Liverpool retained the Charity Shield by beating West Ham United 1–0, however despite only losing eight league games all season they won 17 and drew 17 of their remaining fixtures and ended the 1980–81 season in fifth place, nine points behind champions Aston Villa. In the League Cup, they knocked out Bradford City, Swindon Town, Portsmouth, Birmingham City, and Manchester City to reach the final against West Ham United. They then beat West Ham 2–1 in a replay of the final to claim the first League Cup in the club's history. They also reached the European Cup final after getting past Oulun Palloseura (Finland), Aberdeen (Scotland), CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria), and Bayern Munich (Germany). In the semi-final against Bayern, Kennedy was named as captain as both Graeme Souness and Phil Thompson were injured, and went on to score what proved to be the winning away goal at the Olympiastadion, cementing his reputation as a semi-final specialist. Liverpool then beat Spanish club Real Madrid 1–0 in a dour final to win a third European Cup.