The 1972 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was a football match between Scottish team Rangers and Soviet team Dynamo Moscow. It took place at the Camp Nou in Barcelona on 24 May 1972 in front of a crowd of 35,000. It was the final of the 1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup, one of three football competitions run by UEFA at the time. It was the 12th European Cup Winners' Cup final in history.

Both teams had to go through four qualifying rounds to get reach the final. Rangers won three of their four qualifying ties in regulation time, with their second round tie against Sporting CP going into extra time. Dynamo was required to win a penalty shootout to beat Dynamo Berlin in their semi-final. The final was the Rangers' third in European competition, having lost the previous two in 1961 and 1967. This was the first time a Soviet team had reached a European final.

Rangers scored two goals before half time and added a third minutes into the second half. Dynamo pulled a goal back midway through the second half and scored a late second towards the end of the game. The match finished 3–2 to Rangers.

The end of the match was overshadowed by a pitch invasion just before full time. The fans were cleared so the final minute of the match could be played. Fans made their way back onto the pitch once the final whistle had been blown, causing Rangers captain John Greig having to be awarded the trophy inside the stadium buildings. Despite the off-field violence the victory is considered to be the greatest in the club's history and the team was given the nickname the Barcelona Bears.

Rangers began their route to the final by beating Stade Rennes 2–1 on aggregate. The first leg was drawn 1–1 with Willie Johnston scoring for Rangers. Rangers won the return leg 1–0 through Alex MacDonald. The second round saw Rangers play Sporting CP from Portugal. Rangers led the first half of the first leg 3–0, but lost two goals in the second half to lead 3–2 going into the second leg. The second leg finished 3–2 to Sporting, 5–5 on aggregate. Willie Henderson scored for Rangers in extra time but Rangers then lost a goal with six minutes left to make it 6–6 on aggregate. What followed has been described as being one of the most bizarre incidents in the history of any European tournament. The Dutch referee Laurens van Raavens failed to recognise that Rangers, having scored three away goals to Sporting's two, had won the tie. But the referee made both teams take five penalties each, with Rangers losing the shootout. After Rangers manager Willie Waddell pointed out the away goals rule to UEFA, the referee was overruled, the result overturned and Rangers were heading into the next round. Rangers then played Torino, Italian league leaders at the time, and won 2–1 on aggregate. In the semi-final Rangers played Bayern Munich, who had beaten Rangers in the final five years previously in Nuremberg. Rangers progressed 3–1 on aggregate to reach their third European final.

Dynamo Moscow began their campaign by defeating Olympiakos 3–2 on aggregate, before beating the Turkish side Eskişehirspor 3–0. Moscow's quarter final was against Red Star from Yugoslavia, who had reached the semi-final of the European cup the previous year. Moscow made it through 3–1 on aggregate again. In the semi-final Moscow played Dynamo Berlin from Germany. Scores were drawn 1–1 after both the first and second leg. Dynamo Moscow went through after a penalty shootout to become the first Russian club to reach a European final. The Russian players could have been awarded the coveted title Master of Sport, had they won in Barcelona.

Dynamo Moscow were the first Soviet team to reach the final of a European football competition and as a result were not used to playing in such a high-profile match. Before the team left Moscow they were presented ideological speeches from Communist Party bosses aimed at motivating the players. Before the event, many concerns were expressed for possible troubles between Spanish police and Russian supporters. Due to the political background of the time in Spain, with the last years of Francisco Franco's right-wing dictatorship. Dynamo Moscow had an array of talented forward players including Gennady Evryuzhihin, Vladimir Kozlov, Anatoly Kozhemyakin, Michail Gershkovich, Anatoly Baydachny and Vladimir Eshtrekov. The manager Konstantin Beskov normally played three or four forwards in all of their matches.

Rangers had played in two previous European finals and were the first Scottish club to do so in 1961. Having been narrowly beaten in 1967 by Bayern Munich, Rangers were wanting to make amends. The previous year 66 Rangers supporters had died in the Ibrox disaster, a memory that was very recent in the minds of the support and the team. Rangers captain John Greig had grown a beard which he explained after Rangers victory against Sporting that it was a good luck omen and he would only shave it off when they were put out of the competition.