The UEFA Champions League is no doubt one of the best football competitions in the world. The glittering lights, the tremendous pressure, the unabashed expectation give reasons why the best clubs in various leagues all cross Europe slug it out every season for the jewel of all silverware in world football.
The competition before it was renamed in 1992 was then called the European Cup, began in 1955-56 with 16 sides taking part. The most coveted silverware in Europe got its new name in the 1992-93 season, and it has since then expanded over the years with a total of 79 clubs as of the 2019-20 season entering the tournament.
Since the rebirth of the ‘European Cup’ to the ‘Champions League’, the most coveted silverware has seen a fair share of great moments, most importantly the finals that come with great goals, unrivaled performances from teams, and mouthwatering skills which up till now the fans still savor and reminisce on.
With no disrespect to the players and teams that have played in the finals before it was renamed, we’re basically picking the best finals right from the year it was renamed till now.
Here are some of the most memorable and exciting Champions League finals
- AC Milan – Liverpool (2005)
The final between the Italian giant and one of the most successful clubs in English football could be termed perhaps the best Champions League final in the history of the competition, not because of anything but because of the unbelievable comeback that transpired in the final.
The final is popularly referred to as the ‘Miracle of Istanbul’, en route to the final the Kop wasn’t among the top five favourites to even get to the semis, not to talk of the final. Surprisingly they got to the final having navigated their way through Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, and Chelsea to progress to the final.
On the part of the Rosanerri, they went past Manchester United, Inter Milan, and a young, stubborn, and enterprising PSV Eindhoven side to the final.
With almost 70,000 spectators chanting the name of their respective team inside the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, Milan was already looking like the champion of the night with a fast goal from the captain of the team in the first minute, then followed by another brace from the one of hottest forward in Europe, Hernan Crespo.
Shockingly in the second half, the Red Army ran riot and came back from the dead to pull a surprise, to what is today being referred to as the Miracle of Istanbul. Scoring three goals within 6 minutes from captain fantastic Gerrard, Smicer, and Xabi Alonso.
The champion of the night was decided by penalties, with the Brazilian Serginho, Pirlo, and Shevchenko losing their kicks, while the Kop scored theirs to come out triumphant in the final.
- Real Madrid – Atletico Madrid (2014)
The Madrid Derby brought to the fore how brilliant, dominant Spanish teams were then, although geographically it is just less than 10km that separated both teams. But when talking about successes or pedigree accumulated over the years, Los Rojiblancos didn’t come close to Los Merengue.
For the first time in the history of the most followed competition, two teams from the same city played in the final. The Diego Simeone-led side took the lead in the first half, from Godin’s header inside the full 60, 000 Estadio de Luz.
At the 90th minute, it was looking like the Red side of Madrid was going to be crowned Champion having led from the 39th minute. Surprisingly Sergio Ramos saved the day for Los Blancos, as he jumped high for a corner to score with a header and rendered Atletico’s fans heartbroken.
After Ramos’s 93rd-minute header, the match went into extra time, and Real Madrid came out triumphant to win their ‘La Decima’ the tenth Champions League title. With goals from Bale, Marcelo arguably the best left-back in Europe then, and a penalty from Ronaldo which put the nail on the coffin.
- AC Milan – Barcelona (1994)
This particular final ranked third on our list because when it was played Milan was the underdog coming into the final, but they’re basically unstoppable in the 90s due to the calibre of quality players they paraded then.
The Catalan giant was the team to beat due to their ‘Dream Team’ tag with great players such as Romario, king of set pieces Hristo Stoichkov, goal tasty, reliable Ronald Koeman, and midfield marshal Pep Guardiola.
Ironically, the Rossoneri surprised everyone, and scored four un-replied goals against the Camp Nou team.
The two heavyweight champions locked horns in Athens, as Barcelona champions in 1992 coming into the final were the favorite to win it.
But the brace from Daniele Massaro, Savicevic, and Marcel Desailly made sure the then-boss Johan Cruyff and his team left the Athens stadium empty-handed despite being the favourite.
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- Manchester United – Bayern Munich (1999)
This final between the two of Europe’s finest teams was all about a comeback from the dead in semblance to that of the Madrid Derby in 2014. As such, it was rated as one of the best finals because of the comeback, and the fact that the match was filled with exciting moments and end-to-end stuff till the end.
The Bavarian giant took the lead in the 6th minute, with a brilliant free-kick from Mario Basler, and took that lead till the 91st minute of the game. Hell broke loose when Teddy Sheringham scored what was referred to as the most important goal of the night.
Following Sheringham’s goal, babyface assassin Ole Gunner Solskjear who came in for Andy Cole scored the final goal that broke the entire German contingent’s heart, having thought they’re home and dry to coast home with the trophy as the English side won the title.
- Barcelona – Manchester United (2011)
For every Barcelona fan who saw this final, they would be very proud of their team. The Red Devil was supposedly the team at home, even though there is no such in the final, however, technically at home in front of almost 88,000 spectators.
Both teams made their way to the final knocking out Schalke and Real Madrid respectively in the semis. Straight to the final at Wembley Stadium, the Catalan giant ticked all the boxes, dominated play right from the blast of the whistle with 68% possession, and got their first goal through Pedro.
United fought back seven minutes later with a Wayne Rooney’s goal, that didn’t deter the Catalan giant from flexing their muscles and scored more goals.
In the second half, the Spanish side kept up with the tempo of the match, scored the second goal with a 20 yards brilliant goal from Messi, then followed by David Villa’s goal in the 69th minute to deny United any hope of fighting back.
What really made these final unique was that it was the second time both teams are meeting in the final, 2009 and 2011, with then Pep Guardiola led side coming out triumphant in both finals.
- Inter Milan – Bayern Munich (2010)
This would forever be one of Jose Mourinho’s greatest achievement in his managerial career. Although this won’t be his first Champions League triumph, he had already won it with Porto when he first announced himself to the world. But with the Nerazzurri, it was a fantastic achievement for him and especially the players.
The match was played in one of the best stadia in the history of the competition Santiago Bernabeu, the home ground of Real Madrid. Having upset Barcelona in the semi-final, Jose Mourinho and his Inter team went all the way to defeat the Bundesliga giant.
Who would forget in a hurry the important role the likes of Wesley Sneijder, Diego Milito, Julio Cesar, Samuel Etoo, and other gladiators in the team orchestrated to get to the final and eventually went ahead to win it against a team brimming with impeccable talented players.
In the end, Internazionale was crowned champions of the night with both goals from Milito.
- Borussia Dortmund – Bayern Munich (2013)
The 2013 Champions League saw the Signal Iduna Park team played the best football of their lives, with Robert Lewandowski, Mario Gotze, Kuba, Mat Hummel, and Gundogan in top form.
The final happened to be the first time both teams are from the German league, having seen two teams from Spain, Italy, and England played in the final before them.
Coming into the final after annihilating Los Blancos in the semi-final. Jurgen Klopp’s side was 40% favorite to go on and beat Bayern.
In the 60th minute, the first goal was scored by Croatia forward Mario Mandzukic, while Dortmund also pulled one back in 8 minutes by Gundogan.
With the scorelines still very much equal, hope was very high that BVB could upset the Bavarian. Unfortunately, they couldn’t surmount the firepower of their rival as they fell to Robben’s goal in the last minute of the match, as Bayern Munich completed their treble-winning season in style.
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- Chelsea – Bayern Munich (2012)
The final against the London side with the Bavarian looked like the Germans were on the part to yet again win another title. But the obstacle on their way to success was Chelsea.
The final was held at the home turf of the Bundesliga champ, with the advantage to play at home. As the tempo of the match was getting thick and tough, no goal was scored as at the 80th minutes, in the 83rd minute’s Muller’s goal broke the deadlock to put Bayern forward.
Drogba’s stunning header put the Blues back into the game in the 86th minute, despite the Bavarian looking like they who would go home with the title.
Chelsea stood firm and dragged the game to extra time, as both teams failed to win it at the normal time, eventually, it went down into penalties to decide the winner.
Ivorian legend Didier Drogba was the hero of the night when he scored the final kick to make the Blues the Champions of Europe for the 2011-12 season.
- Juventus – Real Madrid (2017)
Gianluigi Buffon’s champions league hope of winning the most coveted silverware has being dashed quite many times, but in the 2017 final the Italian were poised to go all the way.
The player of the moment, Ronaldo got the first goal just 20 minutes into the match.
On the run of play, Mandzukic got one back for the Old Lady, and it looked like we’re gonna see yet another tough match in the final, but surprisingly it was a night the Italian and their captain Buffon would want to forget in a hurry.
A brace from Ronaldo and Asensio’s goals on the night broke the heart of the Juventus fans, as Los Blancos made sure the World Cup champion Gigi Buffon couldn’t win the Champions League trophy he’s being longing to win to add to his title cabinet.
- Real Madrid – Liverpool (2018)
The 2018 final pitted the best two attacking-minded team in the tournament, with Mane, Salah, and Firmino leading the line for the Kop, while the Spanish giant got Bale, Benzema, and Ronaldo in their attack.
With Salah in great form going into the final, it’s no doubt that the English side would give Los Blancos a run for their money. Sadly, Mo Salah didn’t last long in the match, having suffered a dislocated shoulder injury orchestrated by Sergio Ramos.
After Salah’s injury, what followed was the drama of pathetic goalkeeping from Karius throwing the ball at Benzema’s outstretched leg to break the deadlock of a match that looked shy of goals.
Sadio Mane equalized for Liverpool, as the fans look forward to a night they experienced in Instanbul.
Welshman forward Gareth Bale performed the magic of the night, as he produced a stunning overhead kick to put Madrid ahead.
He got his brace of the night when he fired a rocket-like shot into the part of Karius, which he yet fumbled to keep away from goal as Zidane led side went home as Champions of Europe for yet another year in the Champions League.
