title	2010 UEFA Champions League Final
event	2009–10 UEFA Champions League
team1	Bayern Munich
team1association
team1score	0
team2	Internazionale
team2association
team2score	2
date	22 May 2010
stadium	Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
city	Madrid
man of the match1a	Diego Milito (Internazionale)
man of the match1atitle	UEFA
man of the match1b	Wesley Sneijder (Internazionale)
man of the match1btitle	Fans'
referee	Howard Webb (England)
attendance	73,170
weather	Sunny32% humidity
previous	2009
next	2011 }}

The 2010 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid, on Saturday, 22 May 2010, to determine the winners of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League. It was the first Champions League final to be played on a Saturday, rather than the traditional Wednesday. The match was won by Internazionale, who beat Bayern Munich 2–0 to complete the Treble, a feat never before achieved by any team from either Italy or Germany. The refereeing team came from England and was led by Howard Webb.

The win gave Inter their third European Cup title, and their first since 1965; moreover, it was their first appearance in the final since 1972, and they were the first Italian team to appear since Milan won the competition in 2007. Meanwhile, Bayern had won the competition as recently as 2001 – their most recent final appearance – although they were the first German side to reach the final since Bayer Leverkusen in 2002. The 2010 final was the first not to feature an English side since Porto beat AS Monaco in 2004. The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium had previously hosted three European Cup finals: in 1957, 1969 and 1980.

As the winners, Inter played against 2009–10 UEFA Europa League winners Atlético Madrid in the 2010 UEFA Super Cup, and also entered the semi-finals of the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup.

Background

Prior to the 2010 final, Bayern Munich and Internazionale had previously met four times in European competition. In those four matches, Bayern hold the edge with two wins to Internazionale's one; the other match finished as a draw. The first meeting between the two sides took place in the third round of the 1988–89 UEFA Cup; Inter won 2–0 the first match at the Olympiastadion in Munich, but Bayern responded with a 3–1 win at the San Siro two weeks later to go through on the away goals rule. They were next drawn together in Group B of the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League, along with Spartak Moscow and Sporting CP. The first match between Bayern and Inter was played at the San Siro, where Bayern won 2–0; the return match finished as a 1–1 draw.

Both teams went into the final chasing the Treble, an achievement never before reached by teams from their respective countries; Internazionale came closest in 1965, when they won the Serie A and the European Cup but lost 1–0 to Juventus in the Coppa Italia final. Bayern Munich claimed their 22nd Bundesliga title on the last day of the season with a 3–1 win away to Hertha BSC on 8 May 2010, before claiming their eighth domestic Double with a 4–0 win over Werder Bremen in the 2010 DFB-Pokal Final on 15 May. Meanwhile, Internazionale beat Roma 1–0 for their sixth Coppa Italia on 5 May, and then won their fifth Serie A title in a row and their second Double on 16 May with a 1–0 win away to relegated Siena. With both teams having secured domestic Doubles going into the final, it was guaranteed that the Treble would be won for the second year in a row, following Barcelona's success in 2008–09.

The managers of both teams had won the Champions League before: Bayern manager Louis van Gaal won the competition with Ajax in 1995, while Inter's José Mourinho was manager of Porto's 2004 side. The winning manager would therefore become only the third in European Cup history to win as manager of two different clubs, following in the footsteps of Ernst Happel (Feyenoord in 1970 and Hamburg in 1983) and Ottmar Hitzfeld (Borussia Dortmund in 1997 and Bayern Munich in 2001 UEFA Champions League Final). It was the fifth final in European Cup history in which both managers were previous winners; the others were in 1962, 1978, 2002 and 2007. It was the first Champions League final where neither of the finalists exited the group stage as group winners.

The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium had previously hosted three European Cup finals: in 1957, 1969 and 1980. Real Madrid themselves won the 1957 final – their second of five consecutive wins – beating Fiorentina 2–0 in front of 120,000 spectators, the second highest attendance in a European Cup final. Milan won the next final at the stadium, beating Ajax 4–1 in 1969, and Nottingham Forest won 1–0 against Hamburg in the most recent final in Madrid in 1980.

The stadium was opened in 1947 following the election of Santiago Bernabéu as the president of Real Madrid. Upon construction, the stadium had a maximum capacity in excess of 75,000, but this was increased to 125,000 with the addition of a fourth stand in 1954. The stadium was chosen as one of two venues for matches at the 1964 European Nations' Cup, hosting both of the Spain team's matches, including their 2–1 win over the Soviet Union. In preparation for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, FIFA requirements forced renovations to the stadium, adding a canopy to three of the four stands and reducing the capacity to 90,800. The stadium hosted all three Group B matches and the final of the 1982 World Cup. Conversion to an all-seater stadium in 1998 further reduced capacity to just over 75,000, but the most recent expansion in 2006 increased capacity to just over 80,000. However, only around 75,000 seats were available for the 2010 final.

Road to Madrid

{| width="100%" style="text-align:center" |- valign=top bgcolor=#99ccff !colspan=3 style="width:1*"|Bayern Munich !Round !colspan=3 style="width:1*"|Internazionale |- |colspan="3" align=center|

53 2 0

Team
align=left	Bordeaux	6	|	1	0	9	2	+7	16
align=left	Bayern Munich	6	|	1	2	9	5	+4	10
align=left	Juventus	6	|	2	2	4	7	−3	8
align=left	Maccabi Haifa	6	|	0	6	0	8	−8	0

|bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Group stage |colspan=3 align=center| 32 1 1

Team
align=left	Barcelona	6	|	2	1	7	3	+4	11
align=left	Internazionale	6	|	3	1	7	6	+1	9
align=left	Rubin Kazan	6	|	3	2	4	7	−3	6
align=left	Dynamo Kyiv	6	|	2	3	7	9	−2	5

|- valign=top bgcolor=#c1e0ff |Opponent |Result |Legs |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Knockout phase |Opponent |Result |Legs |- | Fiorentina |4–4 (a) |2–1 home; 2–3 away |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|First knockout round | Chelsea |3–1 |2–1 home; 1–0 away |- | Manchester United |4–4 (a) |2–1 home; 2–3 away |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Quarter-finals | CSKA Moscow |2–0 |1–0 home; 1–0 away |- | Lyon |4–0 |1–0 home; 3–0 away |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Semi-finals | Barcelona |3–2 |3–1 home; 0–1 away |}

Pre-match

Venue

The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid was selected as the venue for the 2010 UEFA Champions League Final at a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, on 28 March 2008. The committee – who selected the venue for the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final at the same meeting – based their decision on a number of key criteria, including stadium capacity, facilities and security. It had previously been decided that the final would be played on a Saturday for the first time in Champions League history at the UEFA Executive Committee's meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland, on 30 November 2007.

The unique visual identity of the 2010 final was revealed at a special ceremony at Madrid's ''Ciudad del Fútbol Español'' on 20 November 2009. In attendance at the ceremony were final ambassador Emilio Butragueño, Royal Spanish Football Federation president Ángel María Villar Llona and UEFA's competitions director Giorgio Marchetti. UEFA has given the Champions League final a unique visual identity every year since 1999, in order to give "a distinctive flavour of the host city". The logo features the UEFA Champions League trophy at its core, surrounded by elements of the Champions League "starball" logo, the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and the Puerta de Alcalá. The logo was designed to capture "the cultural and 'fiesta' aspects which Madrid is famed for".

A trophy handover ceremony was held at the Palacio de Cibeles in Madrid on 16 April 2010, when Johan Cruyff and Joan Laporta – as representatives of the 2009 champions, Barcelona – returned the UEFA Champions League Trophy to UEFA president Michel Platini. Platini then handed the trophy to Royal Spanish Football Federation president Ángel María Villar Llona and Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, the mayor of Madrid, so that it might be put on display in the city until the day of the final. Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez, players Raúl, Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo, and final ambassador Emilio Butragueño were also present at the ceremony.

Ticketing

Although the usual capacity of the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium was over 80,000, the net capacity for the 2010 Champions League final was around 75,000. The two finalists were each allocated 21,000 tickets, with a further 11,000 tickets being made available to the general public. Applications for those tickets were opened on 8 March 2010 and ran until 19 March; recipients were determined by a random lottery. These figures included a certain number of tickets set aside specifically for children; 2,000 tickets from each club's allocation went to children and their accompanying adults, as did 1,000 tickets from the general public's allocation. Finally, 500 tickets were reserved for children taking part in the activities at the UEFA Champions Festival in the week leading up to the final.

A ticketing launch event was held in Madrid on 5 March 2010, at which the ticketing concept for the final was announced. The event was also used to promote the start of ticket sales for the match, and was attended by the ambassador for the final, Emilio Butragueño, the president of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, and representatives from UEFA, the Royal Spanish Football Federation and the host club, Real Madrid. At the event, Aguirre was presented with the first ticket for the final by Real Madrid players Cristiano Ronaldo and Raúl.

Match ball

The official match ball for the 2010 Champions League Final, the ''Adidas Finale Madrid'' was unveiled on 9 March 2010. It was the tenth ball to use the "Starball" design that had become synonymous with the UEFA Champions League. Each of the stars on the ball featured an element of the logos of each of the last 10 Champions League finals, drawn in gold. In reference to the colours of the Spanish flag, each gold star has a red border, while the base colour of the ball referred to the white of Real Madrid's kit. The ball retained the "goosebump" texture of the previous two versions, but the panel configuration was changed for the ''Finale Madrid'', with each star in the design being on a single panel.

Officials

The referee for the 2010 UEFA Champions League Final was Howard Webb, representing The Football Association of England. Webb became an international referee in 2005, and took charge of his first UEFA Champions League match in the August of that year, when he officiated the match between Haka and Vålerenga in the second qualifying round. His first appointment in the Champions League proper came a year later with the group stage encounter between Steaua Bucureşti and Lyon on 26 September 2006. Prior to the 2010 final, he had refereed a further 17 Champions League matches and nine UEFA Cup matches. He was also a referee at UEFA Euro 2008, the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, and he was selected to be England's representative at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

As usual, the referee was supported by assistant referees and a fourth official from the same country; in the 2010 final, Howard Webb was assisted by Darren Cann and Mike Mullarkey, with Martin Atkinson as the fourth official.

Opening ceremony

The 2010 Champions League Final officially opened with the UEFA Champions Festival on 15 May 2010. The festival was held at Madrid's ''Parque del Retiro'' and ran for the entire week leading up to the final. It featured several events and exhibitions for fans to take part in; as well as being able to play on public-use mini-pitches, fans were able to meet famous faces from European football and explore the history of the Champions League. On the day of the final, the festival culminated with a match between former Spanish players and other European ex-professionals.

Broadcasting

For the first time in the United States, television coverage of the Champions League final was broadcast on a nationwide terrestrial network. Affiliates of Fox picked up coverage beginning with a pre-game show at 2:30 PM EDT/11:30 AM PDT.

Match

Team selection

The Inter team that began the game featured no Italian players in the starting lineup, while Bayern started the game with five Germans, all internationals named in the provisional German 2010 World Cup squad. Franck Ribéry was a notable absence for Bayern, serving a three match suspension for a foul in the semi-final first leg against Lyon. Thiago Motta was a notable absence for Inter, serving a two match suspension.

Summary

The match was won 2–0 by Internazionale. Inter employed a counter-attacking strategy that saw them have less possession than Bayern, but Inter were able to comfortably defend their lead. Both goals were scored by Diego Milito, in the 35th and 70th minutes. Milito's first was scored following a long clearance by Inter goalkeeper, Julio Cesar, flicked down by Milito to Wesley Sneijder, who returned the pass to Milito to score. Milito's second goal came after he collected a pass from Samuel Eto'o and beat Daniel van Buyten with the ball. Milito was substituted shortly before the end of the match, allowing him to be applauded by the Inter supporters. After the match, Milito stated the win brought "incredible happiness" and claimed his side deserved its victory. Bayern captain Mark van Bommel conceded Inter was the "most effective team", referring to the success of Inter's counter-attacking tactics. José Mourinho revealed after the match that he would likely resign from Inter to pursue the goal of being the first manager to win the Champions League with three clubs. Reports had linked him with a move to Real Madrid.

Details

{{footballbox |date=22 May 2010 |time=20:45 CEST |team1=Bayern Munich |score=0 – 2 |report=Report |team2= Internazionale |goals1= |goals2=Milito |stadium=Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid |attendance=73,170 |referee=Howard Webb (England) }}

{| width=92% |- | | |}

{| width="100%" |valign="top" width="50%"| {| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" |colspan="4"|BAYERN MUNICH: |- !width=25| !!width=25| |- |GK ||22|| Hans-Jörg Butt |- |RB ||21|| Philipp Lahm |- |CB ||5 || Daniel Van Buyten |- |CB ||6 || Martín Demichelis || |- |LB ||28|| Holger Badstuber |- |CM ||17|| Mark van Bommel (c) || |- |CM ||31|| Bastian Schweinsteiger |- |RW ||10|| Arjen Robben |- |LW ||8 || Hamit Altıntop || || |- |CF ||25|| Thomas Müller |- |CF ||11|| Ivica Olić || || |- |colspan=3|Substitutes: |- |GK ||1 || Michael Rensing |- |DF ||13|| Andreas Görlitz |- |DF ||26|| Diego Contento |- |MF ||23|| Danijel Pranjić |- |MF ||44|| Anatoliy Tymoshchuk |- |FW ||18|| Miroslav Klose || || |- |FW ||33|| Mario Gómez || || |- |colspan=3|Manager: |- |colspan=4| Louis van Gaal |} |valign="top"| |valign="top" width="50%"| {| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align=center |colspan="4"|INTERNAZIONALE: |- !width=25| !!width=25| |- |GK ||12|| Júlio César |- |RB ||13|| Maicon |- |CB ||6 || Lúcio |- |CB ||25|| Walter Samuel |- |LB ||26|| Cristian Chivu || || |- |CM ||4 || Javier Zanetti (c) |- |CM ||19|| Esteban Cambiasso |- |AM ||10|| Wesley Sneijder |- |RF ||9 || Samuel Eto'o |- |CF ||22|| Diego Milito || || |- |LF ||27|| Goran Pandev || || |- |colspan=3|Substitutes: |- |GK ||1 || Francesco Toldo |- |DF ||2 || Iván Córdoba |- |DF ||23|| Marco Materazzi || || |- |MF ||5 || Dejan Stanković || || |- |MF ||11|| Sulley Muntari || || |- |MF ||17|| McDonald Mariga |- |FW ||45|| Mario Balotelli |- |colspan=3|Manager: |- |colspan=4| José Mourinho |} |} {| width=100% style="font-size: 90%" | UEFA Man of the Match: Diego Milito (Internazionale) Fans' Man of the Match: Wesley Sneijder (Internazionale)

Assistant referees: Mike Mullarkey (England) Darren Cann (England) Fourth official: Martin Atkinson (England) Reserve official: Peter Kirkup (England) |}

Statistics

;First half

	Bayern Munich	Internazionale
Goals scored	0
Total shots	10
Shots on target	1
Ball possession	67%
Corner kicks	2
Fouls committed	8
Offsides	0
Yellow cards	1
Red cards	0

;Second half

	Bayern Munich	Internazionale
Goals scored	0
Total shots	11
Shots on target	5
Ball possession	69%
Corner kicks	4
Fouls committed	8
Offsides	0
Yellow cards	1
Red cards	0

;Overall

	Bayern Munich	Internazionale
Goals scored	0
Total shots	21
Shots on target	6
Ball possession	68%
Corner kicks	6
Fouls committed	16
Offsides	0
Yellow cards	2
Red cards	0

See also

2009–10 UEFA Champions League

2010 UEFA Europa League Final

2010 UEFA Super Cup

2010 FIFA Club World Cup

References

2010 Final Champions League Final, UEFA Category:2010 in Spain 2010 European Cup Final 2010 European Cup Final 2010

ar:نهائي دوري أبطال أوروبا 2010 be-x-old:Фінал Лігі чэмпіёнаў УЭФА 2010 году bs:Finale UEFA Lige prvaka 2010. es:Final de la Liga de Campeones de la UEFA 2009-2010 hr:Finale UEFA Lige prvaka 2010. id:Final Liga Champions UEFA 2010 hu:2010-es UEFA-bajnokok ligája-döntő pt:Final da Liga dos Campeões da UEFA de 2009-10 ro:Finala Ligii Campionilor 2010 ru:Финал Лиги чемпионов УЕФА 2010 tr:2010 UEFA Şampiyonlar Ligi Finali uk:Фінал Ліги чемпіонів УЄФА 2010 vi:Chung kết UEFA Champions League 2010 zh:2010年歐洲冠軍聯賽決賽 he:גמר ליגת האלופות 2010

title	2006 UEFA Champions League Final
event	2005–06 UEFA Champions League
team1	Barcelona
team1association
team1score	2
team2	Arsenal
team2association
team2score	1
date	17 May 2006
stadium	Stade de France
city	Saint-Denis
man of the match1a	Ronaldinho (Barcelona)
referee	Terje Hauge (Norway)
attendance	79,500
weather	Partly cloudy33% humidity
previous	2005
next	2007 }}

The 2006 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League, Europe's primary club football competition. The showpiece event was contested between Barcelona of Spain and Arsenal of England at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris, France, on Wednesday, 17 May 2006, to decide the winner of the Champions League. One-time winner Barcelona were appearing in their fifth final, whereas Arsenal were appearing in the final for the first time and in doing so became the first club from London to feature in the final.

Each club needed to progress through the group stage and knockout rounds to reach the final, playing 12 matches in total. Barcelona won their group and progressed to the final after beating Chelsea, Benfica and Milan, respectively. Arsenal won their group to move into the knockout stage, and progressed without conceding a goal against Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal, respectively.

Arsenal had Jens Lehmann sent off early in the first half, however they took the lead through Sol Campbell towards the end of the first half. Barcelona equalised through Samuel Eto'o near the end of the second half, and a few minutes later Juliano Belletti scored to give Barcelona a 2–1 victory. This was Barcelona's second triumph in the competition, 14 years after they first won the European Cup in 1992.

Route to the final

Teams qualified for the Champions League group stage, either directly or through three preliminary rounds, based on both their position in the preceding domestic league and the strength of that league. Both Arsenal and Barcelona entered the competition in the group stages: Arsenal by finishing second in the 2004–05 FA Premier League, and Barcelona by winning La Liga. The group stages were contested as eight double round robin groups of four teams, with the top two qualifying for the knockout stages. Knockout matches were decided based on home and away matches, with the away goals rule, extra time and penalty shootouts as tiebreakers if needed.

{| width="100%" style="text-align:center" |- valign=top bgcolor=#99ccff !colspan=3 style="width:1*"|Barcelona !Round !colspan=3 style="width:1*"|Arsenal |- |colspan=3|

5 2 2 1

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
align=left	Barcelona	6	|	1	0	16	2	+14	16
align=left	Werder Bremen	6	|	1	3	12	12	0	7
align=left	Udinese	6	|	1	3	10	12	−2	7
align=left	Panathinaikos	6	|	1	4	4	16	−12	4

|bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Group stage |colspan=3| 5 3 1 0

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
align=left	Arsenal	6	|	1	0	10	2	+8	16
align=left	Ajax	6	|	2	1	10	6	+4	11
align=left	Thun	6	|	1	4	4	9	−5	4
align=left	Sparta Prague	6	|	2	4	2	9	−7	2

|- valign=top bgcolor=#c1e0ff |Opponent |Result |Legs |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Knockout stage |Opponent |Result |Legs |- | Chelsea |3–2 |2–1 away; 1–1 home |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|First knockout round | Real Madrid |1–0 |1–0 away; 0–0 home |- | Benfica |2–0 |0–0 away; 2–0 home |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Quarter-finals | Juventus |2–0 |2–0 home; 0–0 away |- | Milan |1–0 |1–0 away; 0–0 home |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Semi-finals | Villarreal |1–0 |1–0 home; 0–0 away |}

Build-up

UEFA awarded the right to host the final to the Stade de France in Saint-Denis after considering its merits in terms of capacity, stadium infrastructure and dossiers including city and airport agreements and promotional plans. UEFA also conducted a variety of site visits. The Stade de France previously staged the 2000 UEFA Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Valencia, which Madrid won 3–0 and was the first time two clubs from the same country had faced each other in the final. Saint-Denis was chosen to host the final in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the first European Cup final in 1956, held in nearby Paris at the Parc des Princes, now home of Paris Saint-Germain. The Parc des Princes also hosted the 1975 and 1981 European Cup finals, the 1978 and 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finals, and the 1998 UEFA Cup Final.

Barcelona were to show the match live from their Mini Estadi on a television screen for an estimated audience of 15,276. Before the final an estimated 1.2 million people converged on to the streets of Barcelona, as the team toured the city on two open-top double-decker buses to celebrate winning La Liga. Arsenal went into the match with the record for the longest time without a conceding a goal. They had gone 919 minutes without conceding since conceding against AFC Ajax in the group stages. Arsenal were featuring in their first European final six years to the day since their last final. They faced Galatasaray in the 2000 UEFA Cup Final; the match had finished goalless after 90 minutes and extra time. Arsenal lost the subsequent penalty shootout 4–1. Of the players who featured in that final, only Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp remained at the club, whilst Sylvinho, who had featured for Arsenal in the final, was now a Barcelona player. The 2006 final was the first time that Arsenal had reached the showpiece match; in doing so they became the first club from London to feature in the final. Barcelona were appearing in the final for the fifth time; their last appearance had been in a 4–0 loss to Milan in 1994. Two more losses preceded the 1994 final (1961 and 1986), and their only success in the competition came in 1992 when they beat Sampdoria. Going into the final Barcelona, had won their domestic league the fortnight before the final. They were regarded as being the best side on the continent, owing to the fact they possessed players such as Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o. Barcelona player Deco dismissed the notion of Barcelona being favourites, insisting they would not be complacent: "Milan were winning 3–0 last year against Liverpool and ended up losing in the end. We need to be serious, calm and fully concentrated so that we don't make any errors".

Neither side had been beaten en route to the final, with Arsenal only conceding two goals in their 12 matches before the final, including a record ten successive matches without conceding. Barcelona, on the other hand, had scored 114 goals in all competitions before the final. The two finalists were guaranteed a financial windfall from their progress to the final. Arsenal would receive a revenue of around €37.3m if they won and approximately €34.7m if they lost. Barcelona would earn €31.5m from revenue if they won, and around €28.9m if they were to lose. Included in the total for participating in the final, the UEFA Champions League winners would collect approximately €6.4m, with the runners-up receiving approximately €3.8m. The final marked the appearance of a new trophy following Liverpool's triumph over Milan the previous year. As Liverpool won the competition for the fifth time they were entitled to keep the trophy, creating the need for a new trophy.

Barcelona were expected to line up in a 4–2–3–1 formation, with Ronaldinho, Ludovic Giuly and Deco supporting Samuel Eto'o who would be deployed as the lone striker. They had doubts about the fitness of Lionel Messi going into the final. He had pulled a thigh muscle during the second leg of their match with Chelsea, and had not played since, though he was included in the 22 man squad for the final. Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard stated he would leave it late before deciding whether to select him. Despite being included in the squad Messi did not feature in the final. Arsenal were expected to line up in a 4–5–1 formation, with Thierry Henry as the sole striker. There was much discussion about whether José Antonio Reyes would take the place of Robert Pirès on the left of midfield. It had been announced before the match that this would be Pirès' last match as he had agreed to join Villarreal next season.

On the morning of the final it emerged that the assistant referee for the game Ole Hermann Borgan had posed for photographs in a Barcelona shirt for ''Drammens Tidende'', a Norwegian newspaper. After initially sticking by the official, UEFA eventually decided to replace him with fellow Norwegian Arild Sundet. Norway's head of refereeing Rune Pedersen stated that "It is an unwritten rule that referees should not do anything that can doubt their impartial stance".

Match

Summary

Barcelona fielded a 4–3–3 formation with Mark van Bommel and Edmílson lining up in midfield alongside Deco, ahead of Xavi and Andrés Iniesta. Lionel Messi did not feature in the match day squad, despite returning from injury and featuring in the 22 man squad, whilst Henrik Larsson in potentially his last game for the club was among the substitutes. Arsenal fielded a 4–5–1 formation, which saw Emmanuel Eboué replace the injured Lauren, and Ashley Cole return at left-back to make only his third appearance in the competition that season due to injury. Thierry Henry was deployed as the lone striker, with Fredrik Ljungberg playing off his shoulder. As both teams' first choice colours featured claret, Arsenal wore their yellow away strip, whilst Barcelona wore their traditional blue and maroon striped kit. Arsenal won the coin toss and Barcelona kicked off. Barcelona almost immediately came under pressure when Thierry Henry shot straight at Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés, who conceded a corner. From the resulting corner Arsenal had another chance again courtesy of Henry, whose shot was again saved by Valdés. The next attack in the seventh minute resulted in Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann saving from Ludovic Giuly after he shot from a narrow angle. Four minutes later Barcelona were awarded a free-kick from goal; Ronaldinho subsequently shot wide of the goal. With 18 minutes played, Lehmann became the first person to be sent off in a European Cup final after he brought down Samuel Eto'o outside the Arsenal box. Giuly subsequently scored, but the goal was ruled out due to the foul. Arsenal subsequently substituted Robert Pirès for Manuel Almunia, Arsenal's substitute goalkeeper. The free-kick was sent wide by Ronaldinho. Following Lehmann's dismissal Barcelona began to exert more pressure on Arsenal, to the point where Emmanuel Eboué was cautioned for a high tackle. Arsenal overcame their numerical disadvantage to score in the 35th minute when Sol Campbell headed in from a free-kick following Carles Puyol's foul on Emmanuel Eboué, although some observers believed that Eboué appeared to dive. Arsenal held onto their lead for the remainder of the half, as Barcelona's best chance came courtesy of Eto'o, whose shot hit the post via a save from Almunia.

Barcelona replaced Edmílson, who had picked up an injury in the first half, with Andrés Iniesta for the second half in an effort to equalise. The period immediately after half‑time saw few chances, but after six minutes of the second half Iniesta had a shot saved by Almunia. Just after an hour's play, Barcelona substituted Mark van Bommel for striker Henrik Larsson. Minutes later, Alexander Hleb received a pass from Henry but shot wide of the goal. Arsenal began to press forward and both Henry and Fredrik Ljungberg saw shots saved; Henry then had another chance to score after being put through by Hleb, but he shot straight at Valdés. Following this attack Oleguer was replaced by Juliano Belletti, and Arsenal responded by replacing Cesc Fàbregas with Mathieu Flamini. Immediately following the substitutions, Iniesta sent a pass down the left flank for Larsson, who passed to Eto'o, who equalised for Barcelona. Four minutes later Barcelona had another attack, as Larsson crossed to Belletti, who ran onto the ball and shot through Almunia's legs to score at the near post. The remaining minutes saw Arsenal replace Hleb with Reyes in an attempt to equalise, but Barcelona had the best chance during this period, only for Giuly to hit his shot straight at Almunia. Following this, Larsson impeded the Arsenal goalkeeper and was cautioned as a result.

The match finished soon after with Barcelona winning 2–1. A podium was hastily arranged in the middle of the pitch to present the trophy and medals to the teams. Barcelona captain Carles Puyol collected the trophy from UEFA president Lennart Johansson as Barcelona celebrated their second European Cup triumph. As a result of winning the UEFA Champions League, Barcelona would face Sevilla, the winners of the UEFA Cup, in the UEFA Super Cup. The subsequent match, played on the 25 August 2006, was won 3–0 by Sevilla. Barcelona's victory meant they would also participate in the FIFA Club World Cup. Receiving a bye in the first round, they beat Club América 4–0 in the semi-finals to progress to the final where they faced Copa Libertadores champions Internacional, who won 1–0.

Details

{{footballbox |date = 17 May 2006 |time = 20:45 CEST |team1 = Barcelona |score = 2 – 1 |report = (Report) |team2 = Arsenal |goals1 = Eto'o Belletti |goals2 = Campbell |stadium = Stade de France, Saint-Denis |attendance = 79,500 |referee = Terje Hauge (Norway) }}

{| width=92% | |- | | |}

{| width="100%" |valign="top" width="50%"| {| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" |colspan="4"|BARCELONA: |- !width="25"| !!width="25"| |- |GK ||1 || Víctor Valdés |- |RB ||23|| Oleguer || || |- |CB ||4 || Rafael Márquez |- |CB ||5 || Carles Puyol (c) |- |LB ||12|| Giovanni van Bronckhorst |- |DM ||15|| Edmílson || || |- |CM ||20|| Deco |- |CM ||17|| Mark van Bommel || || |- |RW ||8 || Ludovic Giuly |- |LW ||10|| Ronaldinho |- |CF ||9 || Samuel Eto'o |- |colspan=3|Substitutes: |- |GK ||25|| Albert Jorquera |- |DF ||2 || Juliano Belletti || || |- |DF ||16|| Sylvinho |- |MF ||3 || Thiago Motta |- |MF ||6 || Xavi |- |MF ||24|| Andrés Iniesta || || |- |FW ||7 || Henrik Larsson || || |- |colspan=3|Manager: |- |colspan=4| Frank Rijkaard |} |valign="top"| |valign="top" width="50%"| {| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align=center |colspan="4"|ARSENAL: |- !width=25| !!width=25| |- |GK ||1 || Jens Lehmann || |- |RB ||27|| Emmanuel Eboué || |- |CB ||28|| Kolo Touré |- |CB ||23|| Sol Campbell |- |LB ||3 || Ashley Cole |- |RM ||7 || Robert Pirès || || |- |CM ||19|| Gilberto Silva |- |CM ||15|| Cesc Fàbregas || || |- |LM ||13|| Alexander Hleb || || |- |SS ||8 || Fredrik Ljungberg |- |CF ||14|| Thierry Henry (c) || |- |colspan=3|Substitutes: |- |GK ||24|| Manuel Almunia || || |- |DF ||20|| Philippe Senderos |- |DF ||22|| Gaël Clichy |- |MF ||16|| Mathieu Flamini || || |- |FW ||9 || José Antonio Reyes || || |- |FW ||10|| Dennis Bergkamp |- |FW ||11|| Robin van Persie |- |colspan=3|Manager: |- |colspan=4| Arsène Wenger |} |} {| width=100% style="font-size: 90%" | Man of the Match: Ronaldinho (Barcelona)

Assistant referees: Steinar Holvik (Norway) Arild Sundet (Norway) Fourth official: Tom Henning Øvrebø (Norway) |}

Statistics

	Barcelona	Arsenal
Goals scored	0
Total shots	8
Shots on target	3
Ball possession	59%
Corner kicks	1
Fouls committed	10
Offsides	0
Yellow cards	0
Red cards	0

	Barcelona	Arsenal
Goals scored	2
Total shots	20
Shots on target	9
Ball possession	64%
Corner kicks	3
Fouls committed	20
Offsides	1
Yellow cards	2
Red cards	0

Post-match

Much of the discussion after the match centred around referee Terje Hauge's decision to send off Lehmann. Football pundit Mark Lawrenson stated: "The game changed when Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was sent off". Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger agreed: "When Jens Lehmann got sent off, that left us with 70 minutes to play with ten against eleven, against a team that retains the ball very well". He refused to openly criticise this decision, although he did criticise the decision to award Barcelona's first goal, as he felt that Samuel Eto'o was offside. Wenger was also adamant that his young side would bounce back from the defeat. One person who did criticise the referee was Thierry Henry, stating: "I was kicked all over the place. I expected the referee to do his job. I don't think he did". There was much discussion after the match over whether Henry would remain with Arsenal or move to Barcelona, whom he had been linked with a move to over the past months. Arsène Wenger was asked post match if Henry would leave, to which the Arsenal manager replied: "I don't know. I don't think so". However, on 19 May, Henry signed a new four-year contract with Arsenal, ending the speculation about a possible move to Barcelona.

Thierry Henry paid tribute to Larsson's contribution to Barcelona's win after the game, saying, "People always talk about Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Giuly and everything, but I didn't see them today, I saw Henrik Larsson. He came on, he changed the game, that is what killed the game. Sometimes you talk about Ronaldinho and Eto'o and people like that; you need to talk about the proper footballer who made the difference, and that was Henrik Larsson tonight." Indeed his ability to give Barcelona the cutting edge required to overcome Arsenal was noted by the international press.

Henrik Larsson, who provided the two assists for the goals, was delighted with the triumph and had no regrets over deciding to leave Barcelona after the match: "I want to play football. I feel I haven't played as much as I would love to because of the great players we have at Barcelona". Fellow Barcelona player Giovanni van Bronckhorst was emotional as he won against his former club: "It's special to win the final, and even more special to do it against your old team". Samuel Eto'o, scorer of Barcelona's first goal, cited Liverpool's comeback against Milan as inspiration for Barcelona's victory: "After having seen what Liverpool did last year, we told ourselves not to throw in the towel. We followed Liverpool's example". Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard praised the role of goalkeeper Victor Valdés in their victory, stating that he made a number of important saves to keep them in the match: "Valdes played a decisive role. He saved us at crucial moments".

References

External links

UEFA Champions League Finals official site

Final Champions League Final European Cup Final 2006 European Cup Final 2006 2006 European Cup Final 2006 2006

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