The Joy of Six: European Cup finals in England

1) AC Milan 2-1 Benfica (Wembley, 1963) | Altofini 58, 66 / Eusebio 18

Benfica were the reigning European champions, having beaten Barcelona and Real Madrid in the previous two finals, and there was a very real expectation that the dominant Portuguese side would go on to match Real's feat of five cups in a row between 1956 and 1960. Milan, however, were about to serve notice that it was finally Italy's time in the European Cup, and nothing was going to get in their way. Eusebio was Benfica's star man, but Milan boss Nereo Rocco was more concerned with midfielder Mario Coluna, who had scored in those finals against Barça and Real. To this end he dropped his star winger Paolo Barison – whose goals had helped see off English champions Ipswich Town in the first round, and Scottish champions Dundee in the semi-final – in order to stick Gino Pivatelli on the dangerous Coluna.

A crowd of just 45,000 – less than half Wembley's capacity – looked on in bemusement as a marching band came on to perform It's A Long Way To Tipperary and Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag, neither song having been a eurosmash along the fashionable stradas of Milan, nor on the beaches of the Iberian peninsula. The game kicked off, and it was an open affair, both goalkeepers called into frequent action. Rocco's plan took a while to bear fruit – Eusebio gave Benfica the lead on 18 minutes after powering down the inside-right channel and belabouring a shot into the bottom-left corner of the net while hovering off the ground – but when Pivatelli (with more than a little help from Giovanni Trapattoni) effectively kicked Coluna out of the game in the early stages of the second half, Milan took advantage.

José Altafini scored twice midway through the second period – the first set up by Mario David and a young Gianni Rivera, the second following up his own rebound off Benfica keeper Costa Pereria – and the cup was Milan's. In a delicious touch, Altafini's equaliser was celebrated by a lone Italian pitch invader wearing an expensive suit. Equally deliciously, the English referee Arthur Holland couldn't be doing with such glamorous continental capering, and only just stopped short of clipping the fan round the lug in the Beano comic style before dispatching him back into the stands.

2) Manchester United 4-1 Benfica (aet, 1-1 after 90 minutes; Wembley, 1968) | Charlton 54, 98, Best 92, Kidd 95 / Jaime Graca 78

The bittersweet fairytale of the 1968 European Cup final begins, of course, 10 years earlier with the tragedy of Munich. Red Star Belgrade, defeated by the Busby Babes before that fateful flight, had called for United to be proclaimed the honorary champions of Europe for 1958; Milan, along with the West German FA, added their voices. But the European Football Union, organisers of the cup, decided to continue with their tournament as planned, especially as United (who had momentarily considered requesting that Manchester City should take their semi-final place) vowed to battle on. The semi-finals were hand-picked so United's travelling was kept to a minimum. United won their first leg against Milan 2-1, but lost the return at San Siro 4-0.

United's league form had understandably slipped, the champions ending the 1957-58 season in ninth, but they should have been in the European Cup again the following year nonetheless. They were invited to compete in the 1958-59 competition as a gesture of sympathy, but Football League bampot-in-chief Alan 'Too Many Wogs and Dagoes' Hardaker, whose intransigence over Europe ironically knew no boundaries, refused permission. The FA overturned the decision, only for the League to get involved again and reject it once more. United would have to wait until 1965-66, as bona fide champions of England, to compete in Europe again.

United came up short that year, somehow losing to Partizan Belgrade in the semi-final, but the team of Denis Law, George Best and Bobby Charlton would not be denied. Two years later they powered to the final in dramatic style, David Sadler and Munich survivor Bill Foulkes scoring second-half goals in the Bernabéu as United turned a second-leg semi-final deficit against Real Madrid into victory.

Matt Busby's team had to do without the injured Law at Wembley, but Charlton and Best would provide enough between them to realise their manager's dream. United had the majority of the first-half play – Benfica defender Fernando Cruz at one point stopping Best by standing on his face – though it was the Portuguese who nearly scored the opener, Eusebio twanging the United crossbar with a no-nonsense belt, Alex Stepney otherwise beaten all ends up. United began the second half strongly, and on 54 minutes Charlton flicked home a Sadler left-wing cross with his eyebrows. They continued to dominate, but with the prize in sight they suddenly tightened: on 78 minutes Jaime Graca lashed home from a tight angle on the right, and in the last five minutes Stepney was forced to save twice from Eusebio, famously earning applause from the striker after holding onto a belter.

To extra-time – and anti-climax for the neutral. Like United cared. They scored three in six minutes soon after the restart, the legs of an ageing Benfica team quickly catching up with them, Best waltzing past José Henrique, the birthday boy Kidd, 19, adding a third, and Charlton setting the seal. With a reflective Busby looking on, Charlton lifted the cup on an emotional evening, the quest complete. As they paraded their holy grail around Wembley, a beatific beam of light following the cup around in the dusk, United were cheered throughout the country by all but the hardest hearts. Munich provided unique context, of course, but even so, how times change.

3) Ajax 2-0 Panathinaikos (Wembley, 1971) | Van Dijk 5, Haan 87

Penalty shootouts were introduced to the European Cup for the first time in the 1970-71 season. The first victors were English champions Everton, who defeated their German counterparts Borussia Moenchengladbach at Goodison Park. Joe Royle had the first penalty of the shootout saved by Wolfgang Kleff, but after that Alan Ball, Johnny Morrissey, Howard Kendall and Sandy Brown were all successful for the Toffees. The Germans weren't so fortunate: Herbert Laumen shot wide, while Ludwig Muller saw his effort saved by Andy Rankin. Muller, exhausted and dejected, had to be helped from the pitch, while Kleff (who had been man of the match) left the arena in tears.

Much good it did Everton, who were bounced out at the quarter-final stage on away goals by unfancied Panathinaikos. The Greek side, managed by rotund European Cup legend Ferenc Puskas, then looked to be heading out themselves in the semis, having lost their first leg 4-1 away at Red Star Belgrade, but the aerial ability of Antonis Antoniadis (here, that phrase feels lovely when it's spoken, go on, give it a go, the simple pleasures and all that) saw them turn it round in the second leg, a 3-0 win sending them to Wembley on away goals. Ajax meanwhile were thumping Basel, Celtic and Atletico Madrid en route to the final, their Total Football project about to finally realise itself after an abortive dry run in 1969 that saw Milan skelp the Dutch 4-1 in a one-sided final.

This equally imbalanced denouement really wasn't up to much – a shame, given Wembley was the scene of Puskas's greatest triumph, 18 years earlier – so the positives first. "Certainly a British audience for a cup final has never seen such colour, been deafened by the cacophony, and been infected by the atmosphere of Wembley last night," wrote Albert Barham in the Guardian. "It was truly a continental occasion. As a match it was an interesting exercise, but it fell below the standards of most European Cup finals." Ajax flew out of the blocks, their intricate passing too much for the workaday Greeks, whose only cards were the tall Antoniadis and their midfield schemer Mimis Domazos. Neither got into the game. After five minutes, Piet Keizer crossed from the left to allow Dick van Dijk to head home. It was already as good as over.

Johan Cruyff and Gerrie Muhren nearly replicated the opener, the latter heading wide, before Keizer hit the post. After that, Ajax whiled away the minutes, until Arie Haan's late shot was deflected by Anthimos Kapsis to confirm the arrival of Total Football as a force. It wasn't the greatest display, but there would be plenty more time to make an impression; Ajax would remain at the top of the European game until the sale of Cruyff to Barcelona in 1973.

4) Liverpool 1-0 Club Brugge (Wembley, 1978) | Dalglish 64

Having been league champions for the previous two seasons, Liverpool stuttered domestically in the 1977-78 season. While Bob Paisley was bedding in new signings – would Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness and Alan Hansen be worth the trouble? – Nottingham Forest were taking the First Division by storm. Results were erratic. But when old boy Kevin Keegan took his new team, Hamburg, to Anfield for the second leg of the Uefa Super Cup after the first leg in Germany was drawn 1-1, Liverpool won 6-0. "I'd heard Liverpool hadn't been doing too well but from where I was stood watching there didn't seem to be much wrong with them," sighed Keegan after the drubbing. "There were no cracks and they look as strong, if not stronger, than they ever were."

Of course Liverpool were also reigning European champions, and while their domestic title was destined to be snatched away, they remained imperious in Europe, as the result against Hamburg amply illustrated. In the European Cup, having walloped Dynamo Dresden 6-3 on aggregate, they battered Benfica 6-2 before reaching the final at the expense of their European whipping boys, Borussia Mönchengladbach, overturning a 2-1 first-leg deficit with a 3-0 rout at Anfield. Their opponents at Wembley would be Club Brugge. The Belgians were no mean side – they had beaten Atlético Madrid and Juventus on their way to the final – but they were devoid of stars, and their two most vital players, midfielder Paul Courant and striker Raoul Lambert, were missing. Liverpool meanwhile had to do without 1977 hero Tommy Smith, who had accidentally put a pickaxe through his foot while faffing around at home in his garage.

Liverpool would dictate a tedious match, Brugge manager Ernst Happel, perhaps understandably under the circumstances, opting to park the bus. His keeper Birger Jensen performed tricks, denying Jimmy Case, David Fairclough, Hansen and Terry McDermott, before in the 64th minute Souness dinked an exquisite pass down the inside-right channel to open up Brugge, setting Dalglish free to dink over the splayed keeper. Cue one of the great celebrations, that leap over the advertising hoardings. Dalglish didn't have the energy to jump back on to the pitch. "The emotion made my legs weak," he admitted afterwards. Hansen nearly tossed all Liverpool's good work away with a late misplaced backpass, Jan Simoen rounding Ray Clemence but seeing his shot cleared off the line by Phil Thompson, but Liverpool clung on. "It takes two teams to make a game into a spectacle," said Bob Paisley after the whistle, "and Bruges only seemed to be concerned with keeping the score down." Not a classic. Like Liverpool care.

5) Barcelona 1-0 Sampdoria (Wembley, 1992) | Koeman 111

In the 1991-92 tournament, Arsenal became the first English team to contest the European Cup since Liverpool in 1985, England's ban for the Heysel tragedy served. Having dismissed Austria Wien 6-2 on aggregate in the first round, there was cautious hope, but it would soon be extinguished in the second by Benfica, who won in extra-time at Highbury, Isaias (who later disappointed for Coventry) and Sergei Yuran (who later disappointed for Millwall) showing aerial-obsessed Arsenal that the English had a lot of catching up to do.

All English eyes, understandably, had been on what George Graham's side were up to. But the real action that night was going on elsewhere. As Benfica were putting Arsenal to the sword, dramatic and pivotal events were taking place in Germany. All-star Barcelona – Michael Laudrup, Hristo Stoichkov, Ronald Koeman, 21-year-old local hero Pep Guardiola – had won their second round, first-leg match against Kaiserslautern 2-0, but they were 3-0 down in the return before José María Bakero scored the crucial away goal in injury-time. Barcelona would make the brand-new group stages, designed with TV in mind to replace the quarter- and semi-finals, after all. Johan Cruyff's team were destined to reach the Wembley final after topping a relatively easy group also containing Dynamo Kyiv, Sparta Prague and Benfica.

Sampdoria would be their foe, having got past reigning champions Red Star Belgrade in their group. (Red Star were hamstrung by the escalating political situation in Yugoslavia, which forced them to play two home games in Sofia.) Samp had won their first-ever Serie A the year before, and were no mugs – their team included Gianluca Vialli, Roberto Mancini, Attilio Lombardo and Gianluca Pagliuca – but nevertheless Barça went into the match as favourites, and Vujadin Boskov's team reacted accordingly, setting up shop to sit deep and attempt to hit Barça only on the counter.

The game was by no means a classic, though not an eye-bleeder either. Lombardo and Stoichkov traded efforts in the first half. At the start of the second, Julio Salinas, Stoichkov and Eusebio Sacristan – full name only, please, let's have some respect – were all denied by Pagliuca. Yet despite Barça's growing domination, Samp's tactics could easily have paid off: twice they romped upfield, twice Vialli missed poorly, a close-range header sent over the bar, a chip flying wide of the post.

The match drifted into extra-time. With nine minutes to go, Mr Sacristan earned Barça a lucky free-kick just outside the area. Stoichkov tapped it to Bakero, who teed it up for Koeman to blast home. Barcelona's 36-year wait to achieve what Real Madrid had managed in one was finally over.

6) AC Milan 0-0 Juventus (aet, 0-0 after 90 minutes, AC Milan won 3-2 on penalties; Old Trafford 2003)

No, life's too short and precious.