Champions League finals are the greatest occasion for any club. Having made it so far through a grueling schedule, starting from the group stage and then through the minefield of the two-legged knockout rounds ever since, clubs go through a lot to get to the “promised land”. The matches are mostly tightly contested affairs as the very best of Europe compete for the trophy.
But, throughout the years since the inception of the Champions League in 1992, there have been some memorable matches in the finals, with the team winning dramatically going down in folklore. It is also interesting to note that no team in the Champions League era has ever managed to defend their title, which just goes to show howe competitive it is.
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Here are five such finals that have gone down in history as some of the greatest football games ever:
#5 2014 : Real Madrid 4-1 Atletico Madrid
Lisbon, 2014. The first ever Madrid derby in the final of the Champions League. It was all set to be a special occasion as Real Madrid, 9-time winners of the prestigious competition were set to meet their city rivals, Atletico Madrid, still trying to open their account, in the final. The pursuit of “the tenth” had really irritated Los Blancos as it had been 12 years since they last won the trophy, courtesy a certain Zinedine Zidane goal.
Atleti though were no easy opponent as a strong defense and an incredibly hard working team managed to be a brick wall in the way of Madrid’s ‘BBC’ triumvirate.
Diego Godin gave Los Colchoneros the lead in the first half as Iker Casillas committed a mistake in trying to clear the ball. Bale and Benzema missed a host of chances as it seemed to be yet another failure in trying to win the prestigious competition. 90 minutes were up and 5 minutes of time was added. Real were trying their best to score, pouring everybody forward and won a corner as the clock passed 2 minutes.
Luka Modric whipped in a cross as Sergio Ramos rose highest to finally break the defense of Thibaut Courtois at 92:48 with an unstoppable header, sending the men in white into raptures. Atleti were distraught and Real sensing the mood, honed in for the kill as Bale, Marcelo, and Cristiano Ronaldo eventually scored to end the game 4-1 and bring home the coveted La Decima.
The two teams will be up against each other once more tomorrow in Milan as Atletico look for revenge, whereas Real have La Undecima in their sights. Let’s hope the best team wins, in thrilling fashion.
#4 1994: AC Milan 4-0 Barcelona
Athens, 1994. Barcelona were set to play AC Milan in the final of the Champions League. The stage was set as the late great Johan Cruyff, the then coach of Barcelona declared that it was impossible for the Catalan club to lose, brimming with confidence, or dare I say overconfidence. And who could blame him?
‘The Dream Team’ had won the inaugural edition of the competition in 1992 whilst also winning four successive La Liga titles, and were in the midst of an absolutely dominant period. Cruyff had absolutely no doubts over who would win, so far so that before the match had even started, he had already been pictured holding the trophy.
Fabio Capello and Milan though had other ideas. What followed next was simply magical. AC Milan played like a side possessed as Barcelona incredibly capitulated to lose 4-0. A brace by Daniele Massaro and one goal each by Dejan Savicevic and Marcel Desailly sealed an incredible victory for the San Siro side.
With legendary striker Marco Van Basten out with a long injury whereas club captain Franco Baresi suspended together with defender Alessandro Costacurta. Nobody gave Milan a chance but they proved everybody wrong, especially Cruyff and Barcelona. Hence, this victory is regarded so special.
#3 2012: Chelsea 1-1 Bayern Munich (4-3 pen.)
19th May, 2012. The biggest day in the history of Chelsea Football Club. The Blues were set to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League final after having participated in one before in 2008. However, it didn’t end the way they had hoped for as they lost to arch-rivals Manchester United on penalties four years back, with John Terry embarrassingly missing what would have been the winning spot kick by slipping on a rainy day in Moscow.
This time, however, the team was in inspired form as an incredible comeback in the last-16 against Napoli saw them gain momentum under interim coach Roberto Di Matteo. A semi-final date with defending champions Barcelona, arguably the greatest club side in history with Pep Guardiola at the helm and the world’s best player in Messi looked set to oust the West London side.
But at the end of the two legs, it was Chelsea going through as a dramatic draw in Camp Nou, with Messi missing a penalty, saw the side win the ticket to Munich.
Bayern Munich awaited though and just to make matters a bit more tough in the finals at the German champion’s home ground, the Allianz Arena. The Germans dominated the game culminating in Thomas Muller giving them the lead in the 83rd minute. But this was Chelsea’s year and their enigmatic striker Didier Drogba was determined to win them the trophy, as he scored a bullet header past Manuel Neuer in the 88th minute to level the game.
Extra time, and Drogba was being chastised for giving away a crucial penalty away, one which could end their title hopes. But Cech had other ideas as he stepped up and saved Arjen Robben’s shot to send the match into penalties. This time, however, Chelsea were ready for it as Ivica Olic’s spot-kick was saved by their Czech custodian whilst Bastian Schweinsteiger went on to hit the post.
It all came down to that man Drogba again and he calmly sent Neuer the wrong way to clinch the club’s first ever Champions League title.
#2 1999: Manchester United 2-1 Bayern Munich
Another day, another Bayern Munich loss in the final. This was all the way back in 1999 though as Manchester United were looking to become the first team to ever win the treble in English football history.
The match couldn’t have started worse though as Mario Basler struck home an emphatic free-kick from just outside the box to give the Germans the lead, beating Peter Schmeichel in goal. It was a tense affair from there on as both teams had their chances but couldn’t take it.
Sir Alex Ferguson substituted Jesper Blomqvist for Teddy Sheringham in the 67th minute to add another striker but to no avail. Bayern Munich in the 80th minute took off their star player Lothar Matthaus, prompting Sir Alex to bring on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for Andy Cole in the next minute giving it a last throw of the dice.
90 minutes had passed, and the fourth official showed three minutes of injury time.
United won a corner and Peter Schmeichel as he so often used to do when the team required a goal, came up for it. David Beckham floated it in and Bayern failed to clear it, leading Giggs to take a shot, but it was weak and poor. However, it found Teddy Sheringham and he placed in into the bottom corner. 1-1 and Bayern Munich did not know what had hit them.
What followed next has been etched in legend as one of the greatest moments of all time, especially for Red Devils faithful. United won another corner and Schmeichel stayed back this time. Beckham sent it in once again and Sheringham rose highest to nod the ball across goal. It seemed to be going wide, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reacted quickest, putting his foot in the way to nestle it into the roof of the net.
The comeback was complete in perhaps the most dramatic way possible. 90 minutes led to just a single goal and the last three minutes saw 2 goals as United sealed the Champions League as well as the treble. Camp Nou couldn’t believe what it had just witnessed.
Perhaps, Sir Alex explained it best after the game. Putting it as simply and subtly as anyone could, “Football. Bloody hell.”
#1 2005: Liverpool 3-3 AC Milan (3-2 pen.)
What else could be no.1? Simply put the greatest match and the greatest comeback in Champions League history. The 2005 final saw Liverpool take on AC Milan in what was set to be a cracker of a contest. The Rossoneri were favorites from the get go, having won the competition just a couple of years back and possessing world class players like Kaka, Clarence Seedorf and Paolo Maldini in the side.
The match started and before Liverpool could blink, the scoreline read 0-1 as Maldini volleyed home a free-kick by Andrea Pirlo. More heartbreak followed as a quick counter-attack resulted in a second goal in the 39th time, this time by Hernan Crespo. Last minute of the first-half and Kaka picked out the Argentine again with a perfect through-ball, leading him to chip the ball over Jerzy Dudek.
3-0 down at half-time. Dejected and desolated Liverpool went into the tunnel. Not even in their wildest dreams could they imagine what would happen next.
Dietmar Hamann came in for Steve Finnan at the break and slotted in next to Steven Gerrard in midfield to provide some semblance of solidity after the midfield was run over in the first-half. 54 minutes were up when John Arne Riise ran down the left side and sent a cross hoping somebody would get on the end of it. Who else but captain fantastic Steven Gerrard, rose highest and headed the ball in, trying to get the team’s morale back up by gesturing with raised hands to say ‘come on’. The scoreline, however, still read 1-3.
Just a couple of minutes later it was 2-3 as Vladimir Smicer somehow directed a long-range strike past a hapless Dida. Milan were in disarray. They looked shaky and nervous and totally confused as to what was going on.
Soon in the 60th minute, Gerrard came inside the box, about to unload when Gattuso fouled him, leaving Xabi Alonso with a chance to equalize from the penalty spot. Dida saved the kick, but couldn’t prevent the Spaniard from scoring the rebound as 6 manic minutes saw 0-3 become 3-3.
Extra time ensued and not much happened throughout the period except at the end as Dudek produced one of the most spectacular saves ever, denying Shevchenko first and then not allowing him to score from the rebound as well, leaving the Ukrainian shell shocked.
It was penalty shootout time and Milan never looked like winning it, as Liverpool’s recovery looked to have taken the wind out of their sails. Serginho and Pirlo missed as Jerzy Dudek channeled his inner Bruce Grobbelaar with the ‘spaghetti legs’. Hamann and Djibril Cisse scored leaving Jon-Dahl Tomasson with a crucial spot kick. He scored to get Milan off the mark and Riise missed for Liverpool as the match looked to see-saw again.
Kaka was next and he calmly slotted it as the pressure was back on Liverpool. Smicer though was not to spoil the party, scoring to leave Shevchenko with a do or die penalty. The striker had scored the winning spot-kick against Juventus 2 years ago, but saw his shot saved acrobatically by Dudek this time as Liverpool pulled off a comeback impossible to even comprehend.
As Gerrard lifted the Reds first Champions League title (fifth overall), Kopites all over the world rejoiced. The victory was aptly named the ‘Miracle in Istanbul.’
