The 1979–80 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won by holders Nottingham Forest in the final against Hamburg. The winning goal was scored by John Robertson, who drilled the ball into the corner of the Hamburg net from outside the penalty area. Nottingham Forest remain the only side to have won the European Cup more times than their domestic top flight.

Teams

Preliminary round

First leg

Second leg

Dundalk won 3–1 on aggregate.

Bracket

First round

First leg

Second leg

Nottingham Forest won 3–1 on aggregate. Argeș Pitești won 3–2 on aggregate. BFC Dynamo won 4–1 on aggregate. Servette won 4–2 on aggregate. Dukla Prague won 4–3 on aggregate. Strasbourg won 6–1 on aggregate. Ajax won 16–2 on aggregate. Omonia won 7–3 on aggregate. Celtic won 4–2 on aggregate. Dundalk won 2–1 on aggregate. Porto won 1–0 on aggregate. Real Madrid won 3–0 on aggregate. Hamburg won 5–1 on aggregate. Dinamo Tbilisi won 4–2 on aggregate. Vejle won 4–3 on aggregate. Hajduk Split won 2–0 on aggregate.

Second round

First leg

Second leg

Nottingham Forest won 4–1 on aggregate. BFC Dynamo won 4–3 on aggregate. Strasbourg won 2–1 on aggregate. Ajax won 10–4 on aggregate. Celtic won 3–2 on aggregate. 2–2 on aggregate; Real Madrid won on away goals. Hamburg won 6–3 on aggregate. Hajduk Split won 4–2 on aggregate.

Quarter-finals

First leg

Second leg

Nottingham Forest won 3–2 on aggregate. Ajax won 4–0 on aggregate. Real Madrid won 3–2 on aggregate. 3–3 on aggregate; Hamburg won on away goals.

Semi-finals

First leg

Second leg

Nottingham Forest won 2–1 on aggregate. Hamburg won 5–3 on aggregate.

Final

Top scorers

The top scorers from the 1979–80 European Cup (excluding preliminary round) are as follows: