1972–73 UEFA Cup


The 1972–73 UEFA Cup was the second season of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by UEFA. The 1973 UEFA Cup final was played over two legs at Anfield, Liverpool, England, and at Bökelbergstadion, Mönchengladbach, West Germany. It was won by Liverpool of England, who defeated West German team Borussia Mönchengladbach by an aggregate result of 3–2 to claim their first UEFA Cup title.
This was the sixth consecutive title won by an English team between the UEFA Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, as well as the first time Liverpool won a European competition.

Association team allocation

A total of 63 teams from 29 UEFA member associations participate in the 1972–73 UEFA Cup. A new allocation scheme was devised by UEFA, which featured fixed slots for all but two competing associations, and lasted for eight seasons:
  • 3 associations have four teams qualify.
  • 3 associations have three teams qualify.
  • 18 associations have two teams qualify.
  • 7 associations have one team qualify.
Spain was the only association with a fixed allocation of three teams; the other two associations would rotate on a yearly basis among all countries that were allocated two teams.
Albania was not included in this scheme, as it had only entered the competition once without playing and would not have a UEFA Cup competitor until 1981. Northern Ireland withdrew from the competition, so another association was granted an extra third birth for this season. The three chosen associations were France, Yugoslavia and Portugal.

Teams

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for competition:
  • TH: Title holders
  • CW: Cup winners
  • CR: Cup runners-up
  • LC: League Cup winners
  • 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position
  • P-W: End-of-season European competition play-offs winners
Tottenham Hotspur Liverpool Manchester City Stoke City
Torino Cagliari Inter Milan Fiorentina
Borussia Mönchengladbach Köln Eintracht Frankfurt Kaiserslautern
Valencia Barcelona Las Palmas Vitória de Setúbal
Barreiro Porto Red Star Belgrade OFK Beograd
Vojvodina Nîmes Sochaux Angers
Budapest Honvéd Salgótarján Aberdeen Partick Thistle
Feyenoord Twente Zagłębie Sosnowiec Ruch Chorzów
BFC Dynamo Dynamo Dresden Slovan Bratislava Dukla Prague
Club Brugge Racing White Levski Sofia Beroe Stara Zagora
Ararat Yerevan Dinamo Tbilisi UTA Arad Universitatea Cluj
Eskişehirspor Fenerbahçe Austria Wien VÖEST Linz
Olympiacos AEK Athens Grasshoppers Lausanne-Sport
Hvidovre Frem Åtvidaberg Norrköping
Lyn Viking Bohemians HIFK Helsinki
Rumelange Valletta ÍBV EPA Larnaca

'''Notes'''

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows. Matches were scheduled for Wednesdays, though some matches took place on Tuesdays.
RoundFirst legSecond leg
First round12–20 September 197226 September4 October 1972
Second round24–25 October 19721–8 November 1972
Third round28–29 November 197213 December 1972
Quarter-finals6–7 March 197320–21 March 1973
Semi-finals10–11 April 197325 April 1973
Final10 May 197323 May 1973

First round

Matches

Liverpool won 2–0 on aggregate.
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Norrköping won 4–1 on aggregate.
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Levski-Spartak won 6–5 on aggregate.
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AEK Athens won 4–2 on aggregate.
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Beroe Stara Zagora won 10–1 on aggregate.
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Twente won 4–2 on aggregate.
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Slovan Bratislava won 8–2 on aggregate.
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Ruch Chorzów won 3–1 on aggregate.
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Dynamo Dresden won 4–2 on aggregate.
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Red Star Belgrade won 7–4 on aggregate.
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OFK Beograd won 5–3 on aggregate.
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Tottenham Hotspur won 12–3 on aggregate.
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Viking won 1–0 on aggregate.
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Club Brugge won 6–5 on aggregate.
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Frem won 5–2 on aggregate.
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Budapest Honvéd won 4–0 on aggregate.
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Köln won 5–1 on aggregate.
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Borussia Mönchengladbach won 9–5 on aggregate.
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BFC Dynamo won 3–2 on aggregate.
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Feyenoord won 21–0 on aggregate.
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Valencia won 4–3 on aggregate.
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Grasshoppers won 4–2 on aggregate.
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Kaiserslautern won 5–3 on aggregate.
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Las Palmas won 4–2 on aggregate.
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Inter Milan won 7–1 on aggregate.
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Vitória de Setúbal won 6–2 on aggregate.
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Ararat Yerevan won 2–0 on aggregate.
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Fiorentina won 5–1 on aggregate.
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Olympiacos won 3–1 on aggregate.
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CUF Barreiro won 3–0 on aggregate.
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Porto won 4–1 on aggregate.
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''Hvidovre walkover, HIFK withdrew.''

Second round

Matches

Köln won 9–2 on aggregate.
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Liverpool won 6–1 on aggregate.
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Beroe Stara Zagora won 3–1 on aggregate.
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BFC Dynamo won 3–2 on aggregate.
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Red Star Belgrade won 4–1 on aggregate.
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Kaiserslautern won 3–2 on aggregate.
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Dynamo Dresden won 4–0 on aggregate.
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Borussia Mönchengladbach won 6–1 on aggregate.
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Twente won 9–0 on aggregate.
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Ararat Yerevan won 7–3 on aggregate.
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5–5 on aggregate; OFK Beograd won on away goals.
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Tottenham Hotspur won 4–1 on aggregate.
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Inter Milan won 4–2 on aggregate.
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Las Palmas won 3–2 on aggregate.
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2–2 on aggregate; Vitória de Setúbal won on away goals.
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''Porto won 5–3 on aggregate.''

Third round

Matches

Borussia Mönchengladbach won 5–0 on aggregate.
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Liverpool won 3–1 on aggregate.
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OFK Beograd won 3–1 on aggregate.
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2–2 on aggregate; Kaiserslautern won on penalties.
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Twente won 4–2 on aggregate.
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Tottenham Hotspur won 2–1 on aggregate.
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Dynamo Dresden won 3–1 on aggregate.
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''Vitória de Setúbal won 2–1 on aggregate.''

Quarter-finals

Matches

Borussia Mönchengladbach won 9–2 on aggregate.
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Twente won 4–3 on aggregate.
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Liverpool won 3–0 on aggregate.
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''2–2 on aggregate; Tottenham won on away goals.''

Semi-finals

Matches

2–2 on aggregate; Liverpool won on away goals.
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''Borussia Mönchengladbach won 5–1 on aggregate.''

Final

Matches

''Liverpool won 3–2 on aggregate.''