Every Champions League final held at Wembley (2024)

Club football’s biggest fixture returns to Wembley this weekend as Borussia Dortmund take on Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

English football’s grand venue has been a regular host of European Cup finals throughout the competition’s history and Saturday’s showpiece will be the eighth to take place under the famous arch in London.

Ahead of Borussia Dortmund against Real Madrid, we’ve remembered every Champions League final held at Wembley.

AC Milan 2-1 Benfica (1963)

AC Milan’s proud history in this competition began with a 2-1 win over Benfica in the 1963 final at Wembley.

Benfica were aiming for a third consecutive European Cup after previous wins in 1961 and 1962 and went ahead through Eusebio’s goal. However, José Altafini’s double turned the game around for the Rossoneri after half-time, as Milan became the first Italian team to be crowned European champions.

Defeat for Benfica was the first since former head coach Béla Guttmann placed his ‘curse’ on the club. After winning back-to-back European Cups, the Hungarian resigned amid a pay dispute and claimed Benfica ‘would not conquer Europe again for another 100 years’.

Since then, the Portuguese side have reached five European Cup/Champions League finals (1963, 1965, 1968, 1988, and 1990) and three UEFA Cup/Europa League finals (1983, 2013 and 2014), losing them all.

Benfica 1-4 Manchester United, AET (1968)

Manchester United became the first English team to win the European Cup in 1968, as Sir Matt Busby’s side beat Benfica in extra time.

Just a decade after the Munich Air Disaster saw eight of Busby’s talented team tragically lose their lives, the Scot led the Red Devils to European success. Jaime Graça’s goal for Benfica had forced extra time after Bobby Charlton’s opener, but United ran riot in the added period with three goals in seven minutes.

George Best scored the second with a solo effort before Brian Kidd marked his 19th birthday with the third. Charlton’s second sealed the win to crown United champions of Europe.

Ajax 2-0 Panathinaikos (1971)

For the third time in eight years, Wembley hosted the final as Ajax faced Panathinaikos in 1971.

Ajax, who had been beaten in the 1969 final by AC Milan, triumphed 2-0 through goals from Dick van Dijk and Arie Haan. It was a first European Cup win for Ajax and started a run of dominance, as the Eredivisie team won three consecutive titles, becoming just the second team – after Real Madrid – to achieve the feat.

Panathinaikos were the first – and so far only – Greek team to reach the final.

Liverpool 1-0 Club Brugge (1978)

Liverpool made it back-to-back European Cup successes after beating Club Brugge at Wembley in the 1978 final.

A year after winning the competition for the first time, the Reds defended their title courtesy of Kenny Dalglish’s delicate finish over the goalkeeper on 64 minutes. Liverpool became the first British team to retain the trophy, in what was a period of dominance for England in Europe.

Between 1977 and 1982, English teams won six consecutive European Cups.

Barcelona 1-0 Sampdoria, AET (1992)

Wembley staged the last European Cup final before the competition’s rebrand as the Champions League, as Barcelona took on Sampdoria.

For Barcelona, it was a first European Cup after two previous final defeats, with Ronald Koeman’s free-kick the difference between the teams after extra time.

Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United (2011)

Barcelona won a second Champions League title at Wembley – and fourth overall – during the 2010-11 season.

It was the first final held at the new Wembley, after the stadium’s reconstruction and reopening in 2007.

In a rematch of the 2009 final, held in Rome, the Spanish side took on Manchester United. Pep Guardiola’s team produced arguably the best Champions League final performance of all time with a spellbinding display of tiki-taka.

Pedro opened the scoring for the Catalans, but Wayne Rooney’s response levelled the game heading into half-time. However, Barcelona proved too good and passed Manchester United into submission, with superb strikes from Lionel Messi and David Villa sealing the win.

Iconic Duos: Tiki-Taka’s royal pair, Xavi and Iniesta

Bayern Munich 2-1 Borussia Dortmund (2013)

Wembley hosted the first-ever all-German final in 2012-13.

Bayern Munich took on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final, with the former chasing a treble. In opposition was a Borussia Dortmund team who had denied them the Bundesliga title in 2011 and 2012, under the management of the up-and-coming Jurgen Klopp.

Bayern had lost in the final in 2010 and 2012, with the latter a painful defeat at their Allianz Arena home to Chelsea, but exorcised their demons.

After a penalty from Dortmund’s Ilkay Gundogan had cancelled out Mario Mandzukic’s opener, Arjen Robben struck an 89th-minute winner for Bayern to atone for his penalty miss in the previous season’s final.

Read –Champions League final preview – Borussia Dortmund vs Real Madrid

See more –Five who played for both Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund

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