1971–72 European Cup

The 1971–72 European Cup was the 17th season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Ajax, who beat Inter Milan in the final at De Kuip in Rotterdam, on 31 May 1972. It was the second consecutive win for Ajax, as well as third for Netherlands. It was also the first European Cup final where both finalists had previously won and lost competition finals.

Preliminary round

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Second leg
Valencia won 4–1 on aggregate.

First round

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Second leg
Marseille won 3–2 on aggregate.

Ajax won 2–0 on aggregate.

Grasshopper won 9–1 on aggregate.

Arsenal won 7–1 on aggregate.

2–2 on aggregate; Dinamo București won on away goals.

Feyenoord won 17–0 on aggregate.

Benfica won 7–1 on aggregate.

CSKA September Flag won 4–0 on aggregate.

1–1 on aggregate; Valencia won on away goals.

Újpesti Dózsa won 4–1 on aggregate.

Celtic won 4–2 on aggregate.

Sliema Wanderers won 4–0 on aggregate.

Inter Milan won 6–4 on aggregate.

Borussia Mönchengladbach won 7–1 on aggregate.

CSKA Moscow won 4–1 on aggregate.

Standard Liège won 5–2 on aggregate.

Second round

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First leg
This game was annulled as Inter player Roberto Boninsegna was hit by a Coca-Cola can in the 29th minute. The first leg game was replayed after the game that was originally scheduled to be second leg was played, thus the order of legs was switched.

Second leg
Ajax won 6–2 on aggregate.

Arsenal won 5–0 on aggregate.

Feyenoord won 5–0 on aggregate.

Benfica won 2–1 on aggregate.

Újpesti Dózsa won 3–1 on aggregate.

Celtic won 7–1 on aggregate.

Inter Milan won 4–2 on aggregate.

Standard Liège won 2–1 on aggregate.

Quarter-finals

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Second leg
Ajax won 3–1 on aggregate.

Benfica won 5–2 on aggregate.

Celtic won 3–2 on aggregate.

2–2 on aggregate; Inter Milan won on away goals.

Semi-finals

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Second leg
Ajax won 1–0 on aggregate.

0–0 on aggregate; Inter Milan won 5–4 on penalties.

During the shoot-out, teams had to take all five penalties even if they could no longer win (the shoot-out would otherwise have ended with a score of 5–3 as Inter went first).