Ranking the last 20 Champions League finals

Context matters. This was the third year in a row that Real Madrid not only played in the Champions League final, but won it. That took some of the bloom off the rose. Real Madrid won 3-1, so it didn’t go down to the wire either. While Gareth Bale scored a great goal, this was also the final where flubs by Liverpool keeper Loris Karius led directly to two goals, taking the bloom off of those.

It’s not just that this was a 1-0 win for Bayern, who had won this tournament a few times before, in a game lacking much firepower. This Champions League, like many things in 2020, was marred by the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament was shortened and the final was played in front of zero fans. That really took any energy out of it.

When clubs from the same country meet in the final, it loses a little luster. That’s even when the teams are laden with talent and come from the best league in the world. Chelsea and Manchester City had already played one another on multiple occasions before this matchup. In terms of quality of the game, this is probably the least-enjoyable of these 20 contests. Chelsea won 1-0 thanks to a goal in the 42nd minute on one of the three shots to get on target.

There are plenty of Real Madrid wins on this list, but that makes each of them a bit less exciting. This was the 15th time that the club had won the Champions League/European Cup. There was some energy to this match, and it was tied 0-0 until the 74th minute. Real Madrid added another goal in the 83rd minute. It was competitive, and it wasn’t a snooze, but by this point Real Madrid winning was a total shrug.

Points for eventfulness. There were five goals in this game. The reason it isn’t higher is that Real Madrid scored four of those goals. That being said, this game was tied at 1-1 for about 40 minutes, so it wasn’t lacking for intrigue for much of the contest.

That’s right, there used to be a time when Manchester United would make it to the Champions League final. Of course, these days the club is just hoping to get back to competing to qualify for the tournament. There were a lot of big names in this game, with Lionel Messi scoring the goal that put Barcelona up 2-1 en route to the 3-1 win. The thing is, that score belies just how much Barcelona controlled this game. To that end, the Spanish side put 12 shots on target to the English side’s single shot on goal.

A couple years before one acclaimed Spanish side, Real Madrid, beat Juventus 4-1, the Italian giants lost 3-1 to another iconic Spanish side. This game was more competitive than that one. Ivan Rakitic scored in the fourth minute, but Barcelona didn’t run away with it. Juventus evened things up in the 55th minute, and then Luis Suarez got Barcelona back on top in the 68th minute. Neymar’s goal came in the 97h minute, so truly this was a game that was competitive until the very end.

Inter won this tournament for the first time since 1965, the European Cup days. The Milan side also finished off a treble, the first for an Italian club. Diego Milito secured a brace in the 2-0 win for Inter, which was cool. This was a good game, to be sure, but Inter was a Jose Mourinho side, so this wasn’t exactly a rip-roaring affair.

Yes, this exact matchup happened a few years prior, but this game was better. It was a 1-0 matchup, with Vini Jr.’s goal being a good one. However, this was also an eventful game for one in which a single goal was scored. Liverpool got nine shots on target, and Thibaut Courtois made nine saves. It really felt like Liverpool would even the score, but it never did thanks to the Belgian keeper’s heroics. That kept it compelling.

This was also a 1-0 game. It included a great goal from Rodri, some huge saves from Ederson, and Manchester City winning the club’s first Champions League title. By this point, English soccer fans were used to seeing City win the Premier League, but it was still significant to see a club win its first-ever Champions League. That’s still a cool thing to see in this day and age.

Mohamed Salah scored on a penalty very early in the game. After that Spurs did the best it could to even the score. Divok Origi added another goal for Liverpool in the 87th minute. That gave us another big moment, which added to the game’s quality. Plus, Spurs was playing in its first Champions League final, so that was interesting. The only thing knocking this down a bit was, of course, the fact these clubs are both English sides.

This was the least-competitive game of these 20. So why did it crack the top half of these rankings? Because of how remarkable and impressive PSG was in making this game uncompetitive. The French club won 5-0, the biggest margin of victory in the final of this tournament. PSG was all over the pitch and looked incredible. It was a sight to behold. Throw in the fact PSG won the tournament for the first time, and it was a good game even if it was a rout.

A couple years after the “Miracle in Istanbul,” Milan got its revenge. Milan grabbed the lead right before the end of the first half, and then Pippo Inzaghi added a second goal in the 82nd minute. This game wouldn’t have been this high in the rankings if it had ended 2-0, but Dirk Kuyt got Liverpool on the board in the 89th minute. That made this one a fight to the finish, if only for a few minutes.

This was the matchup before the match we ranked 15th. One, that matchup had lost some of the luster because it had just happened. This game was also more competitive and featured good goals from Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi. That goal from Messi was notable, because this was the best player of his generation’s first time playing in the Champions League final.

Messi was a Barcelona player in 2006, but he didn’t play in this game. He was still a teenager and had only played in 17 La Liga games and six Champions League games. However, this was a slightly-better game, even without the Messi impact. It’s not just that it was a 2-1 game, but Barcelona scored a comeback win. Arsenal scored in the 37th minute, but then Barcelona got goals in the 76th and 80th minutes to come from behind and get the win.

As we enter the top five, we get to the first game that went into extra time. In fact, this game went into penalty kicks. Real was up 1-0, but then Yannick Carrasco evened things up in the 79th minute. When the fourth Atletico penalty taker missed, Cristiano Ronaldo gave Real the win. It’s fifth, though, because it was not just a matchup of teams from the same league, but because these two teams had played exactly two seasons prior.

Speaking of! This game is slightly higher because the end of it was absolutely wild. Atletico scored in the 36th minute, and seemed primed to upset its in-city rival. Then, Sergio Ramos scored off a header in extra time. Instead of heading into penalty kicks, Real scored in additional time…and again…and again. Yes, Real Madrid went from down 1-0 to winning 4-1 without scoring a single goal in the first 90 minutes of the game. Also, while Real winning isn’t interesting in and of itself, this was the club’s 10th title, and that is kind of cool.

Once again, the lack of excitement that comes in a matchup of teams from the same country does battle with the excitement of a game that goes into penalty kicks. This was a better game, or at least a more-interesting game, than the Madrid Derby. We got two goals in the first half and got to see Didier Drogba sent off, only the second time a player had been sent off in the finals of this tournament. This was a compelling shootout as well. Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored during the game, missed his PK. That opened the door for Chelsea, but then John Terry missed his. Ryan Giggs, United’s seventh kicker, converted. Nicolas Anelka, Chelsea’s seventh kicker, had his shot saved. Manchester United got the win.

Even if it was a matchup of German sides, this is the best of these 20 games not to go into extra time. The first half was eventful, even if there weren’t any goals. Bundesliga clubs know how to keep football fun. Bayern scored first in the 60th minute. Then, Ilkay Gundogan converted a penalty in the 68th minute to tie things up. It seemed like we would get extra time, but then Arjen Robben scored in the 89th minute to give Bayern the 2-1 win. The teams combined for 17 shots on target in an eventful, exciting game.

This one had it all. Excitement? How about a game featuring goals in the 83rd and 88th minute to take us into additional time tied 1-1? Oh, and then how about in that additional time a keeper, in this case Petr Cech, stopping a penalty? That was just a precursor. This game went into penalty kicks, and Juan Mata’s opening attempt for Chelsea was saved. Things looked grim, but then Cech stopped Ivica Olic’s kick. Chelsea was alive. Then, Cech saved Bastian Schweinsteiger’s kick. This allowed Didier Drogba to score and give Chelsea the improbable win. On top of that, Chelsea was quite the story. That season Chelsea finished sixth in the Premier League and was being led by interim manager Roberto Di Matteo. All that, and these clubs weren’t from the same country! It’s easy to see why this final ranks first.