#3 Manchester United vs Chelsea (2007-08)
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The 2008 Champions League final was the first European Cup final to be played in Russia, and first time ever that two English clubs had made it to the final of the tournament. It was even more special for Manchester United as it marked the 100th anniversary of their first league triumph, the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster as well as the 40th anniversary of their first European Cup victory. The final was United’s third and Chelsea’s first ever.
Chelsea’s road to the final was a rocky one, having had to turn around a 2-1 first leg deficit against Fenerbache in the quarter-finals. They met Liverpool in the semis and edged the fixture in extra-time in the second leg. Manchester United meanwhile were pitted against Catalan giants Barcelona in the Semi-finals and knocked them out by a 1-0 aggregate margin.
Chelsea went into the final wanting to avenge missing out on the League title to the Red Devils by just two points. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for United in the 26th minute and Chelsea responded by levelling the score just before half-time courtesy of a Frank Lampard strike.
The match moved into extra time, and the scenes on the pitch became ugly as a fight broke out in the second half of extra time, following which Chelsea’s Didier Drogba was sent off. John Terry famously slipped to miss his penalty in the subsequent shootout, and Edwin van der Sar saved Nikolas Anelka’s penalty to end the match 6-5 on penalties, crowning Manchester United champions of Europe.
