 Despite the tactical battle Liverpool were able to score in the 81st minute . A throw @-@ in from Ray Kennedy found Alan Kennedy , whose run up the left hand side of the pitch caught Real off @-@ guard . Kennedy went past Real defender Rafael García Cortés into the Real box , his subsequent shot beat the Real goalkeeper to give Liverpool the lead . Soon afterwards Liverpool replaced Dalglish with midfielder Jimmy Case in an attempt to see out the match . Although Liverpool had chances to extend their lead as Real went all out to score , Real keeper Agustín Rodríguez made a number of saves to keep his team in the game . The match remained 1 – 0 and Liverpool won their third European Cup , the first British club to do so . Liverpool 's victory meant that Bob Paisley became the first manager to win the European Cup three times . 
