Champions League Finals… looking back
With Barca and Man United set to go to battle, JOE is reeling in the years with a full history of Champions League finals.
By Darragh Harkin
1993: The inaugural Champions League final was won by Marseille as they defeated AC Milan 1-0 in Munich. They are the first and only French team to have won the competition.
Memorable moment
The club and its officials would end up being relegated to the French second division and banned from European football due to match fixing allegations.
Goal Scorer
Basile Boli (43), no… I don’t remember him much either.
1994: Milan would return to the Champions league final and this time come out with a win. Barcelona went into the game as favourites but Milan proved too strong and wiped the floor with the Catalans, winning 4-0.
Memorable moment
Marcel Desailly winning the trophy back-to-back with different teams and wrapping up the game with the fourth goal.
Goal Scorers
Daniele Massaro (22) (45+3), Dejan Savicevic (47), Marcel Desailly (59)
1995: AC Milan reached the Final for the third year in a row only to lose out to a youthful Ajax team that featured the likes of Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids, the De Boer brothers and Marc Overmars.
Memorable Moment
Newcastle fans will not remember Patrick Kluivert in too favourable a light, but as an 18-year-old coming off the bench he managed to score the only goal of this game with five minutes remaining. Also notable was the assist as it came from former Milan star Frank “You can’t work as hard as” Rijkaard.
Goal Scorer
Patrick Kluivert (85)
1996 Proved to be the first Champions League final to be determined by a penalty shoot out. Ajax made it to the final for the second year in a row and again faced Italian opposition, but this time it was Juventus.
Memorable Moment
Goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi took all the plaudits as he saved weak penalties from Davids and Silooy(who???)
Goal Scorers (Two stellar Premier League players here, who seemed to live off the memory of these goals for quite a long time)
Juventus, Fabrizio Ravanelli (12); Ajax, Jari Litmanen (41)
1997: Juventus returned for the second consecutive year but this time the Old Lady of Turin lost out to Borussia Dortmund. The match ended 3-1 to the Germans and was quite the upset.
Memorable Moment
Dortmund’s third goal was scored by substitute Lars Ricken. Ricken was only 16 seconds on the pitch when he lobbed the ball over Peruzzi with his very first touch of the ball.
Goal Scorers
Dortmund, Karl-Heinz Riedle (29) (34), Lars Ricken (71); Juventus, Allesandro Del Piero (64)
1998: Juventus again returned and again lost in the final, as they suffered defeat at the hands of Real Madrid and Predrag Mijatovic.
Memorable Moment
This 1-0 win for Real Madrid meant they had finally won their 7th trophy. With 32 years between the 6th and 7th.
Goal Scorer
Predrag “Slick Hair” Mijatovic (67)
1999: A famous final for a few reasons but mainly the late comeback from Manchester United as they cruelly stole the title away from Bayern Munich. The Germans lead the match from the 6th minute all the way to the end of normal time only to concede two goals in the three minutes of extra time.
Memorable Moment
The two late goals from two substitutes, Sammy Kuffour pounding the ground in disgust, the look on Lothar Matheus’s face and David May celebrating like he won the game all by himself when, in reality, he wasn’t even playing.
Goal Scorers
Bayern, Super Mario Basler (6); Man Utd, Teddy Sheringham (90+1), Ole Solskjaer (90+3)
2000: An all-Spanish affair as the Giants of Real Madrid took on the surprise package of Valencia. Madrid proved to be far too much for Valencia as they brushed them aside easily in a 3-0 win.
Memorable Moment
Robbie Fowlers best mate, better know as Steve McManaman, scoring a great volley from the edge of the box.
Goal Scorers
Fernando Morientes (39), McManaman (67), Raul (75)
2001: Valencia returned to the Final and took on Bayern Munich in a match that will always be remembered for penalties. In the 90 minutes three penalties were awarded; one for Valencia which they scored and two for Bayern, one of which Stefan Effenberg converted and the other was missed by Mehmet Scholl. The 30 minutes of extra time was scoreless and so a penalty shootout was needed, which Bayern won 5-4.
Memorable Moment
The most German of all Germans, Oliver “Haven’t I nice hair?” Kahn saving three penalties in the shootout and foiling Valencia.
Goal Scorers
Bayern, Stefan Effenberg (Pen 50); Valencia, Gaizka Mendieta (Pen 2)
2002: Bayer Leverkusen reached their first Champions League final only to succumb to the might of Real Madrid and their team of Galacticos.
Memorable Moment
One of the greatest final goals of all time was scored in this match and finished by the peerless Zinedine Zidane.
Goal Scorers
Leverkusen, Lucio (13); Madrid, Raul (8), Zidane (45)
2003: Two giants of European football reached the final this year, but neither was at the mighty as they once were and the final itself was a dull affair. AC Milan and Juventus played out a dour 0-0 draw and the match was decided by penalties with Milan taking home the prize.
Memorable Moment
Paolo Maldini put in a fantastic defensive performance to remind people that not only did he still have it but he was not afraid to use it.
Goal Scorers
None sadly, but lots of missed penalties
2004: Two so-called underdogs of European football reached the final this year as Monaco took on Jose Mourinho’s FC Porto with the Portuguese team winning 3-0.
Memorable Moment
Jose Mourinho’s half arsed celebrations at the final whistle are memorable as we all knew he was leaving for Chelsea. The final win cemented his place as the “Special One”.
Goal Scorers
Carlos Alberto (39), Deco (71), Alenichev (75)
2005: The most memorable final of recent years saw Liverpool take on AC Milan. Milan were winning 3-0 at half-time and looked to be cruising to victory only for the Merseysiders to pull off a miracle in Istanbul.
Memorable Moment
The first 15 minutes of the second half where Liverpool put in an inspired performance and somehow managed to claw their way back into the match by scoring three goals. It was truly amazing and may never happen again.
Goal Scorers
Milan, Paolo Maldini (1), Hernan Crespo (39) (44)
Liverpool, Stephen Gerrard (54), Vladimir Smicer (56), Xabi Alonso (60)
2006: Arsenal made it to their first final ever and came up against Spanish Giants Barcelona. The Gunners were very unlucky not to have taken home the trophy as they went one up through a Sol Campbell header only for Henrik Larsson to come off the bench and help Barcelona to victory.
Memorable Moment
Crazy Jens Lehmann did what he does best and got himself sent off in the 18th minute when he took down Samuel Eto’o outside the box. He was the first person to be sent off in a Champions League Final.
Goal Scorers
Arsenal, Sol Campbell (37)
Barcelona, Samuel Eto’o (76), Juliano Belletti (81)
2007: Liverpool again meet AC Milan in a repeat of the famous 2005 final but this time it was the Italians who came out on top. The game ended 2-1 with Pippo Inzaghi grabbing both goals for Milan.
Memorable Moment
Inzaghi celebrated both goals ecstatically despite the first one being a complete fluke. Andrea Pirlo struck a free kick towards Liverpool’s goal and it deflected off Inzaghi on its way to the net. He, like all good strikers, celebrated the goal as if he meant it. Sneaky Sneaky Pippo.
Goal Scorers
Milan, Filippo Inzaghi (45) (82)
Liverpool, Dirk Kuyt (89)
2008: Another final decided by penalties and this time it was an all-English affair. Chelsea and Manchester United were evenly matched over 120 minutes and the tie was decided by Edwin Van der Sar saving Nicolas Anelka’s spot kick.
Memorable Moment
John Terry crying after the final whistle, Cristiano Ronaldo crying too but for a different reason, Carlos Tevez pretending he cared, Edwin van der Sar saving Nicolas Anelka’s penalty and Owen Hargreaves actually playing a full game of football.
Goal Scorers
Man Utd, Cristiano Ronaldo (26)
Chelsea, Frank Lampard (45)
2009: Man United reached the final again this year but were outplayed and out classed by the mesmerising Barcelona. Barca scored early and from then on United were chasing the ball and only for a few wild shots from Cristiano Ronaldo the final was a pretty one-sided affair. It ended 2-0 in favour of the Catalans.
Memorable Moment
The final was billed as Ronaldo v Messi to see who the better player was, so when Messi scored this fine header he claimed the prize of best player in the world. The pass from Xavi is not bad either.
Goal Scorers
Samuel Eto’o (10), Lionel Messi (70)
2010: Bayern Munich returned to club football’s biggest stage for the first time in a decade and took on Champions League Final debutants Inter Milan. Once again this final was all about the “Special One” as the entire world and their dogs knew this would be Mourinho’s last match in charge of Inter. He, of course, would go out in style as the Italians won 2-0.
Memorable Moment
Diego Milito’s second goal of the night was a thing of beauty. He danced his way in from the left flank, jinked past a defender and slotted coolly past the keeper. An underrated striker all his career finally had his moment in the spotlight.
Goal Scorers
Diego Milito (35) (70)
Darragh Harkin can be heard on Saturday mornings 8am-10am on i102-104FM and 10am-1pm on i105-107fm
