380 million people tune in each year to watch the top European football teams battle it out for the infamous champions league title. We’ve seen Late comebacks in Istanbul and underdog stories in Munich, but which of these galactic finals is the fan favourite?
10. Real Madrid 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen 2002 (2.3 Million Views)
At first glance, it might come as a surprise that this matchup ranks so highly on our list of 67 finals, but this game had one of the best champions league goals of all time, if not one of the best football goals of all time. A cross by Roberto Carlos to Zinedine Zidane who half volleys it into the top corner gifting Real Madrid the win. A moment of absolute magic that only Zidane could pull off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca-O58vdPTQ
9. Real Madrid 3-1 Liverpool 2018 (2.4 Million Views)
The 2018 final saw The Spanish Galacticos meet the English Reds. An early injury to Mohamed Salah, an outrageous overhead kick from Gareth Bale and a disasterclass from the Liverpool goalkeeper Lloris Karius saw Liverpool lose the game 3-1. Real Madrid's experience and composure were enough to beat Liverpool on that day, but will it be enough in 2022?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG1B6rxlZ-8
8. Inter Milan 2-0 Bayern Munich 2010 (3.2 Million Views)
In style="color: blue;text-decoration: underline;" this galactico level matchup, the Bundesliga Champions face the Seria A Champions. The Special One José Mourinho’s 4-2-3-1 faces up against Louis van Gaal’s 4-2-3-1. Diego Milito scores one in each half to win the game and bring Big Ears to the San Siro to complete the treble for the first time in their history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUTvglBTQ8Y
7. Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea (6-5p) 2008 (3.3 Million Views)
Th style="color: blue;text-decoration: underline;"e first all-English European final was to feature two of the greatest sides featuring players like Ronaldo, Lampard, Scholes and many more. The first 90 minutes ended one apiece with goals from Ronaldo and Lampard. The game goes all the way to penalties where John Terry famously slips and hits the post, meaning Manchester United finish their season with both the Premier League and The Champions League titles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtzHAkcjHv4
6. Real Madrid 4-1 Juventus 2017 (3.6 Million Views)
An Italian team that lost their last 4 champions league finals face A Spanish team that won their last five finals, including the year before (2016). Even with Mandžukić’s world-class overhead kick, it was not going to be Juventus’ day as Ronaldo scores a brace making the score 4-1 to Real Madrid at full time.
Real Madrid would end up winning the Champions League the following year, making them the first team to win it 3 times in 3 consecutive years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtsp6KrRE8I&t=684s
5. Chelsea 1-1 Bayern Munich (4-3p) 2012 (4.7 Million Views)
This was Bayern’s 9th European final and only the second for the tournament underdog Chelsea. To make matters worse for Chelsea, the final was in Bayern Munich’s backyard, The Allianz Arena. The game goes to penalties after a jaw-dropping last-minute equalizer from Didier Drogba to close the game out at 1-1. It also had to be Drogba to score the final penalty to win Chelsea their first-ever champions league final.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBP7QQYN1IU
4. Liverpool 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur 2019 (4.9 Million Views)
The second all English final brings a European giant face to face with an up-and-coming newbie. It did not take long for Tottenham to concede a penalty, 25 seconds to be exact, which Salah scores to put Liverpool 1-0 up. Origi makes it 2-0 as Liverpool adds a 6th Champions League Trophy to their cabinet leaving Tottenham on a quest for their first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VzNx27VAXw
3. Barcelona 3-1 Juventus 2015 (5.2 Million Views)
An exciting Juventus squad were to face off against one of the best front lines in world football (Mesi, Suárez, Neymar) to try to end their champions league final losing streak. Unfortunately for Juventus, even after Morata’s equalizer in the 55th minute, the Barcelona attack would be too much for them as the game would end 3-1 to the Spanish giants.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mVu7AzvCDo
2. Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal 2006 (6.4 Million Views)
In 2006, the invincible Arsenal faced off against a Barcelona team that missed one of their star players, Lionel Messi, due to injury. An early sending off for the Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann puts arsenal in a tough position for the rest of the game. After an honourable fight from the North London team, Barcelona ends up on top denying Arsenal their first Champions League Trophy as the game ends 2-1 to Barcelona.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsdMmDwCY10
1. Liverpool 3-3 Milan (3-2p) 2005 (7.7 Million Views)
Istanbul was witness to the greatest night in Champions League history! A night that both sides will not forget anytime soon. Liverpool go down by 3 goals to 0 in the first half, but it was not over just yet. An early second half goal by Gerrard gives Liverpool the momentum to score two more goals within the span of 6 minutes making the score 3-3. The game goes to penalties and Liverpool completes the greatest comeback in Champions League history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OQToElxke4
Real Madrid - Liverpool 2022
9 out of the 10 top viewed finals have included an English or a Spanish team and the 28th of May will feature both as these two European giants will clash for the third time. Liverpool look to avenge the 2019 final, but Real Madrid have not lost a European final for over 40 years. However, the last time they did lose was against The Merseyside Reds Liverpool in 1981!
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Methodology
We sourced all the details for the Champions League finals from Wikipedia and the UEFA official website. We then searched YouTube for the official highlights for each of the games and tallied the number of views for each to be able to rank them according to their view count.
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