The 1973–74 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won for the first time by Bayern Munich, beginning their own three year period of domination, in a replayed final against Atlético Madrid. This was the first time the cup went to Germany, and the first European Cup final to require a replay after the first match was drawn 1–1 after extra time.

Ajax, the defending champions, were eliminated by CSKA September Flag in the second round.

¹ Bayern Munich progressed to the Second round after winning 4–3 on penalties.

Spartak Trnava won 3–1 on aggregate.

Zorya Voroshilovgrad won 3–0 on aggregate.

Benfica won 2–0 on aggregate.

Újpesti Dózsa won 6–2 on aggregate.

Bayern Munich 4–4 Åtvidaberg on aggregate. Bayern Munich won on penalties.

Dynamo Dresden won 4–3 on aggregate.

CSKA won 4–0 on aggregate.

Club Brugge won 10–0 on aggregate.

Basel won 11–2 on aggregate.

Celtic won 9–1 on aggregate.

Vejle won 3–2 on aggregate.

Red Star Belgrade won 3–1 on aggregate.

Liverpool won 3–1 on aggregate.

Dinamo Bucharest won 12–0 on aggregate.

The UEFA Champions League /juːˈeɪfə ˈtʃæmpiənz ˈliːɡ/ known simply as the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world and the most prestigious club competition in European football. The final of the competition is the most watched annual sporting event worldwide, drawing over 300 million television viewers.

Prior to 1992, the tournament was officially called the "European Champion Clubs' Cup," but was usually referred to simply as the "European Cup." The competition was initially a straight knockout competition open only to the champion club of each country. During the 1990s, the tournament began to be expanded, incorporating a round-robin group phase and more teams. Europe's strongest national leagues now provide up to four teams each for the competition. The UEFA Champions League should not be confused with the UEFA Europa League, formerly known as the UEFA Cup.

Franz Anton Beckenbauer [fʁants ˈbɛkənˌbaʊ̯ɐ] (born 11 September 1945 in Munich) is a German football coach, manager, and former player, nicknamed Der Kaiser ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, his leadership, his first name "Franz" (reminiscent of the Austrian emperors), and his dominance on the football pitch. He is generally regarded as the greatest German footballer of all time and one of the greatest and most decorated footballers in the history of the game. Beckenbauer was a versatile player who started out as a midfielder but made his name as a defender. He is often credited as having invented the role of the modern sweeper or libero.

Twice selected the European Footballer of the Year, he appeared 103 times for West Germany and played in three World Cups. He lifted the World Cup trophy as captain in 1974, and repeated the feat as a manager in 1990. With the club Bayern Munich, he won three consecutive European Cups from 1974 to 1976, and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1967. He is one of only two footballers, along with Brazil's Mário Zagallo, to have won the World Cup both as a player and as a coach. Beckenbauer is one of two players (along with Carles Puyol) to captain three European Cup winning sides. He went on to become coach and president of the institution. He is also a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (German pronunciation: [ˈɡɛɐt ˈmʏlɐ]; born 3 November 1945 in Nördlingen) is a former German football player and one of the most prolific goalscorers of all time.

With national records of 68 goals in 62 international appearances, 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games and the international record of 66 goals in 74 European Club games, he was one of the most successful goalscorers of his era. Müller is now 8th on the list of all time international goalscorers despite playing fewer matches than every player in the top 15. His nicknames are “Bomber der Nation” (the nation's Bomber) and “kleines dickes Müller” (short fat Müller; this name was given to him by Čik Čajkovski, his first coach at Bayern Munich. Čajkovski was Yugoslavian and got the German declension wrong).

In 1970 Müller was elected European Footballer of the Year after a successful season at Bayern Munich and scoring 10 goals at the 1970 World Cup. Müller held the all-time goal-scoring record in the tournament with a 14-goal total, a record that stood for 32 years until it was broken by Brazil's Ronaldo against Ghana in the Round of 16 of the 2006 World Cup. In 1999, he was voted ninth place in the European player of the Century election held by the IFFHS and he was voted thirteenth in the IFFHS' "World Player of the Century" election.