The1995–96 UEFA Champions League was the 41st season ofUEFA's premier European clubfootball tournament, and the fourth since its rebranding as theUEFA Champions League. The tournament was won byJuventus, who beat defending championsAjax on penalties in the final for their first European Cup since1985, and their second overall. It was the only Champions League title that Juventus won in the 1990s, despite reaching the next two finals, and one of only three Italian wins in the final, despite there being aSerie A club in every final for seven consecutive years from1992 to1998.
It was the first tournament in which three points were awarded for a win instead of two. This was also the first time that players' names appeared on the back of shirts.
24 teams entered the competition – the national champions of each of the top 24 nations in the UEFA coefficient rankings, including UEFA Champions League holders,Ajax. The national champions of the associations ranked 1–7, plus the title holders, all received a bye to the group stage, while the national champions of the associations ranked 8–24 entered in the qualifying round. The remaining national champions from the associations ranked 25–47 were only allowed to participate in theUEFA Cup.[1]
For the 1995–96 UEFA Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 1995UEFA association coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 1990–91 to 1994–95.[1][2][3]
Association ranking for 1995–96 UEFA Champions League
16 champions from associations 8–25 (except title holders and FR Yugoslavia)[Note YUG]
Group stage (16 teams)
Title holders
7 champions from associations 1–7
8 winners from the qualifying round
Knockout stage (8 teams)
8 group winners from the group stage
8 group runners-up from the group stage
Since the title holders (Ajax) qualified for the Champions League qualifying round through their domestic league and entered the group stage automatically, their spot in the qualifying round was vacated. Due to this, as well as Yugoslavia's exclusion, the following changes to the default access list were made:
The champions of association 24 and 25 (Cyprus and Ukraine) were promoted from theUEFA Cup preliminary round to the Champions League qualifying round.
FR Yugoslavia (YUG): While Yugoslavia's disqualification from European club competitions was lifted, their association coefficient was considered irregular and therefore their champions were not admitted. As a result, the winners of the1994–95 First League of FR Yugoslavia,Red Star Belgrade, were instead admitted to the1995–96 UEFA Cup.[4]
Dynamo Kyiv won their tie againstAaB, but, in their first group game againstPanathinaikos, they were accused of a failed attempt to bribe the referee,Antonio López Nieto, to get a win. Despite an appeal, they were ejected from the competition and banned for two years, with AaB replacing them in the group stage. Dynamo's ban was eventually reduced to one season.
^"2. Finals"(PDF).UEFA Champions League Statistics Handbook 2016/17. Nyon, Switzerland: Union of European Football Associations. 2017. p. 1. Retrieved22 April 2017.
Juventus (2nd title)
Ajax
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Anorthosis Famagusta
IFK Göteborg
Steaua București
AaB
Beşiktaş
Ferencváros
Hajduk Split
Brown: Group A;
Red: Group B;
Orange: Group C;
Yellow: Group D.
Nantes
Porto
Spartak Moscow
Blackburn Rovers
Borussia Dortmund
Real Madrid
