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| Event | 2011–12 UEFA Champions League | |||||
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| Venue | Allianz Arena, Munich | |||||
| Referee | Pedro Proença (Portugal)[1] | |||||
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It's 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 is the first time since 1984 that a finalist has had home stadium advantage.
The teams have 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 winner of the final will play the 2011–12 Europa League winners Atlético 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.
Venue
For more details on this topic, see Allianz Arena.
The Allianz Arena was announced by UEFA as the venue of the 2012
final on 30 January 2010, although the stadium will be referred to as
"Fußball Arena München" for the match, as UEFA does not recognise
sponsorship by companies that are not among its partner organisations.[3] The stadium, which opened in 2005, is 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 will host 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.[4]
During the match, the stadium will be 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.[5] For this reason, the illuminants have to be changed, because the Allianz Arena could only glow in different forms of red, white and pale blue, so far.
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),[6] while Chelsea overcame Napoli, Benfica, and the defending champions Barcelona (3–2 on aggregate).[7]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 F.C. Internazionale Milano 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, 1999 and 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.[8]
The final will be the first time that a team will play at home during the UEFA Champions League Final, and the fourth time in the history of the European Cup, after 1957, 1965 and 1984. For this reason, the fans of Bayern Munich call this match "Finale dahoam" (bavarian for "final at home"). The final will also mark the first time since 2007 where neither of the participants are domestic league champions.
Player suspensions
Both clubs will have players missing due to suspensions. Bayern will be missing David Alaba, Holger Badstuber and Luiz Gustavo, while Chelsea will be without Branislav Ivanović, Raul Meireles, Ramires and John Terry.[9][10] John Terry was suspended after being red-carded 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.[11] Ivanović stated how he "had no idea [he] was one booking away from missing the Champions League final."[12] UEFA confirmed that Chelsea captain Terry would be allowed to lift the trophy should Chelsea win, in spite of his suspension.[13]Road to final
For more details on this topic, see 2011–12 UEFA Champions League.
 Bayern Munich |
Round |  Chelsea |
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| 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
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Final standings | Group E winner
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| 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 (aet) (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 (aet) (A) | Semi-finals | Barcelona |
3–2 | 1–0 (H) | 2–2 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chelsea may have entered the competition at the group stage, and as a top seed in Group E, but by no means were The Blues considered legitimate challengers for European football's biggest trophy.
Andre Villas-Boas' side (as it was then) were given what looked a tough group despite the lack of ‘big' names which they managed to top with 11 points, ahead of Bayer Leverkusen who finished on 10 points, as well as Valencia (8 points) and Genk (3 points).
The opening match day was a good one for Chelsea as they came up against Bayer Leverkusen at Stamford Bridge, turning the German side over 2-0 thanks to a second half goal from David Luiz, while Juan Mata killed things off in the dying moments.
Matchday two saw Chelsea travel to Valencia. A game which on paper looked incredibly tough given the Blues' stuttering league form at the time, however Frank Lampard's 56th minute strike gave them an unlikely lead. From then on it was very much a case of backs to the walls for them, and it looked as though they might have just got away with it until 87th minute when Salomon Kalou gave away a penalty which Roberto Soldado despatched with ease.
A home tie with Genk on matchday three was the perfect tonic for their previous heartbreaking outing in the competition, and the Blues dominated Genk for the full 90 minutes, coming away with a comfortable 5-0 victory. Raul Meireles opened the scoring after just eight minutes before Fernando Torres, at the time serving a domestic suspension, grabbed the first of his two goals on the night three minutes later. Branislav Ivanovic and Salomon Kalou also chipped in with strikes on a memorable night for the club.
Perhaps there was a touch of over confidence and expectancy when they travelled to Genk for the return leg a month later, where they could only manage a 1-1 draw, leaving Group E wide open. Raul Meireles opened the scoring with a thunderous drive off the underside of the crossbar, and comforting second goal was almost Chelsea's however David Luiz has his penalty saved by Laszlo Koteles. The miss would prove costly as Jelle Vossen out muscled Ashely Cole to force home an equalizing goal.
In matchday five, The Blues tasted defeat for the first time in the competition as they continued to underperform away from home, when they took on Bayer Leverkusen. Despite Dider Drogba giving them the lead shortly after half time, a second half equalizer from Eren Derdiyok and a late, late winner from Manuel Freidrich saw the Germans claim the points, and move to the top of the Group E table.
On the final matchday, Chelsea needed to beat Valencia and hope Leverkusen dropped points to top the group, and they stuck to their side of the bargain by beating the Spanish side 3-0 at Stamford Bridge thanks to a double from Didier Drogba and one from Ramires. Meanwhile in Belgium, Genk made things difficult for Leverkusen, and a 1-1 draw between the two sides saw Chelsea top the group, but a difficult tie with Napoli was now on the cards for them.
With pressure mounting on Andre Villas-Boas by the minute, his team selection at the San Paulo was deemed by many to be effectively his own resignation letter as John Terry missed out entirely, while Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard were among the senior names relegated to the bench.
This risky move spectacularly back-fired as the Londoners were downed 3-1 by the Italian side, with Ezequiel Lavezzi grabbing two goals and Edinson Cavani adding another late on to cancel out Juan Mata's opening goal.
By the time the difficult looking return leg came around, Villas-Boas had been replaced by assistant Roberto Di Matteo. The new man in charge didn't make the same mistake as his predecessor and brought in all the familiar names who had served Chelsea so well in previous years, and it paid off as they triumphed in extra time.
Having clawed back the two goals needed to tie things up, and indeed hold an away goals lead in the tie, the home crowd were stunned when Gokhan Inler's spectacular drive handed Napoli the advantage. With 15 minutes remaining though, the home side were given a lifeline when Andrea Dossena handled in the area. Frank Lampard stepped up and ensured we'd get another 30 minutes of what was a pulsating game, during which Branislav Ivanovic was the unlikely hero when he slammed the ball home from Dider Drogba's cross in the 105th minute.
This set up a quarterfinal tie with Benfica, who Chelsea made relatively light work of, winning 1-0 at the Estadio Da Luz, thanks to Salomon Kalou's late strike. In the return leg, Frank Lampard's penalty and Raul Meireles's superb 93rd minute strike made Javi Garcia's 85th minute goal for the Portuguese side on the night inconsequential.
Next however stood Chelsea's biggest test of the season so far, a semi-final clash with an all conquering Barcelona side.
The home tie was one that will live long in the memory of Blues fans who were at Stamford Bridge to see Dider Drogba give his side a 1-0 advantage to take to Camp Nou two weeks later, although it wasn't all plain sailing for Chelsea who coupled some steely defensive work with a little bit of luck as Alexis Sanchez and Pedro both struck the post for the visitors.
In the return leg, all they had to do was hold on for 90 minutes, and as they gained a 2-2 draw on the night to send them to Munich this weekend, there were long periods where it looked like they'd crash out of the tournament at the penultimate hurdle.
Things started badly when in a matter of minutes Sergio Busquets has cancelled out the first leg advantage, and Chelsea had gone a man down after John Terry needlessly and foolishly kicked Alexis Sanchez off the ball.
The uphill battle became an up-mountain battle when Andres Iniesta doubled the home side's lead giving them a 2-1 advantage on aggregate, but joy was short lived for the Catalans as Ramires scored one of the goals of the tournament to give Chelsea a priceless away goal. Having latched on to a perfectly weighted ball, the Brazilian showed some outrageous skill to lob deftly over the advancing Victor Valdes from just inside the area.
With only 45 minutes standing between Chelsea and a trip to Munich, Barcelona threw everything at them, abandoning all defensive work and pinning Chelsea into their own area. For long periods it looked as though they'd kept the door firmly shut, but the Blues shot themselves in the foot when they handed Lionel Messi the opportunity to equalize from the penalty spot.
The world's greatest player fluffed his lines and sent it high over the crossbar.
Invigorated by this, the energy levels raised and on the counter attack, substitute Fernando Torres wiped out any jokes about his £50m transfer fee by latching on to a clearance, out pacing what remained of the Barcelona defence, rounded Valdes and sent Chelsea fans around the world delirious with virtually the final kick of the game.
The win came at a cost though. Aside from John Terry's sending off meaning he misses this Saturday's showpiece, Branislav Ivanovic, Ramires and Raul Meireles all picked up bookings which mean they'll be missing.
All that however will be forgotten and forgiven if the Blues lift the Champions League trophy for the first time in their history this Sunday. Having overcome huge odds to actually make it this far, there's a very distinct possibility that this could be their moment.
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