The 1965 European Cup final was a football match played at the San Siro in Milan, Italy on 27 May 1965 as the conclusion to the 1964–65 European Cup.
The match was contested by defending champions Inter Milan of Italy and two-time former winners Benfica of Portugal.
Jair scored the only goal of the game in the 43rd minute as Inter Milan successfully defended their title and won the trophy for the second time.
This is the second and as of 2026, the last time that the team won the title in their home stadium.
Background Inter Milan were the defending champions after defeating Real Madrid 3–1 in the previous year's final in what was their only previous experience of European competition.
Benfica had won the competition twice before, defeating Barcelona 3–2 in the 1961 final and Real Madrid 5–3 in the 1962 final. They had made the final three years running but lost 2–1 to AC Milan in 1963.
Route to the final
Inter MilanRound BenficaOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legByePrelim. round Aris Bonnevoie10–25–1 (A)5–1 (H) Dinamo București7–06–0 (H)1–0 (A)First round La Chaux-de-Fonds6–11–1 (A)5–0 (H) Rangers3–23–1 (H)0–1 (A)Quarter-finals Real Madrid6–35–1 (H)1–2 (A) Liverpool4–31–3 (A)3–0 (H) Semi-finals Vasas ETO Győr5–01–0 (A)4–0 (H)
Inter Milan Inter Milan qualified for the competition as defending champions and they were given a bye in the preliminary round.
In the first round, Inter Milan faced Dinamo București of Romania. Inter Milan won the first leg 6–0 at home and the second leg 1–0 away to advance 7–0 on aggregate.
Inter Milan then faced Rangers of Scotland in the quarter-finals. Inter Milan won the first leg 3–1 at home and lost the second leg 1–0 away from home to advance 3–2 on aggregate.
In the semi-finals, Inter Milan faced Liverpool of England. After losing the first leg 3–1 away from home, Inter Milan won the second leg 3–0 at home to advance to the final 4–3 on aggregate.
Benfica Benfica qualified for the competition as winners of the 1963–64 Primeira Divisão.
In the preliminary round, Benfica defeated Aris Bonnevoie of Luxembourg 5–1 away in the first leg and by the same scoreline at home in the second leg to advance 10–2 on aggregate.
La Chaux-de-Fonds of Switzerland were Benfica's opponents in the first round. After drawing the first leg 1–1 away from home, Benfica won the second leg at home 5–0 to advance 6–1 on aggregate.
Benfica then faced Real Madrid of Spain in the quarter-finals. After winning the first leg 5–1 at home, Benfica lost the second leg 2–1 away from home to advance 6–3 on aggregate.
In the semi-finals, Benfica defeated Győri Vasas ETO of Hungary 1–0 in the first leg away from home and 4–0 in the second leg at home to advance to the final 5–0 on aggregate.
Match Details
GK 1 Giuliano SartiRB 2 Tarcisio BurgnichLB 3 Giacinto FacchettiDM 4 Gianfranco BedinCB 5 Aristide GuarneriSW 6 Armando Picchi (c)RW 7 JairCF 8 Sandro MazzolaLW 9 Joaquín PeiróCM 10 Luis SuárezCM 11 Mario CorsoManager: Helenio Herrera GK 1 Costa PereiraRB 2 Domiciano CavémCB 3 GermanoCB 4 Raul MachadoLB 5 Fernando CruzDM 6 José NetoCM 7 Mário Coluna (c)RF 8 José AugustoCF 9 José TorresCF 10 EusébioLF 11 António SimõesManager: Elek Schwartz
See also 1964–65 S.L. Benfica season 1964–65 Inter Milan season 1965 European Cup Winners' Cup final 1965 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final 1965 Intercontinental Cup Inter Milan in international football S.L. Benfica in international football
References
External links 1964–65 season at UEFA website