1968 European Cup Final

Benfica's route to the final

Round	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
First round	Glentoran	1–1 (away goals)	1–1 (a)	0–0 (h)
Second round	Saint-Étienne	2–1	2–0 (h)	0–1 (a)
Quarter-final	Vasas	3–0	0–0 (a)	3–0 (h)
Semi-final	Juventus	3–0	2–0 (h)	1–0 (a)

Benfica entered the tournament as champions of Portugal, having won the 1966–67 Primeira Divisão. They faced Glentoran of Northern Ireland in the first round, travelling to Belfast for the first leg. Glentoran took the lead from a John Colrain penalty in the 10th minute, before Eusébio equalised in the 86th minute, and it finished 1–1.[9] In the second leg, the two sides played out a goalless draw, which resulted in Benfica qualifying for the second round on the away goals rule.[10] In the next round, they were drawn against Saint-Étienne of France. A goal from José Augusto in the 29th minute and a penalty from Eusébio in the 60th helped Benfica to a 2–0 home victory in the first leg.[11] In France, Saint-Étienne won the second leg 1–0 via a 10th-minute goal from Georges Bereta. Despite losing the match, Benfica progressed 2–1 on aggregate.[12]

In the quarter-finals, Benfica played out a goalless draw with Hungarian side Vasas in their away leg.[13] Returning to Portugal for the second leg, the first half also remained goalless, before two goals from Eusébio and another from José Torres made it 3–0 to Benfica, and secured their place in the semi-final,[14] where they faced Juventus of Italy. Benfica played the first leg at home, and once again strikes from Eusébio and Torres helped them to victory; each scored during the second half to give their team a 2–0 lead in the tie.[15] In the second leg, The Guardian reported that Benfica were "technically superior, although Juventus maintained aggressive play." A Eusébio goal in 66th minute extended Benfica's advantage in the tie to 3–0, and secured them a place in the final.[16]

Manchester United's route to the final

Round	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
First round	Hibernians	4–0	4–0 (h)	0–0 (a)
Second round	Sarajevo	2–1	0–0 (a)	2–1 (h)
Quarter-final	Górnik Zabrze	2–1	2–0 (h)	0–1 (a)
Semi-final	Real Madrid	4–3	1–0 (h)	3–3 (a)

Manchester United qualified for the competition as champions of England, having won the 1966–67 Football League First Division. They faced Maltese side Hibernians in the first round and won 4–0 in the home first leg; David Sadler and Denis Law scored two goals each. Despite the wide margin of victory, Brian Crowther of The Guardian described their play as disappointing.[17] In the second leg, United suffered a "sad succession of near misses", according to a correspondent for The Guardian, as they struggled to adapt to the sandy pitch and the match finished as a goalless draw.[18] They were drawn against Sarajevo of Yugoslavia in the second round, who were appearing in the competition for the first time.[19] Playing the first leg away from home, Manchester United narrowly avoided going behind in the 27th minute, needing a goal-line save to prevent a shot from Vahidin Musemić going in. Despite playing against 10 men for most of the match after Boško Prodanović had to go off injured, United were not able to score, and it finished 0–0.[20] John Aston gave United an early lead in the second leg, which was extended by George Best in the second half. Despite a late goal for Sarajevo from Salih Delalić, United held on to win 2–1 and progress to the quarter-finals.[21]

United played the first leg of their quarter-final against Polish champions Górnik Zabrze at home. In the 60th minute, a shot by Best was deflected into his own net by Górnik defender Stefan Florenski. In the dying minutes of the game, Jimmy Ryan shot into a melee of players in the penalty area, including Brian Kidd, who backheeled the ball into the goal to make it 2–0.[22] Playing on a snow-covered pitch in the second leg, Manchester United were forced to defend for most of the match,[23] but only conceded once, when Włodzimierz Lubański scored in the 72nd minute.[24] Despite losing the match 1–0, Manchester United progressed 2–1 on aggregate.[23] United faced six-time European Cup winners Real Madrid in the semi-final. Despite dominating the first leg at home, a single goal from Best in the 36th minute separated the sides, and they took a 1–0 lead into the second leg.[25] In Madrid, the hosts took the lead in the 32nd minute, with a headed goal from Pirri. In the last few minutes of the first half, three more goals were scored; Francisco Gento made it 2–0 to Madrid, then an own goal from Ignacio Zoco brought the gap back to one goal, before Amancio scored to make it 3–1 at half-time. Sustained pressure from United in the second half brought a goal for Sadler in the 73rd minute, which brought the aggregate score level. Five minutes later, Bill Foulkes added a third for Manchester United. The match finished 3–3; United won the tie 4–3 on aggregate to reach the European Cup final for the first time.[26]

Bobby Charlton scored twice for Manchester United.

The final was played at Wembley Stadium in London on 29 May 1968 and kicked off at 19:45 BST in front of a crowd of 92,225; in addition, there was an estimated European television audience of 250 million.[34] The referee was Concetto Lo Bello of Italy. Manchester United had the best of the play in the first half, but aggressive defence from Benfica prevented them from making a breakthrough. According to Eric Todd of The Guardian, Best was knocked down six times in the first half; three each by Fernando Cruz and Humberto, the latter of whom was cautioned in the 20th minute. In the 28th minute, Kidd passed the ball to Sadler, 10 yards from goal, but he shot wide. Benfica's three best chances on goal in the first half all came from Eusébio; the first was from a free kick, which deflected off the wall and drew a save from United goalkeeper Alex Stepney. Another free kick was struck high over the goal, before he hit the crossbar, having beaten Stepney with what Todd described as "the best shot of the first half".[35]

Aston had two shots early in the second half, both saved by the Benfica goalkeeper, José Henrique. Eight minutes into the second half, Tony Dunne passed the ball to Sadler, who lobbed the ball into the Benfica area; Bobby Charlton jumped and headed the ball into the goal to give United a 1–0 lead. In the 79th minute, Augusto and Torres set up a goal for Jaime Graça, levelling the score at 1–1. In the last five minutes of normal time, Eusébio had two chances on goal, drawing saves from Stepney, who was applauded for his efforts by the Portuguese forward.[35]

The score remained at 1–1 until the end of normal time, forcing the match into extra time. In the third minute of the additional period, Stepney took a long goal kick, which was headed on by Kidd, and collected by Best; he dribbled the ball past the defence, and then around the goalkeeper, before rolling the ball into an empty net. Two minutes later, a header from Sadler was saved by Henrique, but the rebound came to Kidd, who headed it in to give United a 3–1 lead. United continued to dominate play, and had another shot that hit the bar. Charlton completed the scoring in the ninth minute of extra time, converting a pass from Kidd to make it 4–1.[36]

• Somerscales, Jillian; Murrell, Deborah; Pritchard, Louise, eds. (1998). The Official Manchester United Illustrated Encyclopedia. Manchester United Books. ISBN 0-233-99155-7.