The 1987–88 season of the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

finished with a shock victory by Mechelen in the final against defending champions

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

. This led to their

1988 European Super Cup The 1988 UEFA Super Cup was played between KV Mechelen and PSV Eindhoven, with Mechelen winning 3–1 on aggregate. Match details First leg Second leg ''KV Mechelen won 3–1 on aggregate.'' See also *1987–88 European Cup *1987–88 Eur ...

title in the club's first ever European campaign (1987–89). As the next season's Belgian league victor it defended its title in a semifinal of the 1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup. Financial problems have been keeping this last

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

holder of any European cup away from a position to be as successful again.

Preliminary round

First leg

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Second leg

''Dunajská Streda won 6–1 on aggregate.''

First round

First leg

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Second leg

''1–1 on aggregate. RoPS won on away goals'' ---- ''Vllaznia won 6–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Mechelen won 3–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''St Mirren won 1–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Real Sociedad won 2–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Dinamo Minsk won 4–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''OFI Crete won 3–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Atalanta won 3–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Kalmar FF won 1–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Sporting CP won 6–4 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Marseille won 1–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''1–1 on aggregate. Hajduk Split won 4–2 on penalties.'' ---- ''Den Haag won 3–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Young Boys won 4–3 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Hamburg won 8–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Ajax won 6–0 on aggregate.''

Second round

;Notes *Note 1: With Hajduk Split winning 2–0, the match was interrupted for 15 minutes due to tear gas being thrown onto the stands The match was voided and awarded 3–0 to

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

due to the crowd trouble.

First leg

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Second leg

''Mechelen won 2–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Sporting CP won 5–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''RoPS won 2–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''2–2 on aggregate. Young Boys won on away goals.'' ---- ''Ajax won 3–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''1–1 on aggregate. Dinamo Minsk won on away goals.'' ---- ''Atalanta won 2–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''The match was interrupted in the 10th minute with the score 0–0 due to

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ...

being thrown in the stands by Hajduk fans. The resulting commotion was accompanied with the same fans throwing

flare A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala in some Latin-speaking countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illumination, ...

s onto the pitch followed by a

pitch invasion A pitch invasion (known in North America as field storming or rushing the field) occurs when a person or a crowd of people spectating a sporting event run onto the competition area, usually to celebrate or protest an incident, or sometimes as ...

. The match was resumed some 15 minutes later and completed with Hajduk winning 2–0 on the night and Marseille advancing 4–2 on aggregate. At a disciplinary hearing several days later, UEFA voided the match due to the crowd trouble, awarding a 3–0 win to Marseille and banning Hajduk from European competition for two seasons.
Marseille won 7–0 on aggregate.''

Quarter-finals

First leg

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Second leg

''Mechelen won 2–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Atalanta won 3–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Marseille won 4–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Ajax won 2–0 on aggregate.''

Semi-finals

First leg

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Second leg

''Mechelen won 4–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Ajax won 4–2 on aggregate.''

Final

Top scorers

The top scorers from the 1987–88 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup are as follows:

External links

1987-88 competition at UEFA website

{{DEFAULTSORT:1987-88 European Cup Winners' Cup 3 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup seasons