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| Event | 2005–06 UEFA Champions League | ||||||
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| Date | 17 May 2006 | ||||||
| Venue | Stade de France,Saint-Denis | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona)[1] | ||||||
| Referee | Terje Hauge (Norway) | ||||||
| Attendance | 79,610[1] | ||||||
| Weather | Partly cloudy 15 °C (59 °F) 33% humidity[2] | ||||||
←2005 2007 → | |||||||
The2006 UEFA Champions League final was anassociation football match betweenBarcelona of Spain andArsenal of England at theStade de France inSaint-Denis,Paris, France, on Wednesday, 17 May 2006. It was the final match of the2005–06 season of Europe's primary cup competition, theUEFA Champions League. Barcelona were appearing in their fifth final, having won the competition once in1992, while it was Arsenal's first (and to date, only) final appearance and the first appearance by a club from London.
Each club progressed through the group stage and three knockout rounds to reach the final, playing 12 matches in total. Barcelona won their group and progressed to the final after beatingChelsea,Benfica andMilan, respectively. Arsenal won their group to move into the knockout stage, and progressed without conceding a goal againstReal Madrid,Juventus andVillarreal, respectively.
A crowd of 79,500 watched asJens Lehmann was sent off early in the game. Despite this setback, Arsenal took the lead throughSol Campbell towards the end of the first half. After an hour,Henrik Larsson came on for Barcelona and was involved in both of their goals. Barcelona equalised throughSamuel Eto'o near the end of the second half, and a few minutes later,Juliano Belletti scored to give Barcelona a 2–1 victory.
It was the first time Arsenal had appeared in the European Cup final, which also made them the first club fromLondon to do so.[3] Arsenal's appearance in the match came six years to the day since their last European final, when they facedGalatasaray in the2000 UEFA Cup final; they lost on penalties after the match had finished goalless afterextra time. Of the players who featured in that final, onlyThierry Henry andDennis Bergkamp remained at the club, whileSylvinho, who had featured for Arsenal in the final, was now a Barcelona player.[4] Barcelona were appearing in the final for the fifth time; their last appearance was a 4–0 loss toMilan in1994. Two more losses preceded the 1994 final (1961 and1986), and their only success in the competition came in1992 when they beatSampdoria.[5] Barcelona went into the final as domestic league champions, having wonLa Liga a fortnight earlier.[6] They were regarded as the best side on the continent because they possessed players such asRonaldinho andSamuel Eto'o. Barcelona playerDeco dismissed the notion of Barcelona being favourites, insisting they would not be complacent: "Milan were winning 3–0 last year against Liverpool and ended up losing in the end. We need to be serious, calm and fully concentrated so that we don't make any errors".[7]
Neither side had been beaten en route to the final, with Arsenal only conceding two goals in their 12 matches before the final, including ten successive matches without conceding. This set the record for the longest time without a conceding a goal, having played 919 minutes since conceding againstAjax in the group stage. Barcelona, on the other hand, had scored 114 goals in all competitions before the final. The two finalists were guaranteed a financial windfall from their progress to the final. Arsenal would receive a revenue of around €37.3 million if they won and approximately €34.7 million if they lost. Barcelona would earn €31.5 million from revenue if they won, and around €28.9 million if they were to lose. Included in the total for participating in the final, the UEFA Champions League winners would collect approximately €6.4 million, with the runners-up receiving approximately €3.8 million.[8] The final marked the appearance of anew trophy followingLiverpool's triumph over Milan theprevious year. As Liverpool won the competition for the fifth time they were entitled to keep the trophy, creating the need for a new one.[9]
UEFA awarded the right to host the final to the Stade de France inSaint-Denis after considering its merits in terms of capacity, stadium infrastructure and dossiers including city and airport agreements and promotional plans. UEFA also conducted a variety of site visits.[10] The Stade de France had previously staged the2000 UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid andValencia, which Madrid won 3–0. Saint-Denis was chosen to host the final in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the first European Cup final in1956, held in nearbyParis at theParc des Princes, now home ofParis Saint-Germain.[11] The Parc des Princes also hosted the1975 and1981 European Cup finals, the1978 and1995UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finals, and the1998 UEFA Cup final.[10]
Teams qualified for the Champions League group stage, either directly or through three preliminary rounds, based on both their position in the preceding domestic league andthe strength of that league. Both Arsenal and Barcelona entered the competition in the group stages: Arsenal by finishing second in the2004–05 FA Premier League, and Barcelona by winningLa Liga. The group stages were contested as eightdouble round robin groups of four teams, with the top two qualifying for the knockout stage. Knockout matches were decided based onhome and away matches, with theaway goals rule,extra time andpenalty shootouts as tiebreakers if needed.[12]
 Barcelona | Round |  Arsenal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opponent | Result | Group stage | Opponent | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Werder Bremen | 2–0 (A) | Matchday 1 |  Thun | 2–1 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Udinese | 4–1 (H) | Matchday 2 |  Ajax | 2–1 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Panathinaikos | 0–0 (A) | Matchday 3 |  Sparta Prague | 2–0 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Panathinaikos | 5–0 (H) | Matchday 4 | Sparta Prague | 3–0 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Werder Bremen | 3–1 (H) | Matchday 5 | Thun | 1–0 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Udinese | 2–0 (A) | Matchday 6 | Ajax | 0–0 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Group C winner
Source:RSSSF | Final standings | Group B winner
Source:RSSSF | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Knockout stage | Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chelsea | 3–2 | 2–1 (A) | 1–1 (H) | First knockout round | Real Madrid | 1–0 | 1–0 (A) | 0–0 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Benfica | 2–0 | 0–0 (A) | 2–0 (H) | Quarter-finals | Juventus | 2–0 | 2–0 (H) | 0–0 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Milan | 1–0 | 1–0 (A) | 0–0 (H) | Semi-finals | Villarreal | 1–0 | 1–0 (H) | 0–0 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Barcelona showed the match live from theirMini Estadi on a 70-metre (230 ft) television screen for an estimated audience of 15,276. Before the final, an estimated 1.2 million people descended into the streets of Barcelona, as the team toured the city on two open-top double-decker buses to celebrate winning La Liga.
On the morning of the final it emerged that the assistant referee for the gameOle Hermann Borgan had posed for photographs in a Barcelona shirt forDrammens Tidende, a Norwegian newspaper. After initially sticking by the official, UEFA eventually decided to replace him with fellow Norwegian Arild Sundet. Norway's head of refereeing Rune Pedersen stated: "It is an unwritten rule that referees should not do anything that can doubt their impartial stance".[13]
Barcelona were expected to line up in a4–2–3–1 formation, with Ronaldinho,Ludovic Giuly and Deco supporting Samuel Eto'o who would be deployed as the lonestriker.[14] They had doubts about the fitness ofLionel Messi going into the final. He had pulled a thigh muscle during the second leg of their match with Chelsea, and had not played since, though he was included in the 22-man squad for the final. Barcelona coachFrank Rijkaard stated he would leave it late before deciding whether to select him.[7] Despite being included in the squad, Messi did not feature in the final. Arsenal were expected to line up in a4–5–1 formation, withThierry Henry as the sole striker. There was much discussion about whetherJosé Antonio Reyes would take the place ofRobert Pires on the left of midfield.[14] It had been announced before the match that this would be Pires' last match as he had agreed to joinVillarreal next season.[15]
Ultimately, Barcelona fielded a4–3–3 formation withMark van Bommel andEdmílson lining up in midfield alongside Deco, ahead ofXavi andAndrés Iniesta. Lionel Messi did not feature in the matchday squad, despite returning from injury and featuring in the 22-man squad, whileHenrik Larsson was among the substitutes in potentially his last game for the club. Arsenal fielded a4–4–1–1 formation, which sawEmmanuel Eboué replace the injuredLauren, andAshley Cole return at left-back to make only his third appearance in the competition that season due to injury. Thierry Henry was deployed as the lone striker, withFreddie Ljungberg playing off his shoulder.[16][17]
As both teams' first-choice kits featured a shade of red, Arsenal wore their yellow away strip, while Barcelona wore their traditional blue and maroon striped kit. Arsenal won thecoin toss and Barcelona kicked off.[18] Barcelona almost immediately came under pressure when Thierry Henry shot straight at Barcelona goalkeeperVíctor Valdés, who conceded acorner. From the resulting corner Arsenal had another chance again courtesy of Henry, whose shot was again saved by Valdés. The next attack in the seventh minute resulted in Arsenal goalkeeperJens Lehmann saving from Ludovic Giuly after he shot from a narrow angle. Four minutes later Barcelona were awarded afree-kick 35 yards from goal; Ronaldinho shot wide of the goal.
With 18 minutes played, Lehmann became the first player to besent off in a European Cup final after he brought downSamuel Eto'o outside the Arsenal box.[19] Giuly subsequently put the ball in the back of the net, but the goal was not allowed due to the foul. Arsenal substituted Robert Pires forManuel Almunia, their substitute goalkeeper.[16] The free-kick was sent wide by Ronaldinho. Following Lehmann's dismissal Barcelona exerted more pressure on Arsenal, to the point where Emmanuel Eboué was cautioned for a hightackle.[16]
In the 37th minute Arsenal overcame their numerical disadvantage to score whenSol Campbell headed in from a Thierry Henry free-kick followingCarles Puyol's foul on Emmanuel Eboué. Some believed that Eboué was guilty ofdiving.[18][20][21] Arsenal held onto their lead for the remainder of the half. Barcelona's best chance came from Eto'o, whose shot hit the post via a save from Almunia.[21]
At half-time, Barcelona replaced Edmílson, who had picked up an injury in the first half, with Andrés Iniesta.[16] Almunia saved a shot from Iniesta six minutes into the half.
After 61 minutes, Barcelona substituted Van Bommel for Larsson.[16] Minutes later,Alexander Hleb received a pass from Henry but shot wide of the goal. Arsenal began to press forward and both Henry and Ljungberg saw shots saved; Henry then had another chance to score after being put through by Hleb, but he shot straight at Valdés. Following this attack,Oleguer was replaced byJuliano Belletti, and Arsenal replacedCesc Fàbregas withMathieu Flamini.[18]
Next, Iniesta sent a pass through the inside-left channel to Larsson whose one-touch, right-footed lay-off quickly released Eto'o to equalise for Barcelona.[16] Four minutes later, Larsson was again the provider, playing a one-two with Belletti in the inside-right channel, before the Brazilian full-back shot right-footed through Almunia's legs to score at the near post.[18]
The remaining minutes saw Arsenal replace Hleb with Reyes in an attempt to equalise, but Barcelona had the best chance during this period, only for Giuly to hit his shot straight at Almunia. Following this, Larsson impeded the Arsenal goalkeeper and was cautioned.[16] The match finished soon after with Barcelona winning 2–1. With this defeat, Arsenal became the first English club and third overall – afterHamburger SV andFiorentina – to have been runner-up inall three major European competitions (European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, and the now-defunctCup Winners' Cup).[22]
        Barcelona[2] |      Arsenal[2] |
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Assistant referees: |
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Barcelona captain Carles Puyol collected the trophy from UEFA presidentLennart Johansson as Barcelona celebrated their second European Cup triumph.[18]
Much of the discussion after the match centred around refereeTerje Hauge's decision to send off Lehmann. Football punditMark Lawrenson stated: "The game changed when Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was sent off".[24] Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger agreed: "When Jens Lehmann got sent off, that left us with 70 minutes to play with ten against eleven, against a team that retains the ball very well".[25] He refused to openly criticise this decision, although he did criticise the decision to award Barcelona's first goal, as he felt that Samuel Eto'o wasoffside. Wenger was also adamant that his young side would bounce back from the defeat.[26] One person who did criticise the referee was Thierry Henry, stating: "I was kicked all over the place. I expected the referee to do his job. I don't think he did".[27] There was much discussion after the match over whether Henry would remain with Arsenal or move to Barcelona, whom he had been linked with a move to over the past months. Arsène Wenger was asked post match if Henry would leave, to which the Arsenal manager replied: "I don't know. I don't think so".[28] However, on 19 May, Henry signed a new four-year contract with Arsenal, ending the speculation about a possible move to Barcelona.[29]
Henrik Larsson, who provided the two assists for the goals, was delighted with the triumph and had no regrets over deciding to leave Barcelona after the match: "I want to play football. I feel I haven't played as much as I would love to because of the great players we have at Barcelona". Fellow Barcelona playerGiovanni van Bronckhorst was emotional as he won against his former club: "It's special to win the final, and even more special to do it against your old team". Samuel Eto'o, scorer of Barcelona's first goal, cited Liverpool's comeback against Milan as inspiration for Barcelona's victory: "After having seen what Liverpool did last year, we told ourselves not to throw in the towel. We followed Liverpool's example". Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard praised the role of goalkeeper Victor Valdés in their victory, stating that he made a number of important saves to keep them in the match: "Valdes played a decisive role. He saved us at crucial moments".[30]
Thierry Henry paid tribute to Larsson's contribution to Barcelona's win after the game, saying, "People always talk about Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Giuly and everything, but I didn't see them today, I saw Henrik Larsson. He came on, he changed the game, that is what killed the game. Sometimes you talk about Ronaldinho and Eto'o and people like that; you need to talk about the proper footballer who made the difference, and that was Henrik Larsson tonight."[31] Henry also remarked, "You have to remember that Barcelona is a team. It's not Eto'o, it's not Ronaldinho. On Wednesday, the man who made the difference was Henrik Larsson. You have to give him credit for that because when he came on he made some amazing runs around the box and he showed he is a team player. You saw two times he fed the ball back to people and that's what I always talk about, he is a team player. He did that against us, even though the first goal was a close offside decision."[32] Larsson's introduction giving Barcelona the cutting edge required to overcome Arsenal was noted by international press.[31][32][33][34]
As a result of winning the Champions League, Barcelona would faceSevilla, the winners of theUEFA Cup, in theUEFA Super Cup. Played on 25 August 2006, thematch was won 3–0 by Sevilla.[35] Barcelona's victory meant they would also participate in theFIFA Club World Cup. Receiving a bye in the first round, they beat MexicansClub América 4–0 in the semi-finals to progress tothe final where they facedCopa Libertadores championsInternacional of Brazil, who won 1–0.[36]
