Top 10: The best Champions League finals of all time
On June 1st it will be that time again, in the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid there will be this year’s UEFA Champions League final, here there will be a purely English encounter when Tottenham Hotspur meet Liverpool under the successful German coach Jürgen Klopp. This year’s Champions League is hard to beat in terms of interesting and historic games, so we can hope for a great game in the final. In the course of the knockout round, there were great games and success stories to be seen, of course, the elimination of two of the biggest favourite teams in Juventus Turin and Real Madrid, both of which were kicked out of the competition by the young team from Ajax Amsterdam. But the two finalists also wrote their incredible success stories, so this Champions League season 2018/19 will definitely go down in history.
Tottenham succeeded in their quarter-finals as an underdog against the Premier League champions this season, Manchester City, to win 1-0 in their own stadium, and then only narrowly defeated 3: 4 in Manchester, making it into the semifinals due to the away goals rule to secure. An even bigger miracle was needed here, Tottenham went into the second leg against Ajax in the Johan Cruyff Stadium in Amsterdam with a 1-0 defeat against the Dutch in their own stadium, only to go after 35 minutes and goals from Matthijs de Ligt (5. Minute) and Hakim Ziyech (35th minute) to be almost hopeless.
The miracle here came in the form of a hat trick from Lucas Moura, who first converted in the 55th minute after a high ball ricocheted off, then got the rebound four minutes later after an incredible save by Ajax goalkeeper Onana, whereupon Moura made his way through several Defender snaked through and somehow kicked the ball into the corner. Nevertheless, it was still 3-2 for Ajax in the final series, and that didn’t change until the very last second, when Moura scored again with the last shot after 6 minutes of stoppage time, causing the Tottenham fans to break out into an unbelievable cheer, while the home fans had to watch in disbelief as their participation in the final, which had already been believed safe, was torn from their hands at the last moment.
Liverpool FC also needed a little miracle after the first leg at Camp Nou against FC Barcelona when they went 3-0 into the game at home, and coach Jürgen Klopp’s players succeeded in an impressive way when they were at home The backdrop in Anfield beat FC Barcelona, who are considered clear favourites, 4-0. After the clear defeat in the first leg, this was without question one of the biggest comeback stories in the Champions League and Jürgen Klopp has earned a place not only in the history of international club football but also in the hearts of Liverpool fans, if he hadn’t been certain of it beforehand.
So now there is a final of these two top English clubs, both of which were already considered eliminated from the tournament, and we have taken this as an opportunity to try to list the greatest Champions League final games of all time. Obviously, this is a tough job and any ranking of the best Champions League finals will always be subjective, but we think there are some legendary games that fans agree will at least make them into the top 10 of the most memorable Champions League Finals have to count. We look at games from all eras, from the founding of the competition as the “European Champion’s Cup” to the renaming to the UEFA Champions League for the 1992/93 season, and try to compare them with each other.
But now without further ado to our top 10 biggest Champions League finals of all time:
10th place: Borussia Dortmund – Juventus Turin 1997 (3: 1)
In the 1996/97 UEFA Champions League final, then defending champion Juventus Turin faced German outsiders Borussia Dortmund. This was Borussia Dortmund’s first appearance in the UEFA Champions League and the second time they have faced Juventus in a major European final. The Borussia Dortmund players were keen to beat Juventus for the second time after being beaten 6-1 by the Turin team in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup final. Juventus were favourites in that match and this was their chance to become the first team in the history of the competition to repeat a title win the following year since the competition was renamed the Champions League. For some players such as Julio César, Jürgen Kohler, Paulo Sousa and Andreas Möller, this was also the second final in a row, but with the crucial difference that this time they wore the jersey of the other team. The four were part of the Juventus team that Borussia Dortmund had defeated in the cup final in 1993 and now played in Dortmund jerseys.
The course of the game and result
Borussia Dortmund retaliated for their devastating 6-1 defeat by Juventus in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup final when they were ahead of the competition in their 3-1 win in front of 60,000 spectators at the Olympic Stadium in Munich. Borussia Dortmund’s lineup managed to frustrate the opponent throughout the game so that Juventus’ Zinedine Zidane could hardly influence the game, and after two goals from German striker Karl-Heinz Riedle, which resulted from a counterattack, went with a 2-0 lead at half-time. Juventus briefly returned to the game with a wonderful goal from Alessandro Del Piero, but hopes of a comeback diminished when Dortmund substitute Lars Ricken converted the ball with his first touch and Borussia Dortmund 3-1 in Leadership went. This is considered to be the fastest goal scored after a player has been substituted on. The win gave Borussia Dortmund their first and so far only title in the UEFA Champions League and is considered one of the best underdog victories in the history of the top international club competition.
9th place: Real Madrid – Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2002 (2-1)
2001/02 UEFA Champions League Final was played between the Spanish team Real Madrid and the German club Bayer Leverkusen. This was Bayer Leverkusen’s first appearance in a Champions League final and is the only one to date. Bayer Leverkusen came into the game in fantastic form after finishing second in both the Bundesliga season and in the DFB Cup, only behind Borussia Dortmund in the league, while they made it to the DFB Cup final, but against the FC Schalke 04 lost. The Bayer Leverkusen team were eager to win the biggest prize in Europe and to make sure they didn’t just come back to second place behind Real Madrid. This was Real Madrid’s third final of the UEFA Champions League, having won the previous two finals. Real Madrid got into this game after winning the 2001/02 Copa Del Rey and were clear favourites to take home the trophy.
The course of the game and result
The Real Madrid team defeated Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland to win their third UEFA Champions League title in front of over 50,000 spectators. Bayer Leverkusen was the better team throughout the game as they created more opportunities than their rivals, but Real managed to show their class and literally take a win. Real Madrid seized the opportunity in the first half when Raúl took the lead on 8 minutes. The Germans equalized within minutes with a header from defender Lúcio, but what came next was nothing short of stunning. Zidane scored one of the most beautiful goals in the history of the competition when he hit a spectacular left volley from the edge of the box that went into the top corner and left Real in the lead for the break.
The Real Madrid team were able to keep their opponents in check in the second half and eventually emerge victorious. The match will forever be remembered as the game that saw one of the greatest players in history score one of the best goals in football history. Bayer Leverkusen had to admit defeat in second place for the third time this year, which earned them the derisive nickname “Vizekusen”.
8th place: FC Bayern Munich – Borussia Dortmund 2013 (2: 1)
The 2012/13 UEFA Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern Munich was the first purely German final in the entire history of the competition. This game was of decisive importance for Bayern Munich, as they had the chance to triple for the first time in the club’s history, having already been crowned champions and DFB Cup winners 2012/13. Although he was not in the final due to an injury, this should also be Mario Götze’s final as Dortmund, before he moved to Bayern Munich in the summer. In the league, Bayern had won the championship title with 91 points, while Borussia from Dortmund had placed second, with 66 points just one point ahead of Bayer Leverkusen.
The course of the game and result
FC Bayern Munich defeated their rival Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in front of around 86,000 spectators, who filled the new Wembley Stadium in London to the last seat. It was a highly competitive game that was decided in the end by Arjen Robben, who scored the winning goal in the 89th minute to break the hearts of Dortmund fans. It was an even game until then, in which FC Bayern Munich had the majority of possession, but until the 89th minute they failed to break a stubborn Dortmund defence until a moment of individual brilliance from Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben Bavarian team took the lead. With this goal, Bayern won the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League.
The game was an amazing demonstration of two contrasting styles of play, with both sides playing the ball back and forth with incredible precision and unimaginable cohesion in their attacking game. The game was proof that German football was on the rise again and had a bright future ahead of it. More importantly, however, Bayern Munich scored their first triple in their entire club history and silenced the critics who saw them as a team that would weaken at crucial moments.
7th place: Real Madrid – Eintracht Frankfurt 1960 (7: 3)
The final of the European Cup in 1960 took place in front of an unbelievable 135,000 spectators in Hampden Park in Glasgow, where Real Madrid, the team that has dominated this competition since the first edition five years ago and has won every time, met Eintracht from Frankfurt. Usually, the most memorable games are tightly contested games played with tenacity, but this final is characterized by sheer dominance by one side.
Real Madrid was undoubtedly the best team in Europe at the time, having won all four European cups by then. In their fifth consecutive final, they were the big favourites and that didn’t turn out to be a misjudgment.
The course of the game and result
Hungarian international striker Ferenc Puskas, who scored an incredible 4 goals for Real Madrid in this final.
First, however, Frankfurt surprisingly took the lead from Richard Kress (18th), but the goal awakened the royal spirits. In the following hour, Ferenc Puskas and Alfredo Di
Stefano scored seven goals for Real Madrid and left the audience’s mouths open. Di Stefano scored a hat trick and Puskas even surpassed him with his four goals, which left the German team hopeless.
To date, the Hungarian is the only player to have scored four goals in a European final. Frankfurt scored two more goals, but Madrid’s dominance in this game is something that shouldn’t be seen in a big club final for a long time.
The discussion about the best line-up in football history would go on into the night, but it definitely wouldn’t go without considering the combination of Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo di Stefano and Francisco Gento at Real Madrid in the 1960 European Cup final. “Every man in our team is an attacker and we have the quality in our ranks, which many British teams envy us for,” boasted Puskas before the final against Eintracht Frankfurt in Hampden Park, and he was right.
Eintracht Frankfurt actually had the audacity to take the lead from Richard Kress, but by the time Erwin Stein scored the second goal for Frankfurt after 72 minutes, Real had already scored six goals, a dominant performance so majestic that it will probably never be surpassed on such a big stage.
Real finally won 7: 3, Puskas scored four goals and Di Stefano three. Frankfurt had scored 20 goals in six games on the way to the final but had no chance in the final against perhaps the largest club team that has ever existed.
6th place: AC Milan – FC Barcelona 1994 (4-0)
The Champions League final of the 1993/93 season between AC Milan and FC Barcelona seemed to be under clear signs, with FC Barcelona going into this match as the overwhelming favourite. Johan Cruyff had led the Dream Team to the Primera Division championship for the fourth year in a row, and his team played revolutionary football on the pitch. AC Milan, on the other hand, came into the final in poor form despite their triumph as Italian champions, as they had not won any of their last six league games.
In the final, they had to do without injured striker Marco Van Basten and defenders Franco Baresi and Alessandro Costacurta, which put the prospect of victory a long way off. So everything pointed to a Catalan victory.
The course of the game and result
But the script called for something else. This was followed by an hour of total Milan domination, the Rossoneri shooting from all cylinders and scoring four goals in less than an hour. Goals from Dejan Savicevic, Marcel Desailly and a double from Daniele Massaro sealed the fate of the Catalans, leaving Barcelona’s fans stunned and the joy of the Italian fans knew no bounds.
With hindsight, it’s easy to forget that Milan were the seemingly hopeless underdogs in 1994 final. Barcelona was the “dream team”, which under coach Johan Cruyff played some of the best offensive soccer players Europe had ever seen. Here is an official UEFA highlight video.
The Rossoneri went into this match with no hope; despite being crowned Serie A champions, Fabio Capello’s team had not won any of their last six league games and Franco Baresi and Alessandro Costacurta were suspended due to suspension. In addition, Marco van Basten and Gianluigi Lentini were cancelled due to injuries.
In the end, however, it was a team from Milan, written off by all experts, who had won Serie A with just 34 goals in 34 games that destroyed the dream team on the pitch in the most important final of the year. A generation of young fans fell in love with the Italian game and this final deserves the sixth spot on our list of the best Champions League finals of all time.
5th place: Benfica Lisbon – Real Madrid 1962 (5-3)
In this final of the seventh European Cup of National Champions of the 1961/62 season were the only two teams that had cost European fame up to this point. Real Madrid had the first.
The only 20-year-old exceptional player Eusebio Ferreira da Silva, who scored two goals in the 1962 European Cup final and decided the match for Benfica.
Won five finals, while Benfica Lisbon won the cup in the final against FC Barcelona last year.
The Real Madrid team is known to this day as the “Galacticos”. This year they were no longer in their absolute top form, but still came up with the most heavenly combination of Alfredo di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas, while Benfica did the were young contenders and last year’s defending champions. The match was touted as the Clash of the Titans, a battle to determine whether Madrid’s crown could finally be ripped away by Los Blancos.
The course of the game and result
Benfica’s hope of repeating their performance suffered a severe setback at the start. Hungarian maestro Ferenc Puskas scored two goals in quick succession to push his team 2-0 forward bring to. After Benfica had equalized in the meantime with goals from Jose Aguas (25th) and Domiciano Cavem (34th), Puskas scored again in the 38th minute of the game, leaving Benfica one goal behind at halftime. However, they turned it up after the break thanks to young Portuguese sensation Eusebio and scored three goals without Real Madrid players having anything to counter.
The only twenty-year-old Eusebio scored two of them, first a penalty (65th), which turned out to be the winning goal of the game and finally made it 5-3 (68th). A sensational win for the Portuguese side. Benfica has not been able to repeat this European success since then, while their opponents Real Madrid have won the title an incredible 13 times and are lonely as the record winners of the most prestigious international club competition.
Benfica had won two consecutive European cups under the leadership of Hungarian coach Bela Guttman, who was to leave the club shortly afterwards due to disagreement on the salary. “Benfica won’t ever be European champions again in a hundred years,” Guttman predicted at the time. It’s been 57 years now (and eight finals) and so far Benfica has not been able to get rid of this curse. The victory of Benfica in this final heralded a changing of the guard in European club football, and the fabulous performance of the young talent Eusebio and the comeback after half time make this final one of the best finals of all time, and deserve our 5th place in the ranking of the largest Europeans Finale of the story.
4th place: FC Barcelona – Manchester United 2011 (3: 1)
In the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League, FC Barcelona and Manchester United faced each other for the second time in three seasons in the final. The two teams’ previous game in the 2008-09 final of the same competition ended in a 2-0 win for Barcelona, making them the third time to win the competition and becoming the first Spanish team to triple victory with Manchester United by it prevented them from becoming the first team to defend the title since the competition was renamed. Both teams came into play after winning their respective leagues and were also unbeaten in the Champions League competition, where Barcelona scored a staggering 27 goals in 12 games. For Manchester United, this was the third Champions League final in four years. They were hoping to win their third UEFA Champions League trophy here.
The course of the game and result
Pep Guardiola’s side managed to beat their English opponents again here when they claimed a comfortable 3-1 win in front of 90,000 spectators at a packed Wembley stadium in London. Barcelona outdid Manchester United by long stretches and dominated possession to frustrate their opponents. Pedro rightly gave Barcelona the lead in the 27th minute when he defeated United goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar up close. The game looked like it could be a long and painful 90 minutes for United, but against the course of the game Rooney scored a goal to level and both teams went into the break with a draw.
In the second half, however, Barcelona picked up where they left off. Messi secured the lead for Barcelona for the second time in the 54th minute with his goal before David Villa hit the net with an impressive hook in the 69th minute to secure the third UEFA Champions League title for FC Barcelona. Barcelona’s performance in the final was of such quality that Manchester United coach legendary Sir Alex Ferguson said it was the best team he had ever played against in his managerial career.
3rd place: Manchester United – FC Bayern Munich 1999 (2-1)
The 1998/99 UEFA Champions League final was played between Manchester United and Bayern Munich. Both clubs made it to the final after winning their domestic league titles. Manchester United had the chance to win a triple for the first time in club history. Manchester United and Bayern Munich met for the third time in the competition, with the last two games tied when they met in the group stage of the competition. ManU were unbeaten in the Champions League in the knockout phase. This was also the final game for Peter Schmeichel in the United shirt, who also played as captain in the absence of Roy Keane, who was suspended.
The course of the game and result
Manchester United defeated Bayern Munich 2-1 at the packed Camp Nou in Barcelona in one of the most dramatic finals in the history of the competition. Bayern Munich scored the first goal in the 6th minute with a free-kick from Mario Basler. The first 90 minutes of that game saw nothing out of the ordinary by and large, however, the drama that would play out in added time would more than make up for it.
The rest of the game saw many opportunities for both sides, but no one could force a conclusion for long. Manchester United’s attack forced Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn to make a series of saves while Bayern hit the United goal post twice. When Bayern fans almost believed the game was won, substitutes Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær took the stage. First, Sheringham scored a goal in the 1st minute of stoppage time with a rumbling kick from a rebound from a corner, and when it looked like the game was going into stoppage time, Ole Gunnar Solskjær scored the winning goal in the last minute of stoppage time and broke Bavaria’s hearts.
United claimed victory with an incredible stoppage-time comeback after failing to score for 90 minutes to celebrate their maiden UEFA Champions League triumph and their first triple. The Bayern Munich players were completely taken by surprise and could hardly believe what they had just experienced. Probably the best example of a soccer game never-ending until the final whistle blows. Ferguson’s men had fought to the last minute and scored the most dramatic victory imaginable. Heartbreaking for Bayern and definitely one of the top places among the most exciting Champions League finals of all time. Our 3rd place in the list of the best European finals in football history.
2nd place: Real Madrid – Stade de Reims 1956 (4: 3)
The first final of the newly formed European Cup in 1956 was played between Real Madrid and Stade de Reims and was an instant classic. The 1956 European Cup final was the first final in the pan-European football competition, the European Cup, now known as the UEFA Champions League, and was played on June 13, 1956, in Paris’ Parc des Princes in front of 38,000 spectators.
The first time is always special and the first European final was an instant classic, an exciting and even affair between the stars of Real Madrid and the dominant French team Stade de Reims, who beat the mighty Hibernians from Scotland in the semifinals. The game became famous, among other things, for the impressive performance of Raymond Kopa in his last game before he switched to the final opponent Real.
It was a roller coaster ride of a game and the final result didn’t seem certain until the final whistle actually sounded.
The course of the game and result
The French team stormed to a quick 2-0 lead within 10 minutes. Madrid came back into the game when first Di Stefano and then Hector Rial tied the score 2-2. Stade de Reims took the lead again in the 62nd minute through Michel Hidalgo, but the Spaniards had the last word and Marquitos and Rial secured the Cup victory for Madrid with goals in the 67th and 79th minutes. With this, Real Madrid won the first European Cup in history and secured an eternal place in the hall of fame of club football.
Madrid was set to win the first five European Cups, including a second win over Stade de Reims in 1959 final. That first final undoubtedly deserves a place in our top ten list of the best Champions League and European Cup finals of all time, and we are planning the match mainly due to the historical importance on our place 2.
1st place: Liverpool FC – AC Milan 2005 (3: 3)
In the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League final, English club Liverpool met for the first time in a game against AC Milan. It was Liverpool’s first appearance in a Champions League final since the new format was introduced, while AC Milan was already in the fifth final. Both teams had lost two games on the way to the final. The favourite Milan wanted to win their third title in the Champions League.
The course of the game and result
Liverpool FC dramatically beat AC Milan on penalties at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul to surprise the 69,000 spectators and win the team’s first UEFA Champions League trophy. Liverpool got off to the worst possible start when Paolo Maldini scored the fastest goal in a Champions League final for AC Milan after just 52 seconds. The Liverpool side tried to get back into the game but was punished twice by Hernan Crespo after a counterattack, leaving Milan with a 3-0 lead into the break. Most might have thought that the game offered no hope for the English team at this point, but it should be remembered that a football game never ends before the final whistle. Liverpool dramatically scored 3 goals in just 6 minutes to level the score 3-3. The rest of the match saw no more goals and the game went to penalties. Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek was the hero of the shooting when he saved two penalties, making Liverpool the Champions League trophy and one of the best comebacks of all time.
The greatest of football comebacks involves the element of the inevitable, the mystical feeling that the actors have no power over the end result of the game, no matter how hard they try. Liverpool seemed destined by the football gods at Selhurst Park to win this match, they seemed to have fate on their side. The Champions League final of the 2004/05 season between Liverpool FC and AC Milan is arguably the best club game of all time, and the fans at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul experienced something truly magical on May 25, 2015.
This brings us to the end of our list of the best Champions League and European Cup of all time, the final between Liverpool FC and AC Milan in the biggest Champions League final for us so far, and after an unbelievable Champions League season that, among other things, was steeped in history Liverpool FC has just seen a comeback in the second leg, one can hope for another historic final when Tottenham Hotspur will meet Jürgen Klopp’s team on June 1st in the Wanda Metropolitano.
