1986/87: Ajax revive their traditions

AFC Ajax 1-0 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig
Olympic Stadium, Athens

The final is remembered because Marco van Basten took centre stage for the first time by scoring the winning goal. It was his sixth of the campaign and fellow striker Johnny Bosman, who missed the final, contributed eight. Along with Frank Rijkaard, Jan Wouters, Aron Winter, Arnold Muhren, Johnny van’t Schip and Rob Witschge, they formed a team which, coached by Johan Cruyff who was making his debut on the bench, lived up to the finest AFC Ajax traditions. A certain Dennis Bergkamp came on as 65th minute substitute in the Athens final.

Surprising opposition for Ajax
Their opponents were 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig, a solid if unimaginative team from the German Democratic Republic with an excellent goalkeeper in René Müller. They made unspectacular but solid progress, beating Glentoran FC of Northern Ireland 3-1 and, in the second round, raised a few eyebrows by eliminating SK Rapid Wien after extra-time. The draw gave them FC Sion in the quarter-finals and they beat the Swiss 2-0. A curious semi-final against FC Girondins de Bordeaux produced two 1-0 away wins and victory for Lokomotiv in a penalty shoot-out.

Solitary strike decides final
The final in Athens was disappointing. Marco van Basten’s 21st minute header led the 35,000 fans to believe that the match would burst into life. But the East Germans spent the rest of the game confirming that they were durable and obstinate opposition capable of barring Ajax’s path to their goal but lacking the technical resources required for a come-back.