to this success, the club was able to pay 2 million Finnish marks worth of debts, when the total amount had been 2,3 million. At home in Finland, the 1986 Mestaruussarja ended in another championship for Kuusysi. The 1987 Mestaruussarja ended with Kuusysi achieving silver. They were three points behind champions HJK Helsinki. At the end of the year Voutilainen was sacked, and a new manager, Antti Muurinen was brought in, although initially the club had approached Martti Kuusela. Before he was sacked, Voutilainen had stated that he was disappointed in the team, and after that the club decided that Voutilainen's best years as a manager were already in the past. The club was experiencing pressures in local competition, when Reipas was performing better with a young, promising player named Jari Litmanen. In the European season 1987–1988 Kuusysi participated in the European Cup. In the first round the club faced Neuchâtel Xamax and lost 2–6 on aggregate. At home in the 1987 Mestaruussarja Kuusysi was again second in the Preliminary Stage, and again behind HJK. In the Championship Stage the club remained in the same position and thus were awarded silver at the end of the season. In the 1987 Finnish Cup, however, the club was victorious, and thus they represented Finland in the 1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup. The results were disappointing, as the club lost in the first round to Dinamo București. For the 1989 Mestaruussarja season Muurinen was able to put together the team he wanted. The club had a winning streak of 16 games, and they secured the championship in their last game, against TPS Turku before 7 000 spectators. Financial difficulties in the 1990s and the founding of FC Lahti In 1990 the Mestaruussarja was discontinued and in its stead the current top-flight competition, Veikkausliiga, was founded. During the first season Kuusysi won the preliminary stage and in the play-offs they advanced into the finals, where they met HJK, but lost both legs. During the following season Kuusysi won the championship, with a one-point gap separating them and the second place team Mikkelin Palloilijat. The championship was secured in the last game, in which Kuusysi beat HJK. In the 1991–92 UEFA Cup Kuusysi faced in the first round Liverpool, which had just been freed from a long European ban. The first leg ended in a 6–1 defeat at Anfield, but Kuusysi won at home 1–0.