One-country finals

23May 2013

Bajnokok Ligája

In the Champions League era, three finals have been contested between teams of the same nation. Ahead of Borussia Dortmund v Bayern Munich at Wembley on Saturday, Luke Moore looks back at how each final played out...

2000, Real Madrid 3-0 Valencia

Having dispatched both Manchester United and Bayern Munich in previous rounds, Real Madrid under Vicente Del Bosque were expected to brush a very good Valencia side aside in Paris, and so it came to pass. Valencia, inspired by Gaizka Mendieta and Claudio Lopez, had made their way to the Stade de France via defeats of Lazio and Barcelona and started the final quite brightly before being stopped in their tracks by a far post header from Fernando Morientes. After that, Real Madrid, spurred on by the brilliance of Steve McManaman (who would later be voted man of the match) had it pretty much their own way, adding to the scoreline with a Raul breakaway goal which came after an exquisite volley from the aforementioned McManaman.

Valencia would make it all the way to the final the following year, only to be beaten again, this time on penalties by Bayern Munich after a 1-1 draw.

That win was the a record eighth European Cup triumph for Madrid, and they added their ninth two seasons later at Hampden Park, overcoming Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 at Hampden Park in a game most remembered for Zinedine Zidane's over the shoulder volley.

You can back Borussia Dortmund to win 3-0 in the Correct Score market at 100.0

2003, Juventus 0-0 Milan (Milan win 3-2 on penalties)

The first European Cup Final to be staged between two Italian teams was a reasonably dull, attritional affair characterised by poor finishing and midfield battling. Milan eventually emerged victorious after 120 minutes of football was unable to separate the sides despite striking talent par excellence on the pitch. Davide Trezeguet, Alessandro Del Piero, Andriy Shevchenko and Pippo Inzaghi all drew blanks for their respective teams, and it was left to Andriy Shevchenko to score the decisive penalty and clinch Milan's sixth European Cup trophy after Dida's heroics in the shootout.

Gennaro Gattuso was imperious in the centre of the park for Milan, despite defensive superstar Paolo Maldini officially being voted man of the match, marshalling the middle third of the pitch with great authority and rugged efficiency against the two-pronged threat of Edgar Davids and Alessio Tacchinardi in the Juventus midfield. Had Milan not been so profligate with their chances, they would have emerged victorious before the need for a penalty shootout, but the Silver Goal rule (brought in for the first time for this final) was never taken advantage of and the game limped to penalties.

The win saw Shevchenko become the first Ukrainian player to lift the European Cup/Champions League, and he would go on to contest the final twice more, once again in 2005 against Liverpool and then again in another defeat in Moscow against Manchester United in 2008.

You can back 0-0 in the Correct Score market at 15.5

2008, Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea (Manchester United win 6-5 on penalties)

It was tears before bedtime for John Terry and his Chelsea teammates as their quest to lift their first Champions League came to a devastating end at the hands of Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United and the width of a Luzhniki Stadium post. It was Terry himself that stepped up to take the deciding penalty in the shootout, knowing that if he scored it the Blues would be victorious, but as his strike crashed off the post and away, United saw their chance and, via Anderson and Ryan Giggs, delivered Ferguson his second Champions League triumph courtesy of a tame effort from Nicolas Anelka which was easily saved by Edwin van der Sar.

In truth, Chelsea were unlucky to not have wrapped the game up within 90 minutes. After Frank Lampard cancelled out Cristiano Ronaldo's opening header, the west London outfit struck the woodwork twice and Van der Sar had to make a sharp save to prevent Rio Ferdinand from inadvertently putting the ball into his own net. After that Carlos Tevez spurned a chance or two, and although Chelsea had to see out the dying embers of extra time with ten men after Didier Drogba was dismissed for petulantly slapping Nemanja Vidic out of frustration with a few minutes left on the clock, they made it through to penalties unscathed.

There was to be no mercy for Chelsea manager Avram Grant, who was sacked shortly after the defeat and Chelsea would have to wait four more years to lift their first Champions League, which came in 2012 over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

You can back Borussia Dortmund to win on penalties at 14.5