The 1985 European Cup final was an association football match between Liverpool of England and Juventus of Italy on 29 May 1985 at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium.
All but one of Juventus' matches were won by two goals or more; in the semi-finals, they beat French team Bordeaux 3–2 on aggregate.
Liverpool also won the majority of their matches by more than two goals, except in the second round when they beat Portuguese team Benfica 3–2 on aggregate.
Despite calls for an abandonment, the match went ahead due to authorities and organisers' making a joint decision for public policy doctrine reasons[1] after a state of siege in the city was declared.
The first leg in Finland, held at the Ratina Stadion, was won 4–0 by Juventus with a hat-trick by Paolo Rossi and a goal from Michel Platini.
Goals from Marco Tardelli, Paolo Rossi and Massimo Briaschi ensured a 3–0 victory for Juventus in the first leg in Italy.
They lost the second leg at Sparta's home ground, Letná stadium 1–0, but progressed to the semi-finals due to a 3–1 aggregate victory.
[5] In the semi-finals, Juventus played French team Bordeaux and won the first leg 3–0 in Italy with goals from Zbigniew Boniek, Briaschi and Platini.
Liverpool won the second leg 4–0 with a hat-trick from John Wark and a goal from Paul Walsh at their home ground, Anfield, to win the tie 5–0 on aggregate.
They lost the second leg 1–0 at Benfica's home ground, Estádio da Luz, but still progressed to the quarter-finals due to a 3–2 aggregate victory.
Liverpool had objected to the choice of venue as they were concerned about the condition of the stadium, which was crumbling, and the decision to allocate a neutral section for Belgian fans.
[16] The neutral zone that had been allocated to Belgian fans was largely occupied by Juventus supporters, many of whom lived in Italy and travelled in Belgium only to see the match in the stadium.
[25] Juventus' first chance came in the 30th minute when Antonio Cabrini, advanced from the left-back position, but his shot was saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar.
Liverpool immediately countered – John Wark ran onto Ronnie Whelan's chipped pass, but his shot was saved by Juventus goalkeeper Stefano Tacconi.
Paul Walsh stretched to reach a pass from Neal, aggravated a stomach strain and was replaced by Craig Johnston.
After getting on the end of a Platini long ball,[3] Boniek again went on a run through the centre of the Liverpool defence and was brought down by Gillespie.
With 16 minutes left, Whelan was brought down in the Juventus penalty area by Massimo Bonini, but the referee decided that it was not a foul.
[26] Despite being considered, from a sporting point of view, as one of the better European finals played until then,[3] after the match, much discussion centred on the disaster that occurred before kick-off.