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1986/87: Ajax revive their traditions

Marco van Basten took centre stage for the first time by scoring the winning goal for AFC Ajax against 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig.

Ajax celebrate winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Ajax celebrate winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup ©Getty Images

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.

AFC Ajax - 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig1 - 0

StageFinal
Half-Time1 - 0
Date13.05.1987
Kick-Off21:15:00
VenueOlympic
City/TownAthens
Attendance35,107
RefereeAGNOLIN Luigi (ITA)

Match Report
21'VAN BASTEN Marco
55'EDMOND Frank (out) /
LEITZKE Hans-Jörg (in)
66'WITSCHGE Robert (out) /
BERGKAMP Dennis (in)
76'LIEBERS Matthias (out) /
KÜHN Dieter (in)
83'MUHREN Arnold (out) /
SCHOLTEN Arnold (in)

Team Line-Ups
AFC Ajax1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig
MENZO Stanley (G)MÜLLER René (G) (C)
SILOOY SonnyKREER Ronald
VERLAAT FrankBAUM Frank
RIJKAARD FrankLINDNER Matthias
BOEVE PeterZÖTZSCHE Uwe
WINTER AronBREDOW Uwe
WOUTERS JanSCHOLZ Heiko
MUHREN Arnold (C)LIEBERS Matthias
WITSCHGE RobertEDMOND Frank
VAN'T SCHIP JohnRICHTER Hans
VAN BASTEN MarcoMARSCHALL Olaf
Head Coach
BERGKAMP DennisLEITZKE Hans-Jörg
SCHOLTEN ArnoldKÜHN Dieter
Head Coach
CRUYFF JohanTHOMALE Hans-Ulrich