Greatest Champions League Finals
The greatest Champions League finals deliver against-the-odds drama and iconic moments that live in the memories of football fans for decades.
From Manchester United’s 1999 Camp Nou miracle to Real Madrid’s matador-like toying of Atlético’s hopes and dreams in 2014, the best Champions League finals stand out from the rest.
So, which ones make the list of the very, very best? Below, we assess the top six in Champions League finals in history (in no particular order!).
Manchester United 2-1 Bayern Munich (1999)
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona
Attendance: 90,245
Manchester United gained a reputation under Alex Ferguson for scoring goals in stoppage time – but the 1999 Champions League final took this to the extreme.
Losing 1-0 to a resilient Bayern side, Man United looked down and out until the 91st minute, when Teddy Sheringham poked home after a scramble in the box.
Two minutes later and David Beckham swung in a corner to meet the onrushing Sheringham, whose glanced header was flicked in by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer past a rooted Oliver Kahn. Given that both Paul Scholes and Roy Keane were suspended for the final, the win was all the sweeter.
The substitutes had delivered for Man United when they needed it most and capped off what was a remarkable Champions League campaign that season. It also earned United the famous Treble, after they had beaten Arsenal to the Premier League title just days before and lifted the FA Cup at Wembley.
Ferguson was knighted for his achievement, which effectively sealed Man United's claim to being the team of the 1990s. Perhaps more impressive than winning the final was how the Red Devils had battled through the semis against Juventus, winning the second leg 3-2 in the Stadio Delle Alpi to reach the final.
Liverpool 3-3 Milan aet: Liverpool win 3-2 on pens (2005)
Venue: Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul
Attendance: 69,000
Some Liverpool fans left the Atatürk Olympic Stadium at half time of the 2005 Champions League final, so dismayed were they at their team being 3-0 down to Milan. They missed arguably the most remarkable comeback in Champions League history.
Given the context of a final, the fact Liverpool hit back with three second-half goals and denied Milan a fourth from point-blank range makes this perhaps the definitive comeback in football history.
Steven Gerrard started the fightback with a delightful header, before substitute Vladimír Šmicer made it 3-2. Milan looked rattled and Xabi Alonso converted a rebound from a penalty on the hour mark, completing the comeback in just six minutes.
What followed was a nervy end to the game and extra time, during which Jerzy Dudek somehow denied Andriy Shevchenko from point-blank range. Dudek was also the hero in the shoot-out, saving two penalties.
The fact Liverpool sucker-punched Milan after such an abject first-half display was supposedly down to manager Rafa Benitez’s halftime teamtalk and Gerrard’s rallying cry.
Remarkably, before Gerrard’s goal, Liverpool had a 0.55% chance of winning the final. When converted into Champions League odds, that equates to roughly 180/1.
Milan got their revenge two years later when beating Liverpool in the 2007 final in Athens – a game that flirted with late drama thanks to Dirk Kuyt halving Milan’s lead in the 88th minute. But a repeat comeback didn’t emerge that night.
Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea aet: Man Utd win 6-5 on pens (2008)
Venue: Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
Attendance: 67,310
Not all iconic Champions League finals feature comebacks. The 2008 final in Moscow was one of the most tense UEFA had ever staged. In the first all-English final, Manchester United had beaten Chelsea to the Premier League title on the last day of the season just 10 days prior, and the two teams had faced off in a fierce encounter at Stamford Bridge less than a month earlier.
This was the Manchester United of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick at their peak. Chelsea had Frank Lampard, John Terry, Claude Makelele and Didier Drogba.
It was a tight match that kicked off at 22:45 local time in Russia. Ronaldo opened the scoring midway through the first half, only for Lampard to level up moments before the break. Both sides had golden opportunities to clinch the final in normal time but this was always going to go to penalties.
Drogba would have almost certainly taken a spot kick for Chelsea had he not slapped Nemanja Vidić four minutes from the end of extra time.
Terry was tasked with taking the fifth penalty instead of Drogba. Had he converted it, he would have earned Chelsea the trophy and fulfilled the ambitions of Russian owner Roman Abramovic to dominate European football. Terry slipped, and within minutes United were celebrating victory after Nicolas Anelka missed the seventh, decisive, penalty.
Real Madrid 4-1 Atlético Madrid aet (2014)
Venue: Estádio da Luz, Lisbon
Attendance: 60,976
The full-time score suggests Real Madrid walked all over Atletico – but for 93 minutes they were the second-best team. Atletico Madrid had lived in Real’s shadow for decades when, in 2014, they finally believed they had a chance to laud it over their neighbours – and in the biggest game in club football.
Diego Simeone set up his team to beat Real in every tackle, header, and one-on-one. Atletico played determinedly and resiliently, and deservedly took the lead through Diego Godin’s first-half goal.
That would be the difference between the teams heading into stoppage time at the end of the game. Atletico, having previously lost the 1974 European Cup final, were surely heading to victory. They’d been resolute at the back but also wasteful in front of goal – yet that didn’t matter as Simeone’s men seemed at ease handling the worst Real could throw at them.
They practically had the final wrapped up when Sergio Ramos headed home a Luka Modric corner in the 93rd minute. The strike came in the blink of an eye. It was heartbreak for Atletico.
Simeone’s side fell apart in extra time. Gareth Bale scored on 110 minutes, before Marcelo made it 3-1 with two minutes remaining. Cristiano Ronaldo still had time to grab his goal from the penalty spot with effectively the last kick of the game.
The Atletico players and fans were left distraught on the field in Lisbon. The final is remembered not for Real winning the Champions League, but for Atletico throwing it away.
Chelsea 1-1 Bayern Munich aet: Chelsea win 4-3 on pens (2012)
Allianz Arena, Munich
Attendance: 62,500
Chelsea weren’t meant to win this game. Bayern Munich had cruised into the 2012 Champions League final and looked at ease in their home stadium. The Allianz Arena is usually a fortress for Germany’s most powerful team but Gary Cahill and co. proved near-impregnable themselves over 90 minutes.
Chelsea had already somehow snuck past Barcelona to reach the final and captain John Terry was suspended. Up against the likes of Thomas Muller, Franck Ribéry and ex-Chelsea winger Arjen Robben, it was surely only a matter of time before Chelsea collapsed.
But they held firm against their hosts, with John Obi Mikel helping Lampard to dominate the midfield. Bayern eventually scored seven minutes from time through Muller, but then Drogba came to the rescue.
His bullet header from a corner on 88 minutes ended Bayern’s bubbling party atmosphere. A tense, terse extra time followed, in which Drogba almost went from hero to villain when fouling Ribéry in the box. Cech, though, saved Robben’s spot kick.
Once again, a Chelsea Champions League final went to penalties but this time the Blues made sure to keep their cool. With Terry suspended and Drogba on the field, it was the striker who stepped up to convert the winning penalty after Cech had saved Ivica Olić and Bastian Schweinsteiger’s efforts.
Drogba swept home the winning spot kick to trigger a mass exodus of Bayern fans and leave Chelsea players to celebrate with their supporters in their home stadium.
Real Madrid 3-1 Liverpool (2018)
Venue: NSC Olimpiyskiy, Kyiv
Attendance: 61,561
Punters can pour over Champions League tips and stats, looking for the best bet to place before the final. But all that work can be for nothing if someone commits a catalogue of errors in the big game.
Step forward Loris Karius, whose first mistake was to throw the ball almost directly at Karim Benzema with the game goalless on 51 minutes. Benzema converted the gift. Then, when Liverpool were chasing the game, Karius misread a Gareth Bale rocket to hand Real a 3-1 lead that they wouldn’t surrender.
Overshadowed by those two incidents was Sadio Mane’s cool equaliser, Bale’s stunning overhead kick – arguably the greatest Champions League final goal – and Mohamed Salah’s injury. Salah dislocated his shoulder in a tussle with Sergio Ramos and had to be replaced, in tears, on 31 minutes.
There were no late goals but plenty of controversy, which meant 2018 produced arguably the best Champions League final of that decade.
Karius’ reputation never quite recovered. He was sent on loan to Besiktas later that summer, as Liverpool broke the transfer record for a goalkeeper when signing Alisson for £56m.
