborg Basel Fenerbahçe Spartak Moscow Red Star Belgrade
Preliminary round
First leg
Second leg
Austria Wien won 4–3 on aggregate.
Bracket
First round
First leg
Second leg
Cagliari won 3–1 on aggregate.
Atlético Madrid won 4–1 on aggregate.
Standard Liège won 7–0 on aggregate.
Legia Warsaw won 6–1 on aggregate.
Ajax won 4–2 on aggregate.
4–4 on aggregate; Basel won on away goals.
Waterford won 4–1 on aggregate.
Celtic won 14–0 on aggregate.
Carl Zeiss Jena won 5–0 on aggregate.
Sporting CP won 9–0 on aggregate.
Red Star Belgrade won 4–2 on aggregate.
1–1 on aggregate; UTA Arad won on away goals.
Borussia Mönchengladbach won 16–0 on aggregate.
Everton won 9–2 on aggregate.
Panathinaikos won 7–1 on aggregate.
Slovan Bratislava won 4–3 on aggregate.
Second round
First leg
Second leg
Atlético Madrid won 4–2 on aggregate.
Legia Warsaw won 2–1 on aggregate.
Ajax won 5–1 on aggregate.
Celtic won 10–2 on aggregate.
Carl Zeiss Jena won 4–2 on aggregate.
Red Star Belgrade won 6–1 on aggregate.
2–2 on aggregate; Everton won on penalties.
Panathinaikos won 4–2 on aggregate.
Quarter-finals
First leg
Second leg
2–2 on aggregate; Atlético Madrid won on away goals.
Ajax won 3–1 on aggregate.
Red Star Belgrade won 6–3 on aggregate.
1–1 on aggregate; Panathinaikos won on away goals.
Semi-finals
First leg
Second leg
Ajax won 3–1 on aggregate.
4–4 on aggregate; Panathinaikos won on away goals.
Final
Top scorers
The top scorers from the 1970–71 European Cup (excluding preliminary round) are as follows:
RankNameTeamGoals1 Antonis Antoniadis Panathinaikos102 Luis Aragonés Atlético Madrid6 Zoran Filipović Red Star Belgrade6 Stevan Ostojić Red Star Belgrade65 Herbert Laumen Borussia Mönchengladbach5 William Wallace Celtic57 Peter Ducke Carl Zeiss Jena4 Jimmy Johnstone Celtic4 Piet Keizer Ajax4 Horst Köppel Borussia Mönchengladbach4 João Lourenço Sporting CP4 Joe Royle Everton4
References
External links 1970–71 All matches – season at UEFA website European Cup results at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation All scorers 1970–71 European Cup (excluding preliminary round) according to protocols UEFA 1970-71 European Cup