Champions League Final Betting

There are a couple of extra bonuses for winning the UEFA Champions League Final. The winner of it goes on to represent as the European champions in the FIFA Club World Cup and it also puts them into the UEFA Super Cup where they face the winner of the UEFA Europa League.

The Trophy

The trophy is one of the most iconic and most recognisable in the world game. Winners of each of edition though don’t actually get to enjoy the original, that is kept safe and sound by UEFA. The modern winners just get a replica.

History of the old European Cup

The first ever European Cup final was won by Real Madrid who beat Stade de Reims at the end of the 1955-56 season at the Parc des Princes, Paris. Who could ever have guessed from that moment on, the Spaniards would go on to dominate the competition so much. Real Madrid went on to win the first five editions of the European Cup and the first ever final to be settled in extra time was in 1958 with Real Madrid taking a 3-2 win over AC Milan in Brussels.

Real Madrid’s reign in Europe was ended by Barcelona in the first round of the 1960-61 European Cup. Barcelona took them out 4-3 on aggregate and the Catalans marched their way through to the Final, but they lost there against Benfica. England’s first winners were Manchester United who beat Benfica in 1968 and in the preceding year, it was Scottish side Celtic who was crowned champions.

England’s purple patch of success was between 1977 and 1982 (inclusive) when Liverpool won three times, Nottingham Forest twice and Aston Villa got on in the act as well. It was such a great period for English football with the country producing six straight winners. The last ever English winner of the old European cup was Liverpool with their win over Roma in the 1984 European Final at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. That was also the first final to be settled by a penalty shootout.

Real Madrid won the old tournament seven times with AC Milan getting their hands on it four times, the same amount as Liverpool managed. Bayern Munich won it three times as did Dutch side Ajax. The last winners of the old tournament in 1992 before it changed to the Champions League was Barcelona. They were up against Italian side Sampdoria for the honours at Wembley and the Spaniards battled through with a 1-0 success after extra time.

The Champions League Era

The inaugural winners of the first ever Champions League Final in 1993 was Marseille. Being the first tournament under the Champions League brand, the event was opened to more teams to take part and for the first time, there was a group stage format. That was after two straight knockout rounds of action and the final remaining eight teams were split into two groups, the winner of each group going through to the final. Marseille took the win over AC Milan 1-0.

The first three Champions League finals were all won to nil (Marseille over Milan, Milan vs Barcelona and Ajax over Milan). Real Madrid won their first Champions League title in 1998 against Juventus and the following year, Manchester United became the first English side to land it. The Red Devils took down Bayern Munich in that unforgettable final with Manchester United producing two injury-time goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to steal the title from under the noses of the Germans at the Nou Camp.

Really the Champions League started to produce powerhouses on the continent with the top clubs from Spain, Italy, Germany and England stamping their authority over the tournament, despite the big changes of getting more and more teams into the competition from around Europe. It is unusual to see a side who are not from one of the top leagues to be participating in the final of the Champions League.

Cristiano Ronaldo‘s first-ever Champions League goals came in the 2006/07 edition while he was still at Manchester United, netting a brace in a 7-1 victory over Roma in the quarter-finals. Lionel Messi got his first Champions League goal in the 2005/06 season when netted in the group stage against Werder Bremen in a 2-0 away win for Barcelona.

2019 UEFA Champions League Final Review

It was an all-English affair in the 2019 UEFA Champions League final with Tottenham taking on Liverpool. For Tottenham, it was a historic occasion as it was their first UEFA Cup final. For Liverpool, it was their ninth overall.

It was the second all-English European Cup final after Chelsea and Man Utd’s meeting in 2008. The final was also the seventh occasion that a Champions League Final had been contested between teams from the same association. It also snapped a run of six straight Champions League Finals which featured at least one team from Spain.

Road to the final

In the first stage of the competition, neither Liverpool or Spurs managed to win their group, both qualifying through to the knockouts with second-place finishes.

Both then beat German opposition in the round of sixteen, with Tottenham getting the better of Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool seeing off Bayern Munich by a 3-1 aggregate.

Tottenham then upset the odds by beating fellow Premier League side Man City in the quarter-finals on away goals. Liverpool meanwhile cruised past Porto 6-1 on aggregate.

Both Spurs and Liverpool had dramatic semi-final ties. Tottenham scored three second-half goals in the second leg of their contest against Ajax to win through on away goals. Liverpool managed to overturn a 3-0 first-leg deficit against Barcelona back at Anfield to put themselves through to the final.

Excitement sparse at the Final

The 2019 Champions League final was held on June 1st at the Wanda Metropolitano, the home of Atletico Madrid.

As early as the second minute, Liverpool found themselves on the scoresheet with Mo Salah converting a penalty kick following a handball by Moussa Sissoko just 24 seconds into the fixture.

Salah’s goes was the second-fastest ever in a Champions League final. The game failed to really ignite as a contest with Liverpool happy to let Spurs have the ball and defend their lead. Spurs never really looked like scoring in the match and failed to register a single shot on target in the first half.

In the end, though, Tottenham had eight shots on target in the fixture compared to just three from Liverpool. The Londoners also took 61% of possession in the matched but just failed to get a real foothold in the match. Liverpool sealed the deal through Divock Origi three minutes from time.

A sixth title for Liverpool

Liverpool lifted their sixth European Cup title (their second Champions League title) and it gave manager Jurgen Klopp the first taste of silverware with the Anfield club. Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk was awarded the man of the match award.

2020 UEFA Champions League Final Preview

The 2020 edition of the UEFA Champions League final is set to be played at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey on 30 May 2020. It will be the second time that the stadium, which was built specifically for Turkey’s failed Euro 2008 bid, has played host to the UEFA Champions League Final.

It was the scene of the 2005 Final between AC Milan and Liverpool. That was one of the most dramatic finals in the competition as well, with Liverpool finding a way to fight back from 3-0 down at half time. At 3-2 down in the second half, AC Milan had a penalty kick to all but seal the game, but Andriy Schevchenko’s strike was saved by Reds keeper Jerzy Dudek. Later Xabi Alonso equalised for the Reds after also missing a penalty but scoring the rebound.

That 2005 Final has held the title of the “Miracle of Istanbul” after Liverpool completed the unlikely comeback, winning the penalty shoot-out 3-2, with Andreas Pirlo and Andriy Schevenko among those to miss from the spot for Milan.

What drama awaits in the 2020 UEFA Champions League Final? Will reigning champions Liverpool be making a return to one of their most famous nights in history.

You can find betting odds, match previews and predictions about upcoming Champions League fixtures in our news category Champions League Betting: