The 2016 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League, the 61st season of Europe's premier club

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

tournament organised by

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

, and the 24th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

. It was played at the

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...

stadium in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Italy, on 28 May 2016, between Spanish teams

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

and

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

, in a repeat of the 2014 final. It was the second time in the tournament's history that both finalists were from the same city. Real Madrid won 5–3 on a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw at the end of extra time, securing a record-extending 11th title in the competition. Real Madrid earned the right to play against the winners of the

2015–16 UEFA Europa League The 2015–16 UEFA Europa League was the 45th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the seventh season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2016 UEFA Europa League Final w ...

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

, in the 2016 UEFA Super Cup. They also qualified to enter the semi-finals of the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup as the UEFA representative, ultimately triumphing in both competitions.

Venue

The

, officially known as Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, was announced as the venue of the final at the UEFA Executive Committee meeting in

Nyon Nyon (; outdated German: or ; outdated Italian: , ) is a municipality in Nyon District in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometers north east of Geneva's city centre, and since the 1970s it has become part of the Ge ...

, Switzerland, on 18 September 2014, the fourth European Cup/Champions League final hosted at the stadium following those in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

and 2001. The San Siro was built in 1925, opened in 1926 as the home of

, and was sold to the city in 1935.

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...

became tenants in 1947, and the stadium has been shared by the two clubs ever since, with Inter winning the first European Cup final played at the stadium in 1965. The stadium was used as a venue in the

1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934. The 1934 World Cup was the first in w ...

UEFA Euro 1980 The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship finals tournament was held in Italy. This was the sixth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first European Championship to feature eight teams i ...

, and the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

. Its current capacity is 80,018, but is reduced to just under 80,000 seats for UEFA competitions. The 2016 final marked the first time a final has been held at the San Siro when neither of its tenants were able to win the competition, as Milan and Internazionale both failed to qualify for any European competitions after their performance in the 2014–15 Serie A.

Background

This final was the sixth tournament final to feature two teams from the same association, the third all-Spanish final, and the second between teams from the same city, fielding exactly the two teams that faced each other in the 2014 final, making it the seventh repeated final pairing. The all-Madrid final also guaranteed the city of Madrid becoming the most successful city in the European Cup with 11 wins and 17 final appearances, and also in all UEFA club competitions with 16 wins, overtaking the city of Milan with 10 wins and 16 final appearances in the European Cup and 15 wins in all UEFA club competitions.

reached a record 14th final after a 1–0 aggregate win against Manchester City, with a chance to win a record 11th title. Previously, they won finals in 1956, 1957, 1958,

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, 1960, 1966, 1998,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, 2002, and 2014, and lost in 1962, 1964 and 1981. This was also their 18th final in all UEFA club competitions, having also played in two

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

finals (losing in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

and 1983) and two

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

finals (winning in 1985 and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

). Their manager,

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the mos ...

, who scored the winning goal for Real Madrid in the 2002 final, was aiming to become the seventh man to win the Champions League as both player and manager, joining

Miguel Muñoz Miguel Muñoz Mozún (19 January 1922 – 16 July 1990) was a Spanish football player and manager. A midfielder, he spent the majority of his career at Real Madrid before going on to coach the club, where he is widely considered one of the mos ...

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), sometimes popularly known as "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Italian football. A former defensive midfielder, as a p ...

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti , (born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of La Liga club Real Madrid. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, Ancelotti is the most decorated manager ...

Frank Rijkaard Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard (; born 30 September 1962) is a Dutch former footballer and former manager who played as a defensive midfielder. Rijkaard played for Ajax, Real Zaragoza and AC Milan and represented the Netherlands national team side ...

and Pep Guardiola. The team had had a disastrous first half of the season, being left out of contention to win La Liga, sacking

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed club Everton. Benítez joined Real Madrid's coaching staff at the age of 26, going on to work as the under- ...

in January and leaving the Champions League to save their season from being trophy-less.

reached their third European Cup final after defeating Bayern Munich on away goals (2–2 on aggregate). Their previous two European Cup finals in 1974 and 2014 both ended in defeats, to Bayern Munich and Real Madrid respectively. Atlético Madrid had also played in three

finals (winning in 1962, and losing in 1963 and

) and two

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

finals (winning in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

), with their most recent Europa League triumph in 2012 led by current coach

Diego Simeone Diego Pablo Simeone González (; ; born 28 April 1970, nicknamed El Cholo (), is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder; he has been the manager of Atlético Madrid since December 2011. In his cl ...

, widely attributed as having brought Atlético Madrid back to glory, but had yet to win a Champions League. He had the chance to join fellow Argentinians

Luis Carniglia Luis Antonio Carniglia (4 October 1917 – 22 June 2001) was an Argentine football striker and manager. He played for Boca Juniors in the 1930s, but is probably best known for managing Real Madrid in the 1950s. Luis Carniglia was buried in La ...

and

Helenio Herrera Helenio Herrera Gavilán (; 10 April 1910 – 9 November 1997) was an Argentine, naturalized French, football player and manager. He is best remembered for his success with the Inter Milan team known as ''Grande Inter'' in the 1960s. During h ...

as the only non-European coaches to win the European Cup/Champions League. Had they won the final, they would have become the first Spanish club and the fifth club overall to have won all three major European trophies ( European Cup/Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League and the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup). On the other hand, if they were to lose, they would become the first team to lose their first three European Cup finals. Apart from the 2014 final, won by Real Madrid 4–1 after extra time, the only previous Madrid Derby matches in European competitions were in the 1958–59 European Cup semi-finals, where Real Madrid won 2–1 in a replay, after a 2–2 aggregate draw, and in the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, where Real Madrid won 1–0 on aggregate.

Road to the final

''Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).''

Pre-match

Ambassadors

The ambassadors for the final were former Argentine international Javier Zanetti, who won the Champions League with Internazionale against Bayern Munich in

, and former Italian international

Paolo Maldini Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played primarily as a left back and centre back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of a ...

, who won five European Cups with Milan.

Logo

UEFA unveiled the brand identity of the final on 27 August 2015 in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

ahead of the group stage draw. The logo features the Milan landmark

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II () is Italy's oldest active shopping gallery and a major landmark of Milan in Italy. Housed within a four-story double arcade in the centre of town, the ''Galleria'' is named after Victor Emmanuel II, the first ki ...

Ticketing

With a stadium capacity of 71,500, a total amount of 46,000 tickets were available to fans and the general public, with the two finalist teams receiving 20,000 tickets each and with 6,000 tickets being available for sale to fans worldwide via UEFA.com from 1 to 14 March 2016 in four price categories: €440, €320, €160 and €70. The remaining tickets were allocated to the local organising committee, UEFA and national associations, commercial partners and broadcasters, and to serve the corporate hospitality programme.

Opening ceremony

American singer

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

performed in the opening ceremony prior to the match, the first time the UEFA Champions League final featured a live music performance. The

UEFA Champions League Anthem The UEFA Champions League Anthem, officially titled simply "Champions League", is the official anthem of the UEFA Champions League, written by English composer Tony Britten in 1992, and based on George Frideric Handel's ''Zadok the Priest''.

was performed by Italian tenor

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fr ...

Related events

The 2016 UEFA Women's Champions League Final was held two days prior, on 26 May 2016, at the

Mapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore Mapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore (; with the first half officially written in all caps) is a multi-purpose stadium in Reggio Emilia, Italy. It is currently the home ground of U.S. Sassuolo of Serie A and A.C. Reggiana of Serie C. The st ...

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...

. The annual UEFA Champions Festival was held between 26–29 May 2016 at Milan's Piazza del Duomo.

Match

Officials

In May 2016, English

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

Mark Clattenburg Mark Clattenburg (born 13 March 1975) is an English professional football referee. Clattenburg is a former member of the Premier League and the Durham County Football Association and also a former FIFA referee. He has refereed a number of nota ...

was chosen to adjudicate the final. Joining him, were compatriots Simon Beck and Jake Collin as assistant referees,

Andre Marriner Andre Marriner (born 1 January 1971)

and Anthony Taylor as additional assistant referees, Stuart Burt as reserve assistant referee, and Hungarian

Viktor Kassai Viktor Kassai (''Kassai Viktor'', Hungarian pronunciation: ; born 10 September 1975) is a Hungarian football official and a former referee who is the current head of refereeing department of the Bulgarian Football Union. He participated in the ...

fourth official In association football, an assistant referee (previously known as a linesman or lineswoman) is an official empowered with assisting the referee in enforcing the Laws of the Game during a match. Although assistants are not required under the L ...

Goal-line technology

The

goal-line technology In many outdoor ball sports, a goal line is a line in front of goal post and which a team attempts to advance the ball or puck towards to score a goal or points. In particular, see: * Football pitch A football pitch (also known as soccer fiel ...

system

Hawk-Eye Hawk-Eye is a computer vision system used in numerous sports such as cricket, tennis, Gaelic football, badminton, hurling, rugby union, association football and volleyball, to visually track the trajectory of the ball and display a profile o ...

was used for the match. This was the first UEFA Champions League final to employ goal-line technology, following approval by the UEFA Executive Committee in January 2016.

Summary

Real Madrid dominated possession in the early stages of the match. Six minutes into the game Gareth Bale delivered a free-kick into Atlético Madrid's penalty box, which found

Casemiro Carlos Henrique Casimiro (born 23 February 1992), known as Casemiro, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Manchester United and the Brazil national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best d ...

. His goalbound shot was cleared off the line by goalkeeper

Jan Oblak Jan Oblak (born 7 January 1993) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and captains the Slovenia national team. He is frequently ranked as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. O ...

. Five minutes later,

Dani Carvajal Daniel "Dani" Carvajal Ramos (; born 11 January 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right back for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Spain national team. Having risen through the Real Madrid youth ranks, he spent a sea ...

received the first yellow card of the match after a late tackle on

Antoine Griezmann Antoine Griezmann (; born 21 March 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the France national team. A versatile player, Griezmann is known for his attacking, passing, and supporti ...

. In the 15th minute,

Toni Kroos Toni Kroos (born 4 January 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Kroos plays mainly as a central midfielder, but has also been deployed as a deep-lying playmaker in his career. He is kn ...

sent a free-kick into Atlético's penalty box, which was flicked on by Bale. In the subsequent scramble, Sergio Ramos touched the ball past Oblak to score for Real. The goal stood despite video evidence subsequently showing Ramos was in an offside position, meaning the goal should have been disallowed. In the 46th minute,

Fernando Torres Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Atlético Madrid Juvenil A. Due to his consistent goalscoring rate as a young player, ...

won a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

for Atlético after a foul from behind from

Pepe Pepe is a pet form of the Spanish name José (Josep). It is also a surname. * People Mononyms * Pepe (footballer, born 1935), real name José Macia, Brazilian footballer *Pepe (footballer, born 1983), real name Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira ...

. Real Madrid goalkeeper

Keylor Navas Keilor Antonio Navas Gamboa (born 15 December 1986), known as Keylor Navas, is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Costa Rica national team. He was named CONCACAF Men's G ...

was shown a yellow card for delaying the kick. Griezmann took the penalty but his shot missed the goal, with the ball ricocheting off the crossbar. Substitute

Yannick Carrasco Yannick Ferreira Carrasco (born 4 September 1993) is a Belgian footballer who plays for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the Belgium national team as a winger or wing-back. He began his career with Monaco, where he scored 20 goals in 105 ...

latched onto a cross by Juanfran from the right to equalise from close range for Atlético in the 79th minute. The scoreline remained the same at the end of 90 minutes to send the match into

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

. After a goalless extra 30 minutes, the game was settled by a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. Juanfran missed Atlético's fourth penalty, hitting the post, thus allowing

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

to seal Real Madrid's 11th Champions League title.

Details

The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the semi-final draw, which was held on 15 April 2016 at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

Statistics

Post-match

Ramos, who scored the opening goal of the match, became the fifth player to score in two Champions League finals. He had not scored in the competition since scoring the equaliser against Atlético Madrid in the 2014 final. Carrasco's second-half equaliser made him the first Belgian to score in a Champions League final. Real Madrid coach Zidane became the first French coach to win the Champions League and the seventh person to win the Champions League as a player and as a coach. During the match, fans at an Iraqi Real Madrid fan club were attacked for the second time, bringing the combined death toll to at least 29. In the aftermath of the attack, club president

Florentino Pérez Florentino Pérez Rodríguez (; born 8 March 1947) is a Spanish businessman, civil engineer, former politician, and the current president of Real Madrid as well as Chairman and CEO of Grupo ACS, a civil engineering company. He was also the first ...

dedicated Real Madrid's victory to the fans that were killed and other Iraqi fans of the club, including others who have been killed by the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

. Players had previously worn black armbands and observed moment of silence after the first attack.

Reactions

Zidane expressed his pride at being Real Madrid coach and winning the Champions League with the club as a player, as assistant coach and now as head coach. Simeone congratulated Real Madrid on their victory. When asked if he would continue as the coach of Atlético Madrid, Simeone replied, "My plan is to think. That's all." Ronaldo told the media after the match that he had requested to take the fifth penalty because he "had a vision" that he would score the winning goal.

Luka Modrić Luka Modrić (; born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the Croatia national team. He plays mainly as a central midfielder, but can also play as an a ...

told the media he was happy and proud of the win, and that the team had shown character until the end.

References

External links

2015–16 UEFA Champions League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uefa Champions League Final 2016 2016

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Champions League Final The UEFA Champions League is a seasonal football competition established in 1955. Prior to the 1992–93 season, the tournament was named the European Cup. The UEFA Champions League is open to the league champions of all UEFA (Union of European ...

European Cup Final 2016 European Cup Final 2016 European Cup Final 2016 European Cup Final 2016

May 2016 sports events in Europe 2010s in Milan Sports competitions in Milan European Cup Final 2016 Madrid Derby matches