2011 UEFA Champions League final

The final of the 2010–11 edition of the UEFA Champions LeagueTemplate:SHORTDESC:The final of the 2010–11 edition of the UEFA Champions League

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The **2011 UEFA Champions League final** was an association football match played on 28 May 2011 at Wembley Stadium in London that decided the winner of the 2010–11 season of the UEFA Champions League. The winners received the European Champion Clubs' Cup (the European Cup). The 2011 final was the culmination of the 56th season of the tournament, and the 19th in the Champions League era.

The final was contested by Barcelona of Spain and Manchester United of England, the same teams which contested the 2009 final held in Rome which Barcelona won 2–0. The match kicked off at 19:45 BST. The referee for the match was Viktor Kassai from Hungary. The venue, the new Wembley Stadium, hosted its first European Cup final, having opened in 2007. The old Wembley Stadium hosted the finals in 1963, 1968, 1971, 1978 and 1992.

Both teams entered the competition having won it three times previously, Manchester United in 1968, 1999 and 2008; Barcelona in 1992, 2006 and 2009. To reach the final, in the knockout phase Barcelona beat Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk and lastly Real Madrid in the 212th *El Clásico* derby, while Manchester United beat Marseille, Chelsea and Schalke 04. Manchester United and Barcelona entered the final as champions of their domestic leagues (the Premier League and La Liga, respectively), but neither team had won a domestic cup that season.

Barcelona dominated the match, winning 3–1 with goals from Pedro, Lionel Messi and David Villa, securing their fourth Champions League title. Wayne Rooney scored for Manchester United to level the score going into half-time.

Barcelona thus qualified to play Porto, the winners of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, in the 2011 UEFA Super Cup in Monaco on 26 August 2011, and they also earned a place in the semi-finals of the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup in December 2011 as the UEFA representative.

## Background

The original Wembley Stadium hosted five European Cup finals prior to 2011. The 1968 and 1978 finals were both won by English sides: Manchester United beat Benfica 4–1 in 1968 and Liverpool defeated Club Brugge 1–0 in 1978. Benfica also lost in the 1963 final, beaten 2–1 by A.C. Milan, while Ajax won the first of three consecutive European Cups at Wembley in 1971, beating Panathinaikos 2–0. In the 1992 final, Spanish club Barcelona defeated Italian side Sampdoria 1–0 in the final match played as the European Cup prior to the following season's introduction of the current Champions League format.[*citation needed*]

First opened for the British Empire Exhibition in 1923, the stadium was originally known as the Empire Stadium. That year, it hosted its first FA Cup Final, when almost 200,000 spectators attempted to watch the match between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United. Wembley played host to all of England's matches at the 1966 FIFA World Cup, including the 4–2 victory over West Germany in the final, and at UEFA Euro 1996. The original stadium was closed in 2000 and demolished three years later, to be replaced by a 90,000-capacity arena, which opened in 2007.

The match was a rematch of the final two years earlier, which Barcelona had won 2–0 in Rome. United and Barcelona had both won three European titles prior to the match. United had won three years earlier against Chelsea, Bayern Munich in 1999, and Benfica in 1968. Barcelona had won their first title 19 years earlier, against Sampdoria at the Wembley Stadium. They then won their second title in 2006, beating Arsenal 2–1 in Paris. The most recent title win for Barcelona was against United in 2009 and it was the most recent final for both of these teams. However, in 2008, United defeated Barcelona 1–0 on aggregate, at the semi-final stage, en route to claiming their third trophy. Barcelona were appearing in the final for the third time in six years while United were for the third time in four years.[*citation needed*]

## Road to the Final

Further information: 2010–11 UEFA Champions League
*Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).*

## See also

* 1991 European Cup Winners' Cup Final – contested between same teams
* 2009 UEFA Champions League final – contested between same teams
* 2010–11 UEFA Champions League
* 2011 UEFA Europa League Final
* 2011 UEFA Super Cup
* 2011 FIFA Club World Cup
* FC Barcelona in international football competitions
* Manchester United F.C. in European football

## References

1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `uefa_motm`
2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `player_rater`
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `referee`
4. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `full_time`
5. ↑ "Tactical Line-ups – Final – Saturday 28 May 2011" (PDF). *UEFA.com*. Union of European Football Associations. 28 May 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Wembley returns to centre stage". *UEFA.com*. Union of European Football Associations. 30 January 2009. Archived from the original on 4 May 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
7. ↑ "Barcelona 3 Manchester United 1". *BBC Sport*. 28 May 2011. Archived from the original on 29 May 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
8. ↑ "Barcelona 3 Manchester United 1". *The Daily Telegraph*. 28 May 2011. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
9. ↑ "Rahmenterminkalender 2011/2012". *DFB.de* (in German). Deutscher Fussball-Bund. 24 November 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
10. ↑ "Calendrier Général des Compétitions 2011/2012" (PDF). *LFP.fr* (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 31 March 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2011.

## External links

* 2010–11 UEFA Champions League, UEFA.com
* 2011 UEFA Champions League Final, UEFA.com

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