The season
The 1993/94 competition used the format we call “knockouts, groups and semi-finals”. Two knockout rounds, two groups of four, then one-off semi-finals. 32 clubs from 32 countries took part, and Milan won it, beating Barcelona in the final.
By our squad ratings, AC Milan had the strongest squad in the field, with a best eleven averaging 84. The champions were also the favourites on paper, and they delivered. Their opponents in the final, Barcelona, rated 84.
Every club came from a different country: 32 football nations in all, as the old champions-only European Cup intended.
The highest-rated player in the competition, by our estimates, was Marco van Basten of AC Milan, a ST rated 88.
As before, two knockout rounds cut thirty-two clubs to eight, who were split into two groups of four. This time the top two of each group went into single-match semi-finals, and the winners met in the final. Ties level on aggregate were decided by away goals, then extra time and penalties.
The strongest squads
Our rating for each club is the average of its best eleven players that season, on the scale the game uses.
- 1AC MilanItaly84
- 2FC BarcelonaSpain84
- 3Manchester UnitedEngland82
- 4AS MonacoFrance79
- 5FeyenoordNetherlands79
- 6RangersScotland79
- 7SV Werder BremenGermany79
- 8RSC AnderlechtBelgium78
The best players in the field
- 1Marco van BastenAC Milan · ST88
- 2Michael LaudrupFC Barcelona · CDM88
- 3Paolo MaldiniAC Milan · CB88
- 4Ronald KoemanFC Barcelona · CB88
- 5 RomárioFC Barcelona · ST87
- 6Eric CantonaManchester United · ST87
- 7Jürgen KlinsmannAS Monaco · ST87
- 8Peter SchmeichelManchester United · GK87
- 9Marcel DesaillyAC Milan · CB85
- 10Peter BoszFeyenoord · CM85
The field
32 clubs took part, by country:
- Austria: FK Austria Wien
- Belarus: FC Dinamo Minsk
- Belgium: RSC Anderlecht
- Bulgaria: PFC Levski Sofia
- Croatia: GNK Dinamo Zagreb
- Czech Republic: AC Sparta Prague
- Denmark: FC Copenhagen
- England: Manchester United
- Finland: Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi
- France: AS Monaco
- Germany: SV Werder Bremen
- Greece: AEK Athens
- Hungary: Budapest Honvéd
- Iceland: Íþróttabandalag Akraness
- Israel: Beitar Jerusalem
- Italy: AC Milan
- Latvia: Skonto
- Malta: Floriana
- Netherlands: Feyenoord
- Northern Ireland: Linfield
- Norway: Rosenborg
- Poland: Lech Poznań
- Portugal: FC Porto
- Republic of Ireland: Cork City
- Romania: FCSB
- Russia: FC Spartak Moscow
- Scotland: Rangers
- Spain: FC Barcelona
- Sweden: AIK Fotboll
- Switzerland: FC Aarau
- Turkey: Galatasaray
- Ukraine: FC Dynamo Kyiv
Replay 1993/94 in Magic Nights
In Magic Nights you can take charge of any of these 32 clubs, with the squad they had that season, and play the competition in this exact format. Win it with the favourites, or try the hardest job in the game: lifting the trophy with a club from the bottom half of the field.