 Match programme cover | |||||||
| Event | 2021–22 UEFA Champions League | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Date | 28 May 2022 (2022-05-28) | ||||||
| Venue | Stade de France,Saint-Denis | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Thibaut Courtois(Real Madrid)[1] | ||||||
| Referee | Clément Turpin (France)[2] | ||||||
| Attendance | 75,000[3] | ||||||
| Weather | Partly cloudy night 18 °C (64 °F) 45%humidity[4] | ||||||
←2021 2023 → | |||||||
The2022 UEFA Champions League final was the final match of the2021–22 UEFA Champions League, the 67th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised byUEFA, and the 30th season since it was renamed from theEuropean Champion Clubs' Cup to theUEFA Champions League. It was played at theStade de France inSaint-Denis, France, on 28 May 2022, between English clubLiverpool and Spanish clubReal Madrid. It was the third time the two sides have met in the European Cup final, after1981 and2018, the third final held at the Stade de France, after the2000 and2006 finals, and the first time the same two teams have met in three finals.[5] Real Madrid won the match 1–0 via a 59th-minute goal fromVinícius Júnior, assisted byFederico Valverde, fora record-extending 14th title, and their fifth in nine years.[6]
This was the first final to be played in front of a full attendance since the2019 final, as the previous two finals were affected by theCOVID-19 pandemic.[7] The final was originally scheduled to be played at theAllianz Arena inMunich. After the postponement and relocation of the2020 final, the final hosts were shifted back a year, so the 2022 final was given to theKrestovsky Stadium inSaint Petersburg.[8] Following theRussian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, however, UEFA called an extraordinary meeting of the executive committee a day later,[9][10] and the final was relocated to the Stade de France.[11] Before the match,chaos descended following issues with crowd control, which led to kickoff being delayed by 36 minutes.[12]
As winners, Real Madrid earned the right to play against the winners of the2021–22 UEFA Europa League,Eintracht Frankfurt, in the2022 UEFA Super Cup, and also qualified for the2022 FIFA Club World Cup, in which they both won. The team also qualified for the2025 expanded FIFA Club World Cup using UEFA's champions pathway (The winners of the2021–2024 Champions Leagues), withLiverpool increasing their chances of qualifying using theUEFA coefficient pathway (The top 8 clubs qualifying).[13]
Liverpool played in their 10th European Cup/UEFA Champions League final. They had previously won six finals (in1977,1978,1981,1984,2005 and2019) and lost three (in1985,2007 and2018).[14] This was the fourth UEFA Champions League final for managerJürgen Klopp, after his loss withBorussia Dortmund in2013 and the Liverpool finals in 2018 and 2019 the latter of which he won.[15] In addition to their six European Cup/UEFA Champions League titles, Liverpool also played in oneEuropean Cup Winners' Cup final, losing in1966 against Borussia Dortmund, and in fourUEFA Cup/Europa League finals, winning in1973,1976 and2001 and losing in2016. Their managerJürgen Klopp was seeking to become the fourth consecutive German to manage a Champions League-winning club.[16]
Real Madrid played in a record 17th European Cup/UEFA Champions League final, and the first since their win in2018 against Liverpool. They previously won 13 finals (in1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1966,1998,2000,2002,2014,2016,2017 and 2018) and lost three (1962,1964 and 1981).[17] Their managerCarlo Ancelotti reached a record fifth UEFA Champions League final as manager, winning in 2003 and 2007 and losing in 2005 while in charge ofMilan, and winning the 2014 final with Real Madrid, and was seeking to become the first manager in history to win four UEFA Champions League titles and eight European trophies.[18][19] Real Madrid also played in twoEuropean Cup Winners' Cup finals (losing in1971 and1983) and twoUEFA Cup finals (winning in1985 and1986).[20]
This was a record-third time that the two teams meet in the final, after the 1981 final, which was held in theParc des Princes in Paris and in which Liverpool prevailed 1–0, and the 2018 final held at theOlimpiyskiy National Sports Complex in Kyiv, which was won 3–1 by Real Madrid. This was also the third final for Carlo Ancelotti as manager against Liverpool, after the 2005 and 2007 finals; he also lost the 1984 final as a player forRoma. This was the sixth time a Spanish side met an English team in the final of the competition, after the 1981,2006 (won byBarcelona againstArsenal), the2009 and2011 finals (both won by Barcelona againstManchester United), and the 2018 final.[21]
Besides the 1981 and 2018 finals, the two clubs had met each other six times. Liverpool won both matches in the2008–09 UEFA Champions League round of 16 (1–0 away and 4–0 at home). The two clubs were drawn in the same group in the2014–15 UEFA Champions League group stage, with Real Madrid winning 3–0 away and 1–0 at home. In the2020–21 quarter-finals, the Spanish side won 3–1 at home and held a 0–0 draw atAnfield to ensure progression to the semi-finals.[22]
In the following table, finals until 1992 were in the European Cup era, since 1993 were in the UEFA Champions League era.[23]
| Team | Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners) |
|---|---|
 Liverpool | 9 (1977,1978,1981,1984,1985,2005,2007,2018,2019) |
 Real Madrid | 16 (1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1962,1964,1966,1981,1998,2000,2002,2014,2016,2017,2018) |
The final was originally awarded to theAllianz Arena in Munich, Germany.[24] When theCOVID-19 pandemic forced the2020 final to be relocated from theAtatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul to theEstádio da Luz in Lisbon, the Allianz Arena was reawarded with the2023 final and the 2022 final was given to the original host of the2021 final, theKrestovsky Stadium inSaint Petersburg.[8]
Following theRussian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022,UEFA organised an emergency meeting of its executive committee on 25 February, at which it decided to move the final to theStade de France inSaint-Denis.[25] Other cities proposed as replacement hosts wereAmsterdam,Barcelona,Munich andRome.[26] This was the first UEFA Champions League final to take place in France since2006, whereBarcelona secured their second title by defeatingArsenal 2–1.[26]
An open bidding process was launched on 28 September 2018 by UEFA to select the venues of the finals of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Women's Champions League in 2021. Associations had until 26 October 2018 to express interest, and bid dossiers must be submitted by 15 February 2019. UEFA announced on 1 November 2018 that two associations had expressed interest in hosting the 2021 UEFA Champions League final,[27] and on 22 February 2019 that both associations submitted their dossiers by the deadline.[28]
| Association | Stadium | City | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
 Germany | Allianz Arena | Munich | 70,000 |
 Russia | Krestovsky Stadium | Saint Petersburg | 67,800 |
TheKrestovsky Stadium was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting inLjubljana, Slovenia on 24 September 2019,[24] where the hosts for the2021 and2023 UEFA Champions League finals were also appointed.[29]
On 17 June 2020, the UEFA Executive Committee announced that due to the postponement and relocation of the2020 final caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic in Europe, Saint Petersburg would instead host the 2022 final.[8]
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).
| Liverpool | Round | Real Madrid | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Result | Group stage | Opponent | Result | ||||
 Milan | 3–2 (H) | Matchday 1 | Inter Milan | 1–0 (A) | ||||
 Porto | 5–1 (A) | Matchday 2 |  Sheriff Tiraspol | 1–2 (H) | ||||
| Atlético Madrid | 3–2 (A) | Matchday 3 |  Shakhtar Donetsk | 5–0 (A) | ||||
| Atlético Madrid | 2–0 (H) | Matchday 4 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 2–1 (H) | ||||
| Porto | 2–0 (H) | Matchday 5 | Sheriff Tiraspol | 3–0 (A) | ||||
| Milan | 2–1 (A) | Matchday 6 | Inter Milan | 2–0 (H) | ||||
| Group B winners | Final standings | Group D winners | ||||||
| Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Knockout phase | Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Inter Milan | 2–1 | 2–0 (A) | 0–1 (H) | Round of 16 |  Paris Saint-Germain | 3–2 | 0–1 (A) | 3–1 (H) |
| Benfica | 6–4 | 3–1 (A) | 3–3 (H) | Quarter-finals | Chelsea | 5–4 | 3–1 (A) | 2–3 (a.e.t.) (H) |
| Villarreal | 5–2 | 2–0 (H) | 3–2 (A) | Semi-finals | Manchester City | 6–5 | 3–4 (A) | 3–1 (a.e.t.) (H) |
The original logo of the 2022 UEFA Champions League final at Saint Petersburg was unveiled at the group stage draw on 26 August 2021 inIstanbul.[30] Originally, formerRussian forwardAndrey Arshavin was chosen to be the ambassador for the final. However, he was removed after the final's relocation to Saint-Denis.[31]
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On 11 May 2022, UEFA named FrenchmanClément Turpin as thereferee for the final.[32] Turpin had been aFIFA referee since 2010, and was previously the fourth official in the2018 UEFA Champions League final, also between Real Madrid and Liverpool. In the previous season he was the referee for the2021 UEFA Europa League Final betweenVillarreal andManchester United. He officiated eight prior matches in the 2021–22 Champions League season, with two matches in qualification, four in the group stage and two knockout fixtures. He served as a referee at theUEFA European Championship in2016 and2020, as well as at the2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Turpin also was a video assistant referee at the2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia (including in thefinal), the2017 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and the2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France
Turpin was joined by five of his fellow countrymen, includingassistant referees Nicolas Danos and Cyril Gringore.[32]Benoît Bastien served as the fourth official.Jérôme Brisard acted as thevideo assistant referee (VAR), withWilly Delajod appointed as one of the assistant VAR officials, along with Italian refereesMassimiliano Irrati and Filippo Meli.[2][32]
Cuban-born American singerCamila Cabello performed for the opening ceremony before the start of the match.[33] Cabello performed her songs "Señorita", "La Buena Vida", "Havana", "Bam Bam" and "Don't Go Yet".[34][35]
Crowd control descended into chaos at the entrances to the Stade de France prior to the beginning of the match.[36] By 21:00 local time, the originally scheduled kick-off time, thousands of seats remained empty in the Liverpool end. Ostensibly for security reasons, the kick-off was initially delayed by 15 minutes to 21:15. This was further delayed by 15 minutes to 21:30, before being pushed back another six minutes to 21:36. The match eventually started at 21:37.[12]
Fance's Interior Minister at the time,Gérald Darmanin, later admitted that security arrangements for the final were wrong, and that his first public remarks – blaming Livepool fans – were a mistake. "It was a failure because I had not foreseen. That was a mistake on my part. I was led astray by my preconceptions," he said, admitting that "The scapegoat was easy to find, and I apologise now to Liverpool supporters. They were quite right to be hurt. It was a mistake and a failure."[37]
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The match kicked off at the delayed time of 21:36 in front of a crowd of 75,000. In the 16th minute,Trent Alexander-Arnold played the ball across the Real Madrid penalty area which ended up being hit towards goal byMohamed Salah before being saved byThibaut Courtois for the first effort of the match.[38] Five minutes later,Thiago Alcântara played a ball through toSadio Mané who managed to make space for himself and take a shot which was saved on to the left post by Courtois. In the 34th minute, Alexander-Arnold played another cross into the Madrid penalty area towards Salah, who managed to direct a header towards goal but straight at Courtois.[38]
Two minutes before half-time,Karim Benzema made a clear run towards the Liverpool penalty area on the right and managed to take the ball under control before attempting to pass the ball across before being cut out byIbrahima Konaté. However, a mix up between the Liverpool defender as well as goalkeeperAlisson allowedFederico Valverde to try and step in to intercept, with Liverpool midfielderFabinho also forced to intervene.[39][40] Amongthe attempts to win the ball, it ended up falling to Benzema again who then passed the ball into the net. However, the goal was disallowed initially by the assistant referee and then also by the VAR after a check of three minutes and 20 seconds.[41] Benzema was shown to be in an offside position when the ball came to him, however there was controversy as to whether the last touch off of Fabinho was intentional or not.[42][43] There were three minutes of stoppage time.[39]
Neither side made any line-up changes during the interval.[44] Liverpool continued where they left off, as nine minutes into the second half Alexander-Arnold played in another cross towards the Real Madrid penalty area which was not far from the head of Alcântara and ended up being punched away by Courtois.[38] In the 59th minute, Madrid took the lead against the run of play; Valverde made a run with the ball on the right hand side, before eventually playing a low cross towardsVinícius Júnior in the penalty area who managed to tuck the ball into the net to make it 1–0, having been left unmarked and Alisson left stranded on the other side of the goal.[39][40]
Fabinho received the first and only booking of the night, after being shown a yellow card in the 62nd minute by refereeClément Turpin for a challenge on Valverde.[39] With 24 minutes remaining, Liverpool pressed for an equaliser. Salah came forward with the ball and tried a shot from just outside the penalty area which ended up being saved to the right side of his goal by Courtois.[38] Liverpool then made their first substitution of the final in the 65th minute, asLuis Díaz came off forDiogo Jota.[40][39] Liverpool pushed again for a goal as a header across the face of goal by Jota almost found its way towards Salah, but was blocked off by Courtois.[38] Madrid then had a chance to score another in the 75th minute, as a free kick into the Liverpool penalty area byToni Kroos found its way toCasemiro who then tried to play the ball across towards Benzema and Vinícius, but was collected byAndrew Robertson.[45][40]
Liverpool then made their two more changes, as Alcântara and captainJordan Henderson came off forNaby Keïta andRoberto Firmino in the 77th minute.[45][40] Liverpool continued to push for the equaliser, as passing took place between Salah and Firmino before Salah took another shot from just outside the penalty area which ended up being deflected off of Jota and carefully beaten away by Courtois down his bottom left.[38] Salah came forward again with eight minutes left, as a ball over the top from Fabinho found its way to the Egyptian who tried to battle offFerland Mendy before coming across and having his resulting effort be saved by Courtois.[38] Madrid made their first change of the match in the 86th minute, as Valverde came off forEduardo Camavinga.[45] At the end of regular time, the fourth official displayed that a minimum of five minutes of stoppage time would be played.[45][40] Madrid made their two other substitutions in stoppage time, asDani Ceballos came on forLuka Modrić in the 90th minute and goalscorer Vinícius was brought off in the 93rd minute forRodrygo.[45] Despite Liverpool's continued pushes for a goal in the final moments, the match was brought to an end with Madrid winning 1–0.[45]
The home team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws.[46]
          Liverpool[4] |      Real Madrid[4] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[2] | Match rules[47]
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With their win, Real Madrid secured a record-extending 14th title in the European Cup/Champions League. The club has won twice as many titles as the next-best team,Milan (7 titles).[49] This was Madrid's fifth title in nine seasons (since2013–14), their eighth consecutive win in a Champions League final, and their tenth successive victory in a major European final (including the1985 and1986 UEFA Cup Finals). Real Madrid has not lost a final in the Champions League era, with their last defeat occurring in 1981.[50] Real Madrid also claimed their fourthEuropean double (after1956–57,1957–58 and2016–17).[51] With the win, Spanish teams extended their streak of 17 straight major European finals won against non-Spanish opposition.[52] Real Madrid goalkeeperThibaut Courtois was selected as the man of the match,[1] having made nine saves in the game, a record in the final sinceOpta began keeping records in2003–04. His 59 saves during the campaign also set a new Champions League single-season record since Opta began keeping records.[53]
Carlo Ancelotti became the first manager to win four Champions League titles, having previously won the2003 and2007 tournaments with Milan, and the2014 title with Madrid.[54] Conversely, Jürgen Klopp tiedMarcello Lippi for most losses in Champions League finals. Klopp had previously lost withBorussia Dortmund in2013 and Liverpool in2018.[55] Nine players secured their fifth Champions League title with the win, with eight (Gareth Bale,Karim Benzema,Dani Carvajal,Casemiro,Isco,Marcelo,Luka Modrić andNacho) doing so with Real Madrid's wins in 2014 and from 2016 to 2018.Toni Kroos won his first title withBayern Munich in2013, before winning with Real Madrid from 2016 to 2018. They joined former Real Madrid playerCristiano Ronaldo as the only players to have won five titles in the Champions League era.[55]
The two teams would meet again in thenext edition of the Champions League, in the round of 16. In the first leg atAnfield, Liverpool took a 2–0 lead within 14 minutes through a backheel goal from summer signingDarwin Núñez, beforeMohamed Salah capitalised on a slip from Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. However, they could not hold on to it and lost 5–2 thanks to two goals from the previous final's match-winnerVinícius Júnior andKarim Benzema, and one fromÉder Militão.[56] In the second leg at theSantiago Bernabéu Stadium, Benzema scored the only goal of the match to give Real Madrid a 1–0 win, 6–2 on aggregate.[57]
The two would then meet at Anfield in the2024–25 UEFA Champions Leagueleague phase. This time, Liverpool were under the management ofArne Slot, following Jürgen Klopp's decision to leave the club at the end of the2023–24 season.[58] Meanwhile, Real Madrid were the holders of the competition, having won a record-extending 15th European Cup/Champions League, in a similar case to their meeting in 2023. Liverpool won the match 2–0, through goals fromAlexis Mac Allister andCody Gakpo. Both sides saw missed penalties; Real Madrid'sKylian Mbappé saw his penalty saved byCaoimhin Kelleher, before Liverpool's Mohamed Salah missed the goal completely and went wide. The victory marked Liverpool's first over Real Madrid since 2009, having gone winless against the Spanish side in eight meetings.[59][60]
