Runners-up Olympique de Marseille Dates 18 Sep 1990 – 29 May 1991 Teams 31 | Champion Red Star Belgrade Goals scored 190 Matches played 59 | |
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Champions Red Star Belgrade (1st title) Top scorer(s) Peter Pacult
Jean-Pierre Papin
(6 goals each) Similar 1968–69 European Cup, 1988–89 European Cup, 1972–73 European Cup, 1965–66 European Cup, 1963–64 European Cup | ||
The 1990–91 European Cup was the 36th season of the European Cup, a tournament for men's football clubs in nations affiliated to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). It was won for the first time by Red Star Belgrade on penalties in the final against Marseille. This was only the second time that an Eastern European side had won the competition, after Steaua București of Romania (1986). It was also the last tournament to be solely knock-out based, with a group stage added for the next season. Red Star managed to win the tournament as the only Yugoslavian club shortly before the breakup of Yugoslavia.
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This tournament would have marked the return of English clubs after a five-year ban resulting from the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985 but English champions Liverpool had been banned for an additional year, so could not participate. Ajax, the Dutch champions, were not allowed to participate in a European Cup competition because of the poor behaviour of their fans during a game the previous season, so their spot in the qualification was simply vacated, giving Milan a first-round bye.
Milan were the defending champions and were given a bye to the second round due to the absence of both an English and a Dutch side in the tournament, before being eliminated by Marseille in the quarter-finals after the second leg had been awarded as a 3–0 win for Marseille when the eventual runners-up were leading 1–0, and 2–1 on aggregate, in injury time, when the floodlights failed. Milan refused to play on when floodlights were fixed and were banned, giving Marseille a 3–0 automatic win.
Second leg
Note: All matches on or after German reunification on 3 October show both Bayern Munich (West) and Dynamo Dresden (East) with the flag of Germany.
Bayern Munich won 7–2 on aggregate.
CSKA Sofia won 3–1 on aggregate.
Dinamo Bucureşti won 5–1 on aggregate.
Porto won 13–1 on aggregate.
Red Star Belgrade won 5–2 on aggregate.
Rangers won 10–0 on aggregate.
Dynamo Dresden won 6–1 on aggregate.
Malmö FF won 5–4 on aggregate.
Napoli won 5–0 on aggregate.
Spartak Moscow won 4–0 on aggregate.
Real Madrid won 10–1 on aggregate.
Swarovski Tirol won 7–1 on aggregate.
Club Brugge won 3–1 on aggregate.
Lech Poznań won 5–1 on aggregate.
Marseille won 5–1 on aggregate.
Second leg
Bayern Munich won 7–0 on aggregate.
Porto won 4–0 on aggregate.
Red Star Belgrade won 4–1 on aggregate.
Dynamo Dresden 2–2 Malmö on aggregate. Dynamo Dresden won 5–4 on penalties.
Napoli 0–0 Spartak Moscow on aggregate. Spartak Moscow won 5–3 on penalties.
Real Madrid won 11–3 on aggregate.
Milan won 1–0 on aggregate.
Marseille won 8–4 on aggregate.
Quarter-finals
1 – Match abandoned due to rioting after 78 mins. With Red Star Belgrade leading 2–1, they were awarded the match 3–0.
2 – With the score 1–0 to Marseille after 88 mins, the floodlights failed. Milan refused to play on when lighting was restored and Marseille were awarded the match 3–0.
Second leg
Bayern Munich won 3–1 on aggregate.
The match was stopped in the 78th minute by the match referee Emilio Soriano Aladrén, due to Dynamo Dresden fans causing commotion in the stands and throwing objects onto the field. Red Star Belgrade led 2–1 at the time. UEFA awarded a 3–0 win to Red Star Belgrade. Red Star Belgrade won 6–0 on aggregate.
Spartak Moscow won 3–1 on aggregate.
Game abandoned in injury time when two of the four floodlights in the stadium failed. When power was restored after 15 minutes, Milan refused to go back on the pitch. UEFA awarded a 3–0 win to Marseille and banned Milan. Marseille won 4–1 on aggregate.
Second leg
Red Star Belgrade won 4–3 on aggregate.
Marseille won 5–2 on aggregate.
Top scorers
The top scorers from the 1990–91 European Cup are as follows: