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2021 UEFA Champions League Final
2021 UEFA Champions League Final programme
UEFA Report
BBC Report
Event2020–21 UEFA Champions League
Date29 May 2021 (2021-05-29)
VenueEstádio do Dragão, Porto
Player of the MatchN'Golo Kanté (Chelsea)
RefereeAntonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)
Attendance14,110
WeatherClear night
19 °C (66 °F)
72% humidity
2020
2022

The 2021 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, the 66th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 29th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. It as played at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto, Portugal on 29 May 2021.

The final was originally scheduled to be played at the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg, Russia. However, due to the postponement and relocation of the 2020 final, the final hosts were shifted back a year, with Istanbul instead hosting the 2021 final, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.

Chelsea won the final 1–0 for their second UEFA Champions League title, and will now play the winners of the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League, Villarreal, in the 2021 UEFA Super Cup, and at the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.

Teams[]

In the following table, finals until 1992 were in the European Cup era, since 1993 were in the UEFA Champions League era.

Team Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners)
England Manchester City None
England FC Chelsea 2 (2008, 2012)

Venue[]

The match will be the fourth European Cup/Champions League final to take place in Portugal, and the first to take place outside Lisbon, which previously hosted finals in 1967 at the Estádio Nacional and in 2014 and 2020 at the Estádio da Luz. Therefore, this marks the first time the European Cup/Champions League final will take place in the same country in successive seasons. The Estádio do Dragão previously hosted matches at UEFA Euro 2004 and the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals. Additionally, this final will be the first since 2004 to be held in a stadium with capacity lower than 60,000.

Initial host selection[]

An open bidding process was launched on 22 September 2017 by UEFA to select the venues of the finals of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Women's Champions League in 2020. Associations had until 31 October 2017 to express interest, and bid dossiers must be submitted by 1 March 2018. Associations hosting matches at UEFA Euro 2020 were not allowed to bid for the 2020 UEFA Champions League final.

UEFA announced on 3 November 2017 that two associations had expressed interest in hosting the 2020 UEFA Champions League final.

Bidding associations for final
Country Stadium City Capacity Notes
Flag of Portugal Portugal Estádio da Luz Lisbon 65,647 Hosted the 2014 UEFA Champions League Final and 2020 UEFA Champions League Final
Flag of Turkey Turkey Atatürk Olympic Stadium Istanbul 76,092 Hosted the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final

The Atatürk Olympic Stadium was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Kyiv on 24 May 2018.

On 17 June 2020, the UEFA Executive Committee announced that due to the postponement and relocation of the 2020 final to the Estádio da Luz, Istanbul would instead host the 2021 final.

Change to Porto[]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey, Premier League side Aston Villa offered to have Villa Park in Birmingham as the venue for the Champions League Final instead of Istanbul to hold 8,000 English fans, which could be affected by travel limitations. Villa Park has previously hosted the 1999 Cup Winners' Cup Final, the last final of that UEFA competition. It also hosted the 2012 FA Community Shield, also contested between Manchester City and Chelsea, due to Wembley Stadium – England's national stadium – hosting the Olympic football tournament finals in the previous days, being picked in part because of its equidistance between Manchester and London. On 7 May 2021, Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps advised against any fans to travel to Turkey for the game.

In negotiations with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, UEFA would only consider Wembley as a potential venue within the United Kingdom, and required guarantees that their officials, sponsors and journalists would be exempt from the UK COVID-19 travel restrictions. The British Government was unable to agree to this, and on 13 May 2021, UEFA announced the final was relocated to the Estádio do Dragão in Porto, Portugal, a country which is on the British "green list" for unrestricted travel during the pandemic.

Background[]

Manchester City will play in their first European Cup/UEFA Champions League final. They previously played in one European final, the 1970 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, and won. They became the ninth distinct English side to play in a European Cup/UEFA Champions League final. This will be the third UEFA Champions League final for manager Pep Guardiola, and his first since the two wins with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011.

Chelsea will play in their third European Cup/UEFA Champions League final, and the first since 2012. In addition, they have previously played in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Europa League finals twice each – winning all. In addition, it became the first club ever to see its men's and women's teams reach the Champions League final in the same season, having qualified for the 2021 UEFA Women's Champions League Final as well. Head coach Thomas Tuchel becomes the first coach/manager to reach the European Cup/UEFA Champions League final in successive seasons with different clubs, having lost the 2020 final when managing Paris Saint-Germain.

This will be the third all-English final in the history of the competition, after 2008 – which also involved Chelsea – and 2019.

This will be the third meeting between the teams in Europe, having previously met in the semi-finals of the 1970–71 European Cup Winners' Cup, where Chelsea won both legs 1–0 en route to their first European trophy. The teams met twice during the season's Premier League, with each side winning away: City won the first match 3–1, while Chelsea won the second 2–1 three weeks prior to the final. In between, Chelsea beat City 1–0 in the FA Cup semi-finals, denying City the chance of winning an unprecedented quadruple.

Road to the final[]

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

England Manchester City Round England Chelsea
Opponent Result Group stage Opponent Result
Portugal Porto 3–1 (H) Matchday 1 Spain Sevilla 0–0 (H)
France Marseille 3–0 (A) Matchday 2 Russia Krasnodar 4–0 (A)
Greece Olympiacos 3–0 (H) Matchday 3 France Rennes 3–0 (H)
Greece Olympiacos 1–0 (A) Matchday 4 France Rennes 2–1 (A)
Portugal Porto 0–0 (A) Matchday 5 Spain Sevilla 4–0 (A)
France Marseille 3–0 (H) Matchday 6 Russia Krasnodar 1–1 (H)
Group C winners
Team Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Notes
Flag of England Manchester City 6 5 1 0 13 1 +12 16 Advance to knockout phase
Flag of Portugal Porto 6 4 1 1 10 3 +7 13
Flag of Greece Olympiacos 6 1 0 5 2 10 −8 3 Transfer to Europa League
Flag of France Marseille 6 1 0 5 2 13 −11 3
Final standings Group E winners
Team Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Notes
Flag of England Chelsea 6 4 2 0 14 2 +12 14 Advance to knockout phase
Flag of Spain Sevilla 6 4 1 1 9 8 +1 13
Flag of Russia Krasnodar 6 1 2 3 6 11 −5 5 Transfer to Europa League
Flag of France Rennes 6 0 1 5 3 11 −8 1
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Knockout phase Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Germany Borussia Mönchengladbach 4–0 2–0 (A) 2–0 (H) Round of 16 Spain Atlético Madrid 3–0 1–0 (A) 2–0 (H)
Germany Borussia Dortmund 4–2 2–1 (H) 2–1 (A) Quarter-finals Portugal Porto 2–1 2–0 (A) 0–1 (H)
France Paris Saint-Germain 4–1 2–1 (A) 2–0 (H) Semi-finals Spain Real Madrid 3–1 1–1 (A) 2–0 (H)

Pre-match[]

Officials[]

On 12 May 2021, UEFA named Spaniard Antonio Mateu Lahoz as the referee for the final. Mateu Lahoz had been a FIFA referee since 2011, and was previously the fourth official in the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final. He officiated six prior matches in the 2020–21 Champions League season, with one match in the play-off round, four in the group stage and one quarter-final leg. He served as a referee at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, and was selected as an official for UEFA Euro 2020. He will be joined by six of his fellow countrymen, including assistant referees Pau Cebrián Devís and Roberto Díaz Pérez del Palomar. Carlos del Cerro Grande will serve as the fourth official, while Alejandro Hernández Hernández will act as the video assistant referee. Juan Martínez Munuera and Íñigo Prieto López de Cerain were appointed as assistant VAR officials, along with Polish referee Paweł Gil.

Opening ceremony[]

American DJ and electronic music producer Marshmello will perform a virtual show for the opening ceremony prior to the match, along with Selena Gomez and Khalid.

Match[]

Summary[]

The match kicked off around 8 p.m. in front of a crowd of 14,110. In the fourth minute, Kai Havertz played the ball across the Manchester City penalty area but it was gathered by Ederson. Five minutes later, a long kick from Ederson found Sterling who controlled the ball and was about to shoot when he was dispossessed by Reece James. Havertz then passed to Werner missed the ball from close range when attempting to shoot. In the 15th minute, Mount passed to Werner who shot straight at Ederson, before then seeing a subsequent strike tipped away for a corner. Ben Chilwell played in a cross to the far post but N'Golo Kante's header went over the Manchester City bar. In the 28th minute, Phil Foden was played in on goal and was about to shoot when Antonio Rüdiger tackled him. Two minutes later, Kyle Walker sent the ball across the Chelsea penalty area but Mahrez was unable to get to it. With ten minutes of the half remaining, İlkay Gündoğan became the first player to be booked after a foul on Mount. In the 38th minute, Kante played the ball to Havertz who was denied a shooting opportunity by a tackle from Oleksandr Zinchenko. A minute later Chelsea were forced to make the first substitution of the match with the injured Thiago Silva being replaced by Andreas Christensen. Three minutes before half-time, Chelsea took the lead. Mount passed to Havertz who went one-on-one with Ederson and although the goalkeeper deflected the ball away, Havertz passed it into an empty net to make it 1–0. After three minutes of stoppage time, the first half was brought to an end.

Neither side made any changes to their personnel during the interval. Manchester City dominated the early stages of the second half. Twelve minutes in the half, Rüdiger was booked for a foul on Chelsea's Kevin De Bruyne who was injured in the challenge and was subsequently replaced by Gabriel Jesus. Two minutes later, Manchester City appealed for a penalty when the ball appeared to strike James on the arm in his own penalty area but the VAR review decided against a foul. In the 64th minute, Bernardo Silva was replaced by Fernandinho for Manchester City before Christian Pulisic came on for Werner for Chelsea. With 21 minutes remaining, Mahrez's cross to Gündoğan was cleared by César Azpilicueta, and four minutes later Pulisic flicked the ball to Havertz who passed it back to Pulisic, but his attempted shot rolled just past the Chelsea goalpost. In the 75th minute, Sterling passed to Jesus but the ball was cleared by Chilwell. Manchester City made their third substitution when Sergio Agüero came on for Sterling. Mateo Kovacic was brought on for Chelsea to replace Mount in the 80th minute and five minutes later Agüero attempted to find Foden with a lofted cross from the far post but the ball was easily caught by Édouard Mendy in the Chelsea goal. A minute later, Walker played a cross-field out-swinging pass which narrowly missed both Agüero and Foden. Two minutes from the end of the match, Jesus was booked for a foul on Havertz before Christensen made a block to maintain his side's lead. At the end of regular time, the fourth official displayed that a minimum of seven minutes of stoppage would be played. In the final minute, Mahrez's half-volley from the edge of the Chelsea penalty area went just over the crossbar and the match was brought to an end with Chelsea winning 1–0.

Details[]

The "home" team (for administrative purposes) will be determined by an additional draw to be held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws.

29 May 2021 (2021-05-29)
22:00 TRT
Manchester City England 0–1 England Chelsea Estádio do Dragão, Porto
Attendance: 14,110
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)
UEFA Report
BBC Report
Havertz Goal 42'
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Manchester City
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Chelsea
GK 31 Flag of Brazil Ederson
RB 2 Flag of England Kyle Walker
CB 5 Flag of England John Stones
CB 3 Flag of Portugal Rúben Dias
LB 11 Flag of Ukraine Oleksandr Zinchenko
CM 20 Flag of Portugal Bernardo Silva Substituted off in the 64th minute 64'
CM 8 Flag of Germany İlkay Gündoğan Booked in the 35th minute 35'
CM 47 Flag of England Phil Foden
AM 17 Flag of Belgium Kevin De Bruyne (c) Substituted off in the 60th minute 60'
CF 26 Flag of Algeria Riyad Mahrez
CF 7 Flag of England Raheem Sterling Substituted off in the 77th minute 77'
Substitutes:
GK 13 Flag of United States Zack Steffen
GK 33 Flag of England Scott Carson
DF 6 Flag of Netherlands Nathan Aké
DF 14 Flag of Spain Aymeric Laporte
DF 22 Flag of France Benjamin Mendy
DF 27 Flag of Portugal João Cancelo
DF 50 Flag of Spain Eric García
MF 16 Flag of Spain Rodri
MF 25 Flag of Brazil Fernandinho Substituted on in the 64th minute 64'
FW 9 Flag of Brazil Gabriel Jesus Booked in the 88th minute 88' Substituted on in the 60th minute 60'
FW 10 Flag of Argentina Sergio Agüero Substituted on in the 77th minute 77'
FW 21 Flag of Spain Ferran Torres
Manager:
Flag of Spain Pep Guardiola
GK 16 Flag of Senegal Édouard Mendy
CB 28 Flag of Spain César Azpilicueta (c)
CB 6 Flag of Brazil Thiago Silva Substituted off in the 39th minute 39'
CB 2 Flag of Germany Antonio Rüdiger Booked in the 57th minute 57'
RWB 24 Flag of England Reece James
LWB 21 Flag of England Ben Chilwell
CM 5 Flag of Italy Jorginho
CM 7 Flag of France N'Golo Kanté
RW 29 Flag of Germany Kai Havertz
LW 19 Flag of England Mason Mount Substituted off in the 80th minute 80'
CF 11 Flag of Germany Timo Werner Substituted off in the 66th minute 66'
Substitutes:
GK 1 Flag of Spain Kepa Arrizabalaga
GK 13 Flag of Argentina Willy Caballero
DF 3 Flag of Spain Marcos Alonso
DF 4 Flag of Denmark Andreas Christensen Substituted on in the 39th minute 39'
DF 15 Flag of France Kurt Zouma
DF 33 Flag of Italy Emerson
MF 10 Flag of United States Christian Pulisic Substituted on in the 66th minute 66'
MF 17 Flag of Croatia Mateo Kovačić Substituted on in the 80th minute 80'
MF 20 Flag of England Callum Hudson-Odoi
MF 22 Flag of Morocco Hakim Ziyech
MF 23 Flag of Scotland Billy Gilmour
FW 18 Flag of France Olivier Giroud
Manager:
Flag of Germany Thomas Tuchel

Man of the Match:
N'Golo Kanté (Chelsea)

Assistant referees:
Pau Cebrián Devís (Spain)
Roberto Díaz Pérez del Palomar (Spain)
Fourth official:
Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain)
Video assistant referee:
Alejandro Hernández Hernández (Spain)
Assistant video assistant referees:
Juan Martínez Munuera (Spain)
Íñigo Prieto López de Cerain (Spain)
Paweł Gil (Poland)

Match rules

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Twelve named substitutes.
  • Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time.

Statistics[]

First half
Statistic Manchester City Chelsea
Goals scored 0 1
Total shots 3 5
Shots on target 1 2
Saves 1 1
Ball possession 53% 47%
Corner kicks 1 1
Fouls committed 7 6
Offsides 1 2
Yellow cards 1 0
Red cards 0 0

Second half
Statistic Manchester City Chelsea
Goals scored 0 0
Total shots 4 3
Shots on target 0 0
Saves 0 0
Ball possession 64% 36%
Corner kicks 2 0
Fouls committed 7 7
Offsides 0 1
Yellow cards 1 1
Red cards 0 0

Overall
Statistic Manchester City Chelsea
Goals scored 0 1
Total shots 7 8
Shots on target 1 2
Saves 1 1
Ball possession 58% 42%
Corner kicks 3 1
Fouls committed 14 13
Offsides 1 3
Yellow cards 2 1
Red cards 0 0

See also[]

External links[]

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