The knockout stage of the 1996–97 UEFA Champions League began on 5 March 1997 and ended with the final at the Olympiastadion in Munich on 28 May 1997. The top two teams from each of the four groups in the group stage competed in the knockout stage. The draw for the quarter-finals was performed before the start of the group stage, with the winners of each group played against the runners-up from another; Group A vs. Group B, and Group C vs. Group D, with the group winner hosting the second leg. For the semi-finals, the winners of each tie between teams from groups A and B played against the winners of the corresponding tie between teams from groups C and D.

Qualified teams

The knockout stage involved the eight teams which qualified as winners and runners-up of all four groups in the group stage.

GroupWinners (seeded in quarter-final draw)Runners-up (unseeded in quarter-final draw)
AFrench Football Federation AuxerreRoyal Dutch Football Association Ajax
BRoyal Spanish Football Federation Atlético MadridGerman Football Association Borussia Dortmund
CItalian Football Federation JuventusThe Football Association Manchester United
DPortuguese Football Federation PortoNorwegian Football Federation Rosenborg

Format

Each quarter-final and semi-final was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home; the team that scored the most goals over the two legs qualified for the following round. In the event that the two teams scored the same number of goals over the two legs, the team that scored more goals away from home qualified for the next round; if both teams scored the same number of away goals, matches would go to golden goal extra time and then a penalty shoot-out if the teams could not be separated after extra time.

Bracket

Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
German Football Association Borussia Dortmund314
French Football Federation Auxerre101
German Football Association Borussia Dortmund112
The Football Association Manchester United000
The Football Association Manchester United404
28 May – Munich
Portuguese Football Federation Porto000
German Football Association Borussia Dortmund3
Italian Football Federation Juventus1
Royal Dutch Football Association Ajax (a.e.t.)134
Royal Spanish Football Federation Atlético Madrid123
Royal Dutch Football Association Ajax112
Italian Football Federation Juventus246
Norwegian Football Federation Rosenborg101
Italian Football Federation Juventus123

Quarter-finals

Summary

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Borussia Dortmund German Football Association4–1French Football Federation Auxerre3–11–0
Manchester United The Football Association4–0Portuguese Football Federation Porto4–00–0
Ajax Royal Dutch Football Association4–3Royal Spanish Football Federation Atlético Madrid1–13–2 (a.e.t.)
Rosenborg Norwegian Football Federation1–3Italian Football Federation Juventus1–10–2

Matches

Borussia Dortmund German Football Association3–1French Football Federation Auxerre
Riedle 12' Schneider 54' Möller 83'Lamouchi 75'
Auxerre French Football Federation0–1German Football Association Borussia Dortmund
Ricken 61'

Borussia Dortmund won 4–1 on aggregate.


Manchester United The Football Association4–0Portuguese Football Federation Porto
May 22' Cantona 34' Giggs 61' Cole 80'
Porto Portuguese Football Federation0–0The Football Association Manchester United

Manchester United won 4–0 on aggregate.


Ajax Royal Dutch Football Association1–1Royal Spanish Football Federation Atlético Madrid
Kluivert 53'Esnáider 8'
Atlético Madrid Royal Spanish Football Federation2–3 (a.e.t.)Royal Dutch Football Association Ajax
Kiko 29' Pantić 105' (pen.)R. de Boer 49' Dani 100' Babangida 119'

Ajax won 4–3 on aggregate.


Rosenborg Norwegian Football Federation1–1Italian Football Federation Juventus
Soltvedt 51'C. Vieri 52'
Juventus Italian Football Federation2–0Norwegian Football Federation Rosenborg
Zidane 29' Amoruso 90' (pen.)

Juventus won 3–1 on aggregate.

Semi-finals

Summary

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Borussia Dortmund German Football Association2–0The Football Association Manchester United1–01–0
Ajax Royal Dutch Football Association2–6Italian Football Federation Juventus1–21–4

Matches

Borussia Dortmund German Football Association1–0The Football Association Manchester United
Tretschok 76'
Manchester United The Football Association0–1German Football Association Borussia Dortmund
Ricken 8'

Borussia Dortmund won 2–0 on aggregate.


Ajax Royal Dutch Football Association1–2Italian Football Federation Juventus
Litmanen 66'Amoruso 14' C. Vieri 41'
Juventus Italian Football Federation4–1Royal Dutch Football Association Ajax
Lombardo 34' C. Vieri 36' Amoruso 79' Zidane 80'Melchiot 75'

Juventus won 6–2 on aggregate.

Final

The final was played on 28 May 1997 at the Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany.

Borussia Dortmund German Football Association3–1Italian Football Federation Juventus
Riedle 29', 34' Ricken 71'Del Piero 65'