The competition was won by Inter Milan, who beat Real Madrid 3–1 in the final at Praterstadion, Vienna, on 27 May 1964.

[1] Inter's triumph ensured that Italy became the first country and Milan became the first city with two competition winners.

AC Milan were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.

CSKA Red Flag wasn't participating after spell of seven editions, with only ever-present Real Madrid having more appearances in the competition.

Spartak Plovdiv, Anorthosis Famagusta, Motor Jena, Everton, AEK Athens, Ferencváros, Inter Milan, Valletta, Distillery, Lyn, Dundalk and Zürich made their debut in the competition.

The latter was leading 1. divisjon at the summer break on 1 July 1963, after 9 of 18 matches had been played, but finished second when the league ended in October.

[2] For the first time only title holders Milan received a bye to the first round, due to the number of participating teams.

The remaining clubs would play the preliminary round in September and October.

The top scorers from the 1963–64 European Cup (including preliminary round) were as follows: