The 1978 European Cup Final was an association football match between Liverpool of England and Club Brugge of Belgium on 10 May 1978 at Wembley Stadium, London, England. It was the final match of the 1977–78 season of Europe's premier cup competition, the European Cup. Liverpool were the reigning champions and were appearing in their second European Cup final. Club Brugge were appearing in their first European Cup final. The two sides had met once before in European competition, when they contested the 1976 UEFA Cup Final, which Liverpool won 4–3 on aggregate.
As reigning champions, Liverpool received a bye in the first round, which meant that Club Brugge played two matches more to reach the final. All but one of Liverpool's matches were comfortable victories and they won each round with an aggregate score at least two goals to the good. In the first round Club Brugge beat Finnish champions Kuopion Palloseura by 9–2 on aggregate, but they won each of their subsequent rounds by just one goal.
Watched by a crowd of 92,000, the first half was goalless. Liverpool took the lead in the second half when Kenny Dalglish scored from a Graeme Souness pass. They held this lead to win the match 1–0, securing Liverpool's second European Cup and third European trophy in succession, and they became the first British team to retain the European Cup.
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