2012 UEFA Champions League Final

The 2012 UEFA Champions League Final was an association football match which took place on Saturday, 19 May 2012 between Bayern Munich of Germany and Chelsea of England at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany. The match was to decide the winner of the 2011–12 season of the UEFA Champions League, Europe's premier club football tournament. Bayern were making their ninth appearance in the competition's final, having won four and lost four, most recently losing in 2010. Chelsea were appearing in their second final, having lost their first in 2008.

2012 UEFA Champions League Final
Match programme cover
Event2011–12 UEFA Champions League
Bayern Munich Chelsea
1 1
After extra time
Chelsea won 4–3 on penalties
Date19 May 2012 (2012-05-19)
VenueAllianz Arena, Munich
UEFA Man of the MatchDidier Drogba (Chelsea)[1]
Fans' Man of the MatchPetr Čech (Chelsea)[2]
RefereePedro Proença (Portugal)[3]
Attendance62,500[4]
WeatherPartly cloudy
20 °C (68 °F)
38% humidity[5]

It was the first Champions League final to be held at the Allianz Arena (known as Fußball Arena München for the final). As tenants of the Arena, this meant Bayern were the first finalists to have home advantage since 1984. Both teams progressed to the knockout stages by finishing top of their group. Bayern then beat Basel, Marseille and Real Madrid to reach the final, while Chelsea knocked out Napoli, Benfica and defending champions Barcelona.

Bayern took the lead late in the second half through Thomas Müller,[6] but Didier Drogba equalised for Chelsea five minutes later to take the game to extra time, in which Arjen Robben missed an awarded penalty, Petr Čech saving the low drive. The teams stayed level at 1–1 and the match went to a penalty shoot-out, which Chelsea won 4–3 to clinch their first Champions League title.[7] In doing so, they became the first London club to win the tournament, the fifth English club and 22nd overall.

As winners, Chelsea took part in the 2012 UEFA Super Cup, losing 4–1 to Atlético Madrid, the winners of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. The victory also allowed them to enter the following season's Champions League competition (having failed to qualify for it by their league finishing position) at the expense of London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, who would otherwise have entered the competition having finished fourth in the Premier League. Chelsea also represented UEFA at the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup, entering at the semi-final stage; however, they were beaten 1–0 by Corinthians in the final.

Venue
The Allianz Arena in Champions League final livery

The Allianz Arena was announced by UEFA as the venue of the 2012 final on 30 January 2010, although the stadium was referred to as "Fußball Arena München" for the match, as UEFA does not recognise sponsorship by companies that are not among its partner organisations.[8] The stadium, which opened in 2005, was then the home stadium of both Bayern Munich and 1860 Munich, and was used for six matches at the 2006 FIFA World Cup including the opening match.

The stadium was hosting its first major European final. The Olympiastadion in Munich, the previous home of Bayern Munich and 1860 Munich, hosted three European Cup finals; in 1979, 1993 and 1997.[9] On each previous occasion, a European Cup final held in Munich had produced a first-time winner of the competition (Nottingham Forest, Olympique Marseille and Borussia Dortmund).[10]

During the match, the stadium was illuminated in green and turquoise to represent the official UEFA emblem of the Munich final, as the outer shell of the Allianz Arena can change colour.[11]

Background

To reach the final, in the knockout phase Bayern defeated Basel, Marseille, and Real Madrid (3–1 on penalties after a 3–3 aggregate score),[12] while Chelsea overcame Napoli,[13] Benfica,[14] and the defending champions Barcelona (3–2 on aggregate).[15]

Both teams reached the final having already lost out in their domestic leagues (the Bundesliga and Premier League respectively), but having also reached the final of their domestic cup competitions (the DFB-Pokal and FA Cup respectively), to be played prior to the Champions League Final. Chelsea won the FA Cup by defeating Liverpool 2–1,[16] while Bayern lost the Final of the DFB-Pokal 5–2 to Borussia Dortmund.[17]

Both clubs had lost their most recent Champions League final – Bayern in 2010 to Inter Milan 2–0 and Chelsea in 2008 in an all-English clash with Manchester United on penalties after a 1–1 draw. While that was Chelsea's only Champions League final, Bayern had previously played in eight Champions League/European Cup finals, winning four (1974, 1975, 1976, 2001) and losing four (1982, 1987, 1999 and 2010). The clubs had only met each other once in Europe before, with Chelsea winning 6–5 on aggregate in the quarter-finals of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League.[18]

The match marked the fourth time that a team had played at their home ground in the history of the European Cup, after 1957, 1965 and 1984, and the first time since the tournament was rebranded to the UEFA Champions League. For this reason, fans of Bayern Munich called the match "Finale dahoam" (Bavarian for "final at home"). This was the first time since 2007 that neither of the participants were champions of their domestic league. This was the sixth time that an English side and a German side had met in a European Cup/Champions League final; the other occasions were 1975, 1977, 1980, 1982 and 1999. It was also Bayern's fourth time facing an English side in the European Cup/Champions League final, having won in 1975 vs. Leeds United and lost in 1982 vs. Aston Villa and 1999 to Manchester United.

Road to final
Further information: 2011–12 UEFA Champions League
Bayern Munich Round Chelsea
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Qualifying phase Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Zürich 3–0 2–0 (H) 1–0 (A) Play-off round Bye
Opponent Result Group stage Opponent Result
Villarreal 2–0 (A) Matchday 1 Bayer Leverkusen 2–0 (H)
Manchester City 2–0 (H) Matchday 2 Valencia 1–1 (A)
Napoli 1–1 (A) Matchday 3 Genk 5–0 (H)
Napoli 3–2 (H) Matchday 4 Genk 1–1 (A)
Villarreal 3–1 (H) Matchday 5 Bayer Leverkusen 1–2 (A)
Manchester City 0–2 (A) Matchday 6 Valencia 3–0 (H)
Group A winner
Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Bayern Munich 6 13
2 Napoli 6 11
3 Manchester City 6 10
4 Villarreal 6 0
Source:
Final standings Group E winner
Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Chelsea 6 11
2 Bayer Leverkusen 6 10
3 Valencia 6 8
4 Genk 6 3
Source:
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Knockout phase Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Basel 7–1 0–1 (A) 7–0 (H) Round of 16 Napoli 5–4 1–3 (A) 4–1 (a.e.t.) (H)
Marseille 4–0 2–0 (A) 2–0 (H) Quarter-finals Benfica 3–1 1–0 (A) 2–1 (H)
Real Madrid 3–3 (3–1 p) 2–1 (H) 1–2 (a.e.t.) (A) Semi-finals Barcelona 3–2 1–0 (H) 2–2 (A)

Pre-match

Ticketing

The two teams each received 17,500 tickets to distribute to their supporters. A further 7,000 tickets were available for sale to fans worldwide via UEFA.com, with prices between €70 and €370. The remaining tickets were allocated to the local organising committee, UEFA's 53 national football associations, and commercial and broadcast partners.[19]

Ambassador

Former German player Paul Breitner was named as the ambassador for the final.[20]

Opening ceremony

The UEFA Champions League Anthem was performed by German tenor Jonas Kaufmann and violinist David Garrett.[21]

Festival and live screenings

The UEFA Champions Festival was held at Munich's Olympiapark from 16–19 May.[22] An official public screening of the final took place at the Olympiastadion during the match,[23] with capacity for 65,000 fans, including a section for Chelsea supporters.[24] A second public screening was planned on the Theresienwiese, where the famous Oktoberfest takes place.[25]

Match

Team selection
Didier Drogba scored the equalising goal and the winning penalty.

Both clubs had players missing due to suspensions; Bayern were missing David Alaba, Holger Badstuber and Luiz Gustavo, while Chelsea were without Branislav Ivanović, Raul Meireles, Ramires and John Terry.[26][27] Terry was suspended after being sent off in the semi-final, which automatically excludes a player from the final. The other six all received yellow cards in the semi-finals, which took them over the limit of a third yellow card of the competition, which triggers an automatic suspension from the next match. Players union FIFPro appealed to UEFA to allow the players with yellow cards to play, seeing the punishment of "missing the match of your life" as too harsh; UEFA rejected the appeal and stated the rule would not be reviewed for at least three years.[28] Ivanović stated how he "had no idea [he] was one booking away from missing the Champions League final."[29] UEFA confirmed that Chelsea captain Terry would be allowed to lift the trophy should Chelsea win, in spite of his suspension.[30] Ryan Bertrand also got his initial first-team start as a left winger ahead of his regular left back position.

Only two of the 36 players had previously been in a winning squad in a Champions League final: Chelsea's Paulo Ferreira and José Bosingwa were in the Porto squad in 2004. Ten of the Bayern 18 had earlier been in their squad that lost the 2010 final, although only four started both games: Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Arjen Robben and Thomas Müller. Eight of the Chelsea squad had been in their losing 2008 squad, including four who started both games: Petr Čech, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.

Match summary
British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel watching the penalty shoot-out with US President Barack Obama, French President François Hollande, Portuguese Prime Minister José Manuel Barroso and others during the G8 summit.

Bayern had control for most of the match, with Robben having the best chance, which Čech deflected onto the frame of the goal with his legs. Chelsea, however, also had chances, with Salomon Kalou nearly finishing at the near post. Bayern kept pushing Chelsea to the limit but missed sitters from Mario Gómez, who sent his shot over the bar; and Robben, who was blocked at the last second by Gary Cahill. Bayern took the lead in the 83rd minute, when Toni Kroos crossed in to Müller, who headed the ball down into the ground, causing it to bounce over Čech and in off the crossbar.[7] Bayern took Müller off and replaced him with Daniel Van Buyten in an attempt to shore up the defence, but on 88 minutes, Drogba was first to a Juan Mata corner and powered a header past Manuel Neuer for the equaliser. Chelsea won a free kick just outside the area in the 93rd minute, but Drogba smashed it over. The game went to extra time. The first good chance of extra time was when Ivica Olić inside the box passed to Gómez but his shot was wide. Later, Drogba fouled Franck Ribéry in the penalty area, injuring him and earning Bayern a penalty; Robben took it, but his shot was saved by Čech.[7] In the second half of extra time, Olić attempted to set up Van Buyten instead of taking a shot and the ball rolled wide of Čech's far post.

Chelsea received the trophy from UEFA President Michel Platini.

For the first time since 2008, when Chelsea had lost to Manchester United, the European Cup would be decided by penalties. Lahm went first and scored to Čech's left, as Čech got his fingertips to the ball but was unable to keep it out. Mata took Chelsea's first penalty and his weak shot was saved by Neuer. Next was Gómez, who drilled his shot into the bottom-right corner. David Luiz took Chelsea's second penalty and scored with a powerful shot into the top corner after a long run up. Goalkeeper Neuer took Bayern's third penalty, and Čech went the right way again but was unable to keep his opposite number's low shot from creeping past him into the bottom-left corner. Lampard was next and he hit a hard shot down the middle. Olić was next, but Čech, who had guessed the correct direction for every Bayern penalty up to that point, saved to his left - Olic's final competitive kick for Bayern. With a chance to tie the shoot-out, Cole slotted his kick into the bottom-right corner, just out of Neuer's reach, leveling the scores at 3–3 and hastening sudden death. Schweinsteiger, who had scored Bayern's decisive fifth penalty against Real Madrid's Iker Casillas in the semi-finals, was their fifth penalty taker again, but Čech tipped his effort onto the post to leave Chelsea one kick away from winning the trophy. In 2008, after Drogba had been sent off in extra time, captain Terry stood in as Chelsea's fifth penalty taker with a chance to win but hit the outside of the post with his kick. Now in the same position, Drogba sent Neuer the wrong way and put his kick into the bottom-left corner to win it for Chelsea. It proved to be his final kick as a Chelsea player until his return in 2014.[7]

The victory marked not only Chelsea's first ever European Cup, but also the first time a London team had won the competition – previously, aside from Chelsea's 2008 defeat to United, which was the last time an English club had won the competition, Arsenal had also lost the 2006 final in Paris against Barcelona.[7]

Details
Bayern Munich 1–1 (a.e.t.) Chelsea
Müller  83' Report Drogba  88'
Penalties
Lahm
Gómez
Neuer
Olić
Schweinsteiger 		3–4 Mata
David Luiz
Lampard
Cole
Drogba
Attendance: 62,500[4]
Bayern Munich[5]
Chelsea[5]
GK1 Manuel Neuer
RB21 Philipp Lahm (c)
CB17 Jérôme Boateng
CB44 Anatoliy Tymoshchuk
LB26 Diego Contento
DM31 Bastian Schweinsteiger 2'
DM39 Toni Kroos
RW10 Arjen Robben
AM25 Thomas Müller 87'
LW7 Franck Ribéry 97'
CF33 Mario Gómez
Substitutes:
GK22 Hans-Jörg Butt
DF5 Daniel Van Buyten 87'
DF13 Rafinha
MF14 Takashi Usami
MF23 Danijel Pranjić
FW9 Nils Petersen
FW11 Ivica Olić 97'
Manager:
Jupp Heynckes
GK1 Petr Čech
RB17 José Bosingwa
CB4 David Luiz 86'
CB24 Gary Cahill
LB3 Ashley Cole 81'
DM12 John Obi Mikel
CM8 Frank Lampard (c)
RW21 Salomon Kalou 84'
AM10 Juan Mata
LW34 Ryan Bertrand 73'
CF11 Didier Drogba 93'
Substitutes:
GK22 Ross Turnbull
DF19 Paulo Ferreira
MF5 Michael Essien
MF6 Oriol Romeu
MF15 Florent Malouda 73'
FW9 Fernando Torres 120' 84'
FW23 Daniel Sturridge
Manager:
Roberto Di Matteo

UEFA Man of the Match:
Didier Drogba (Chelsea)[1]
Fans' Man of the Match:
Petr Čech (Chelsea)[2]
Assistant referees:
Bertino Miranda (Portugal)
Ricardo Santos (Portugal)
Fourth official:
Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain)
Additional assistant referees:
Jorge Sousa (Portugal)
Duarte Gomes (Portugal)

Match rules[31]

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Seven named substitutes.
  • Maximum of three substitutions.

Statistics

See also

References
  1. "Player Rater – Top Player – Didier Drogba". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Archived from the original on 22 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  2. "Player Rater – Top Player – Petr Čech". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  3. "Proença to officiate UEFA Champions League final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 May 2012. Archived from the original on 20 June 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  4. "Full Time Report, Final – Saturday 19 May 2012" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 19 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  5. "Tactical Line-ups – Final – Saturday 19 May 2012" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 19 May 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  6. Tim Rich (24 May 2013). "Thomas Muller: Bayern Munich couldn't handle losing a Champions League final again". The Independent. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  7. Daniel Taylor (19 May 2012). "Chelsea win Champions League on penalties over Bayern Munich". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  8. "UEFA unveil 2011 and 2012 final venues". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 30 January 2009. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
  9. "Munich finals have habit for upsets". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 March 2012. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012.
  10. "Plays of the Day: Heroes in blue". ESPN. 19 May 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  11. "Allianz Arena gets a new colour". Süddeutsche Zeitung. 30 April 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  12. "Shootout woe for Madrid". ESPN Soccernet. 25 April 2012. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  13. McNulty, Phil (14 March 2012). "Chelsea 4-1 Napoli aet (agg 5-4)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  14. Taylor, Daniel (4 April 2012). "Chelsea's Frank Lampard sinks Benfica and sets up Barcelona semi-final". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  15. Dawkes, Phil (24 April 2012). "Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea (agg 2-3)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  16. McNulty, Phil (5 May 2012). "Chelsea 2–1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  17. "Dortmund rout Bayern to claim double". ESPN Soccernet. ESPN. 12 May 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  18. "Bayern and Chelsea renew rivalry". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 26 April 2012.
  19. "UEFA Champions League Final 2012 ticket sales launched". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 29 February 2012.
  20. "Ambassador: Paul Breitner". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 March 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  21. "David Is Performing at the Champions League Final". David-Garrett.com. 19 May 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  22. "Olympiapark to stage UEFA Champions Festival". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 April 2012.
  23. "Official public screening of Champions League final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 27 April 2012.
  24. "Uefa to sell 65,000 new Munich stadium tickets for Bayern-Chelsea". Sporting Intelligence. 27 April 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  25. "Second public screening planned on Theresienwiese". Focus Online. 5 May 2012.
  26. Zuvela, Matt (25 April 2012). "Bayern in Champions League final after Madrid thriller". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
  27. Haupt, Florian (25 April 2012). "Schock für Barcelona, Triumph und Tragödie für Chelsea". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 25 April 2012.
  28. "Uefa stands by yellow cards rules for Champions League". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  29. "Ivanovic had no idea he could miss final". ESPN UK. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  30. "John Terry can lift Champions League trophy if Chelsea win final". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  31. "Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2011/12" (PDF). UEFA.com. Nyon: Union of European Football Associations. March 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  32. "Team statistics" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 19 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
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