The 2012 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match between
Bayern Munich of Germany and Chelsea of England, played at the Allianz Arena in
Munich, Germany, to decide the winner of the 2011-12 season of the UEFA
Champions League, Europe's premier club football tournament organized annually
by the UEFA confederation. Chelsea became the first London club to capture the
Champions League after winning the match on penalties after the game finished
1–1 with extra time. The game was the culmination of the 57th season of the
tournament, and the 20th since it was renamed the Champions League.
It was the first Champions League Final to be held in the Allianz Arena
(known as "Fußball Arena München" for the final) which opened in
2005. With Bayern being one of two tenants of the Arena, it was the first time
since 1984 that a finalist had home stadium advantage. Didier
Drogba get the honors man of the match. FC Barcelona were not in Munich to
defend their European title, but Lionel Messi won the top scorer honors for a
record fourth successive season with an unsurpassed 14 goals.
2011/12 UEFA Champions League top scorers:
14 Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona), 12 Mario Gomez (FC Bayern München),10 Cristiano
Ronaldo (Real Madrid CF),7 Karim Benzema, (Real Madrid CF),6 Didier Drogba
(Chelsea FC),5 José Callejón (Real Madrid FC).
The teams had not met before in the final. Bayern entered the competition as
four-time winners from eight final appearances, most recently losing in 2010,
while Chelsea had reached the final just once before, losing on penalties in 2008.
Defending champions Barcelona were eliminated by Chelsea in the semi-finals.
Neither team reached the final as champions of their 2011–12 domestic leagues
(the Bundesliga and Premier League, respectively), although Chelsea won the 2012
FA Cup Final. The winners, Chelsea, will play the 2011-12 Europa League winners
Atletico Madrid of Spain in the 2012 UEFA Super Cup, and also enter the
semi-finals of the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup as the UEFA representative.
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), while Chelsea
overcame Napoli, Benfica, and the defending champions Barcelona (3–2 on
aggregate). 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 while Bayern lost the Final of the
DFB-Pokal 2–5 to Borussia Dortmund.
Both clubs lost their most recent Champions League final, Bayern in 2010 to
Internazionale 0–2, Chelsea in 2008 to Manchester United on penalties after a
1–1 draw. While that was Chelsea's only Champions League final, Bayern have
played in eight Champions League/European Cup finals, winning four (1974,1975,1976,2001)
and losing four (1982.1987,1999and 2010).They have 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.
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 organizing committee, UEFA's 53 national football
associations, and commercial and broadcast partners. Former German player Paul
Breitner was named as the ambassador for the final. The UEFA Champions Festival
was held at Munich's Olympia park from 16–19 May. An official public screening
of the final took place at the Olympiastadion during the match, with capacity
for 65,000 fans including a section for Chelsea supporters. A second public
screening was planned on the Theresienwiese, where the famous Oktoberfest takes
place.
