 Match programme cover | |||||||
| Event | 2003–04 UEFA Champions League | ||||||
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| Date | 26 May 2004 | ||||||
| Venue | Arena AufSchalke,Gelsenkirchen | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Deco (Porto)[1] | ||||||
| Referee | Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark) | ||||||
| Attendance | 53,053[1] | ||||||
←2003 2005 → | |||||||
The2004 UEFA Champions League final was anassociation football match played on 26 May 2004 to decide the winner of the2003–04 UEFA Champions League.AS Monaco, aMonaco-based club representing theFrench Football Federation, faced Portuguese sidePorto at theArena AufSchalke inGelsenkirchen, Germany. Porto won the match 3–0, withCarlos Alberto,Deco andDmitri Alenichev scoring the goals in a dominant game from Jose Mourinho's Porto. Deco was named Man of the Match.
Porto's previous triumph in the competition had been in1987 – although they had won theUEFA Cup in theprevious season – while Monaco were playing in their first ever UEFA Champions League final. Both teams started their campaigns in the group stage and defeated former European champions on their way to the final: Porto beat 1968 and 1999 winnersManchester United while Monaco defeated nine-time championsReal Madrid.
Both teams were consideredunderdogs in the competition before reaching the final stages and were led by young managers. Monaco had hired formerFrance national football team captainDidier Deschamps as manager and Porto were led by rising starJosé Mourinho, who left the club forChelsea a week after the match.
Monaco became the fourth club representing theFrench league to reach the final afterReims in1956 &1959,Saint-Étienne in1976, andOlympique de Marseille in1991 &1993. This was the fifth final in the history of the European Cup in which neither of the teams came from England, Germany, Italy or Spain and the first since the 1991 final whenRed Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia beat Marseille. To date, this is the last Champions League final to feature a team from outside theBig Five European leagues (England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain).[2]
Monaco finished second in the FrenchLigue 1 the previous season, meaning that they entered the Champions League at the group stage. Monaco were placed in Group C, alongsideDeportivo La Coruña,PSV Eindhoven andAEK Athens. After a 2–1 in their first win in the Netherlands and a 4–0 win at theStade Louis II against AEK Athens, Monaco travelled to Spain, losing 1–0 by Deportivo. The Monegasque adventure really began after the return match against Deportivo, when Monaco won 8–3, which represented the highest number of goals in one match in the history of the new version of the UEFA Champions League; this record lasted until 22 November 2016, whenLegia Warsaw lost 8–4 toBorussia Dortmund. Croatian strikerDado Pršo scored four times, while captainLudovic Giuly (2),Jérôme Rothen,Jaroslav Plašil andÉdouard Cissé pulverised the Spanish defensive line. After two more draws against PSV and AEK Athens, Monaco finished at the top of Group C.
The first knockout round saw Monaco winning againstLokomotiv Moscow after a 2–1 defeat in Russia and a win 1–0 at Stade Louis II. In the quarter-finals, Monaco playedReal Madrid. After a 4–2 loss inMadrid (whereFernando Morientes scored, and was applauded by his former fans), Monaco created a sensation by defeating the Spanish 3–1 at home. Monaco played againstChelsea in the semi-finals, and despite the exclusion ofAkis Zikos, Monaco found enough strength to score twice and win the game 3–1.[3] The last goal was scored by strikerShabani Nonda, who just returned from a seven-month injury. The second leg atStamford Bridge saw Monaco resisting Chelsea's strikes, for a final score of 2–2 to reach the European Cup final for the first time in their history.[4]
Porto, winners of thePrimeira Liga,Taça de Portugal andUEFA Cup in 2002–03, were the only Portuguese team in the group stage, after the elimination ofBenfica in the third qualifying round by Italian sideLazio. Porto was drawn in Group F, along with Real Madrid,Marseille andPartizan. Porto's first match was atPartizan Stadium inBelgrade.Costinha scored the opening goal on 22 minutes, butAndrija Delibašić scored the equaliser on 54 minutes.[5] The next match, the first at theEstádio das Antas, was a 3–1 loss to Real Madrid. Costinha scored the opening goal again, on seven minutes.Iván Helguera equalised on 28 minutes;Santiago Solari on 37 minutes andZinedine Zidane on 67 scored Real Madrid's winning goals.[6]
Two straight wins against Marseille followed by a win at home against Partizan secured Porto's place in the first knockout round before the last match of the group stage, a draw inMadrid.[7] In the first knockout round, Porto metManchester United. The Portuguese won 2–1 at home[8] and managed to qualify in the final minutes of the second leg, when Costinha scored an equaliser ininjury time in a 1–1 draw atOld Trafford.[9] In the quarter-finals, Porto met a French team for the second time in the tournament: a 2–0 win at home[10] and a 2–2 draw in France eliminatedLyon from the competition.[11] In the semi-finals, Porto played Deportivo La Coruña, eliminating them 1–0 on aggregate.[12]
 Monaco | Round |  Porto | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opponent | Result | Group stage | Opponent | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 PSV Eindhoven | 2–1 (A) | Matchday 1 |  Partizan | 1–1 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 AEK Athens | 4–0 (H) | Matchday 2 |  Real Madrid | 1–3 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deportivo La Coruña | 0–1 (A) | Matchday 3 | Marseille | 3–2 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deportivo La Coruña | 8–3 (H) | Matchday 4 | Marseille | 1–0 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PSV Eindhoven | 1–1 (H) | Matchday 5 | Partizan | 2–1 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AEK Athens | 0–0 (A) | Matchday 6 | Real Madrid | 1–1 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Group C winners
Source:RSSSF | Final standings | Group F runners-up
Source:RSSSF | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Knockout stage | Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Lokomotiv Moscow | 2–2 (a) | 1–2 (A) | 1–0 (H) | First knockout round |  Manchester United | 3–2 | 2–1 (H) | 1–1 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Real Madrid | 5–5 (a) | 2–4 (A) | 3–1 (H) | Quarter-finals | Lyon | 4–2 | 2–0 (H) | 2–2 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chelsea | 5–3 | 3–1 (H) | 2–2 (A) | Semi-finals | Deportivo La Coruña | 1–0 | 0–0 (H) | 1–0 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monaco, in their first European final since the 1992 Cup Winners Cup final,[4] were up against Porto, the UEFA Cup winners from the previous season,[4] who were appearing in the European Cup final for a second time, after defeatingBayern Munich in the1987 European Cup final.[13] Porto were the favourites after eliminating Manchester United and Deportivo La Coruña in the knockout phase, while Monaco had eliminated Real Madrid and Chelsea.[citation needed] Porto won the match 3–0;Carlos Alberto opened the scoring in the first half, whileDeco andDmitri Alenichev extended Porto's lead in the second half.[14]
         Monaco[15] |      Porto[15] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees: | Match rules
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