Top 10 Champions League Finals

jonjoward1998
May 7, 2025
10 min read

I would normally do a European football related top 10 later in the week but with this week being a Champions League week, I've decided to do a Champions League related top 10.

This week's European football top 10 is Champions League finals.

The Champions League final is the stage of the competition that every top team in Europe wants to reach and a lot of them have been lucky enough to not just reach the final, but win it.

We have seen a number of great finals in the Champions League over the years and a lot of them have been remembered for specific moments such Liverpool's great comeback against AC Milan in 2005, Didier Drogba scoring with his final kick of a ball for Chelsea in 2012, and Man United's two late goals against Bayern Munich in 1999 and so on and so forth.

Those three finals are all in the list along with some other good finals that were closely contested and good games to watch.

Now here is the list.

Man United v Bayern Munich - 1999

Borussia Dortmund v Bayern Munich - 2013

Bayern Munich v Chelsea - 2012

Barcelona v Arsenal - 2006

Liverpool v AC Milan - 2005

Bayern Munich v Valencia - 2001

Man United v Chelsea - 2008

Real Madrid v Liverpool - 2018

Juventus v Real Madrid - 1998

Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - 2016

Juventus v Real Madrid

I had to have this final in 10th because there weren't many clear cut chances between the two chances.

That was certainly the case in the first half but in the second half, the game did open up more with Juventus having the better of the chances.

Despite having the amount of chances they did, Juve weren't able to take them with their best one coming through Filippo Inzaghi when his first time volley was saved by Bodo Illgner in the Real goal.

Those missed chances soon came back to bite them as Real would go up the other end and score through Predrag Mijatovic after he pounced on a loose ball from a Juve interception.

Juve had the chance to equalise towards the end through Edgar Davids after he weaved his way past a few Real Madrid defenders, but his shot went straight at keeper.

Real would go on to hold on for the win and claim their first European cup in 32 years. This win meant a lot to them because of how long they had to wait to win a European Cup.

Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid

These two met in the 2014 final and were back at the same stage two years later.

This final was arguably the better of the two as it was a closer contest with both teams really going for it.

Real certainly made the brighter start and they got the lead their early dominance deserved when Sergio Ramos poked in Gareth Bale's flick on from Toni Kroos' free kick. But in truth, the goal shouldn't have stood as Ramos was in an offside position when Bale headed the ball in his direction and had VAR been around back then, the goal would've been chalked off.

Atletico soon grew into the game after going behind and they had a great chance to equalise at the beginning of the second half when they were awarded a penalty after Fernando Torres was brought down by Pepe. But Antoine Griezmann wasted that chance as he sent his penalty towards the crossbar.

Diego Simeone's side really went for it from that point as they had a number of good chances and their pressure soon got the reward it deserved when Yannick Carrasco equalised after converting Juanfran's low cross in the 79th minute.

Both teams had chances after the equalising goal but neither of them could find a winner which led the game to going to extra time. Both teams couldn't be separated during that period either and the game soon went to penalties.

Real won the shootout by scoring all five of their penalties with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the winning spot kick to win Real their 11th European cup.

Bayern Munich v Valencia

This final was best remembered for Oliver Kahn's incredible performance in the shootout where he saved three penalties.

In the game itself, three penalties were awarded and two of them were scored. The first one was for a handball from Patrik Andersson after he went to ground, and it was Gaizka Mendieta who converted it to give Valencia the perfect start when he scored his after just 3 minutes to put the Spanish side ahead.

The second penalty was given after Bayern's Stefan Effenberg was brought down by Jocelyn Angloma a few minutes later, but Mehmet Scholl didn't make the most of the opportunity as his spot kick was saved by Santiago Canizares in the Valencia goal to keep the score at 1-0, even though Canizares wasn't on his goal goal when Scholl took the penalty. That penalty would've been re-taken in today's game.

The third penalty was given at the beginning of the second half when the ball hit Amedeo Carboni's, resulting in the penalty being given. Bayern converted it this time as Effenberg stroked the ball into the bottom right hand corner.

The game went to penalties after the two sides were inseparable after both full time and extra time, and the shootout was when Kahn stole the show.

His first save from Zlatko Zahovic's spot kick kept the score at 2-2 and his second save came from the following penalty, where he denied Amedeo Carboni. His third save from Mauricio Pellegrino's spot kick was the crucial one as it was the one that won the final and the competition for Bayern.

He was arguably the best keeper in the world at the time and he showed it in this final.

Real Madrid v Liverpool

There were three memorable moments from this final in Mo Salah injuring his shoulder after his tussle with Sergio Ramos, Loris Karius' mistake for Real Madrid's first goal, and Gareth Bale's incredible bicycle kick.

Salah going off was definitely a turning point in the game because Liverpool were causing Real a lot of problems in the first half with their runs in behind. They were arguably the better side during that period of the game and going back to the Salah incident, I was surprised that Ramos wasn't carded because he pulled Salah down.

Real took control of the game after that moment and were gifted the opening goal by Loris Karius early in the first half, when he threw the ball straight at Karim Benzema who scored the goal.

Liverpool soon responded when Sadio Mane headed in the equaliser four minutes later, before from out of nowhere, Gareth Bale stepped off the bench and scored that incredible bicycle kick, which I wrote about on top 10 goals.

Bale would later grab another towards the end with Karius once again at fault as he let the ball slip through his fingers.

It was revealed after the game that Karius was concussed following a collision with Ramos during the game which could've impacted his performance on the day. This game proved to be his final one for Liverpool and the one that prompted the reds to get Alisson.

The score line may have been 3-1 to Real Madrid, but Liverpool were actually in the game for the entire match as they had a number of good chances and even after Salah went off.

Barcelona v Arsenal

Arsenal spent most of this final with 10 men after keeper Jens Lehmann was sent off in the 18th minute for a foul just outside the box on Samuel Eto'o.

They started the final quite brightly and they did well to stay in the game after Lehmann was sent off as Barca piled a lot of pressure on them.

Despite being a man down and spending much of the first half on the back foot, they went into half time a goal up when Sol Campbell headed in Thierry Henry's free kick.

Barca piled even more pressure on them in the second half as they had the Gunners on the back foot for much of the half. But despite having to defend for most of the half, Arsenal did have some decent chances to add to their lead in between some of the chances Barca had.

Barca's relentless pressure soon paid off when Samuel Eto'o equalized in the 76th minute before Juliano Belletti put the ball through Manuel Alumunia's legs a few minutes later to win the game for Barca.

Arsenal did well to stay in the game for as long as they did and especially with 10 men. But Barca's relentless pressure was always going to pay off.

Man United v Chelsea

This final was the first all-English final and both teams were eager to win it. Alex Ferguson wanted to win another Champions League after winning one in 1999, and Chelsea were a side who were yet to win it and had a group of players at the time who had won everything but this competition.

The game did get of to a cagey start, but it soon opened up after Cristiano Ronaldo opening the scoring with his headed goal from Wes Brown's cross.

United had Chelsea on the back foot for much of the first half and after missing some big opportunities including two by Carlos Tevez, Frank Lampard equalised against the run of play just before half time when he ran into the box to pounce on a double deflection from Vidic and Ferdinand.

Lampard's goal appeared to wake Chelsea up as they piled a lot of pressure on United in the second half. But despite having so many chances, they couldn't find a way past the United defence.

The game went to extra time where both teams had some decent chances with United arguably having the better of them. Drogba was also sent off for slapping Nemanja Vidic towards the end.

The game then went to penalties and delivered an incredible shootout that went all the way to sudden death.

Ronaldo surprisingly missed his penalty as it was saved by Petr Cech due to it being too central which is very unlike Ronaldo as he usually goes for the corners. But the biggest miss of the shootout was definitely John Terry's as it was his famous slip just as he hit the ball, and Chelsea's fifth in the shootout meaning that had he scored, they would've won.

United scored the rest of their penalties after Ronaldo missed and it was Van Der Sar who was the hero as he saved Chelsea's final spot kick from Nicolas Anelka to win the cup for United.

Bayern Munich v Chelsea

Bayern Munich were massive favourites heading into this final and especially as it was being played in their own stadium.

Bayern were definitely the better side early on as they had most of the ball and the better chances, which they weren't able to convert.

Their dominance continued in the second half as they continued to threaten Chelsea's goal. Chelsea had to be resilient and organised defensively due to the pressure Bayern were putting them under and they did well to stay in the game until Thomas Muller headed in the opener towards that end.

That goal appeared to break Chelsea's hearts until Didier Drogba stepped up and headed in the equaliser a few minutes from time to take the game to extra time. Drogba was a man for the big occasions on his day and he showed it again in this final.

He almost went from hero to zero as he gave away a penalty in extra time after fouling Franck Ribery to give Bayern the chance to retake the lead. But Arjen Robben ended up sending his penalty straight at Petr Cech.

The game later went to penalties after extra time couldn't separate them and it was Drogba who was the hero and he scored the final spot kick, which turned out to be his final kick of a ball for Chelsea, to win the blues their first European Cup.

Borussia Dortmund v Bayern Munich

This final was the first all-German final and it was between the two best teams in Germany.

Dortmund made the brighter start as they put Bayern under a lot of pressure and forced Manuel Neuer to make some important saves. They did the latter a lot throughout the first half, but Bayern also had a number of decent chances.

Bayern started the second half the stronger side and they took the lead through Mario Mandzukic after Arjen Robben went round Roman Weidenfeller to set up the big Croatian. But Dortmund soon responded through an Ilkay Gundogan penalty, after Dante brought down Marco Reus.

Bayern had the majority and the better of the chances following Dortmund's equaliser and especially towards the end as they created a lot of decent opportunities and forced Weidenfeller to make some good saves.

They finally got the winner their pressure deserved when Robben ran on to Frack Ribery's through ball to score the winner and win Bayern the cup.

Man United v Bayern Munich

Alex Ferguson was desperate to win this final so he could put himself into the same category as Matt Busby in terms of legendary managers. He had won everything domestically at United, but the Champions League was the one he wanted and the one he needed.

His Man United side were second best for the majority of the final as Bayern had the majority of the chances and were ahead after just six minutes through Mario Basler's free kick.

United needed something special to keep their hopes alive heading into the final minutes and they got it in stoppage time when Teddy Sheringham got on the end of Ryan Giggs' shot to score the equaliser before his headed flick on set up Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to score the winner a matter of moments later.

Both Sheringham and Solskjaer made a difference when they came off the bench as they injected some energy into United's performance, and gave United more of a goal threat.

Those two came off the bench several times during the season and they always stepped up whenever they were asked to, just like they did in the 1999 final.

Liverpool v AC Milan

I wrote about this final in Champions League moments where I had it at no.1 and I just had to have it at no.1 for this one too.

AC Milan were massive favourites heading into this final and it looked like they already had one hand on the trophy after completely outplaying Liverpool in the first half.

But Liverpool somehow pulled off the most unlikely of comebacks with Steven Gerrard at the heart of it as he single headedly inspired Liverpool to turn the game around. This game was Gerrard at his best until maybe a year later in the FA Cup final against West Ham.

It was his goal in the 54th minute that got Liverpool back in the game before Vladimir Smicer scored just a couple of minutes later when he struck the ball into the bottom right hand corner from outside the box.

Xabi Alonso was the player who completed the turn around after he latched onto the rebound of his saved penalty to score the equaliser.

Milan did have a chance to win it during extra time through Andriy Shevchenko, but his effort was saved by Jerzy Dudek who then saved his rebounded shot also.

The game soon went to penalties and it was keeper Jerzy Dudek who was the hero yet again as he saved spot kicks from Pirlo and Shevchenko. HIs save from Shevchenko's penalty was the one that won Liverpool the final after they scored 3 of the four penalties they took.

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