Each club needed to progress through four rounds to reach the final. Matches were contested over two legs, with a match at each team's home ground. Liverpool's matches/ ties ranged from close affairs to comfortable victories. They beat Athletic Bilbao by a single goal in the second round, while they beat Benfica 5–1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals. Roma's matches were all close affairs, winning their ties up to the semi-final by two goal margins. They beat Dundee United 3–2 on aggregate in the semi-finals, although it was later revealed that Roma had bribed the referee in the second leg of the semi-final.