If we delve into our collective memory as fans, quite a few of the most memorable moments came at the pinnacle of team football – the Champions League final. Whether it’s the Manchester United and Liverpool upsets, Pep Guardiola’s victories over Alex Ferguson, Abram Grant’s loss or Real Madrid’s dynasty, there are plenty of memorable moments. However, over the years we have experienced very forgettable endings, ones that we were just waiting to end out of boredom.
One of those finals will be replayed tonight, when Manchester City meet Inter for the first time since their meeting in the top flight in 2023. In honor of the meeting, which we all hope will yield more than one goal like in that final in Istanbul, we have compiled the five most boring finals since the name “Champions League” entered our lives in 1992.
5. Porto – Monaco 0:3 (2004)
Football fans are able to get excited about games like Tunisia-Australia, just because they are played in the World Cup. The problem comes when these gray encounters happen, somehow, in the Champions League final. 2004 was a strange year in European football, when even before Greece won the Euros, Jose Mourinho’s Porto, Monaco, Deportivo La Coruna and Chelsea reached the semi-finals of the Champions League at the beginning of the Roman Abramovich era. Far more aggressive teams such as Real Madrid’s Galacticos, champions Milan and England’s unbeaten Arsenal were left behind.
In fact, in a final between two teams like Porto and Monaco, the average viewer gets bored even before the opening whistle. This is an almost unprecedented final in terms of the grayness of the teams participating in it. These two teams don’t have a wide international audience, so the neutral fan decided who he was for based solely on whether he connected with Mourinho – before we even got to know him. The game did produce three goals, but it also featured many faces that were forgotten once the final was over. Is it nostalgia? Maybe for football mice only.
Deco and friends celebrating in 2004, photo: EPA
4. Manchester City – Inter 0:1 (2023)
After a huge 0:4 over Real Madrid in the semi-final second leg, City was a touch away from winning the only title it lacked. In front of her stood Inter, who experienced a lukewarm season in the local framework and reached the final mainly thanks to comfortable knockout draws – Porto, Benfica and Milan. Instead of rising to the pace at which Pep Guardiola’s machine played, the Italians dragged the English down to their mediocrity.
City feared that the loss against Chelsea from 2021 would be repeated, when in both finals Kevin De Bruyne had to leave due to injury. Rodri, who has since become accustomed to being a rather gray hero, scored the only goal of the game, while Inter suffered a couple of Romelu Lukaku misses. The neutral football fan, who is the overwhelming majority in this case, will not remember much beyond the identity of the winner. The question is whether tonight will be a mini-revenge.
3. Chelsea – Manchester City 0:1 (2021)
There is no dispute that the Premier League is the best domestic league in the world in the last decade. However, when two representatives from the kingdom meet at the continent’s pinnacle, something of the magic is lost. Thomas Tuchel became Guardiola’s nemesis when he beat him twice in the weeks before the final, and the third time was worth a trophy.
That Chelsea, one of the weakest champions the factory has known, was a combination of the old and the new in the blue club. Last remnants of powerful players such as Angolo Kante and Thiago Silva, alongside disappointing players who have since only multiplied in Chelsea such as Timo Werner and even the scorer of the winning goal – Kai Habertz – who only began to flourish in England when he moved to Arsenal.
As befits a forgettable final and Haberz’s tenure at Chelsea, his goal was quite fortuitous. Guardiola, on the other hand, who finally reached the final with City, could not believe that he was not coming to the promised land with them again. It was a jarring farewell to Sergio Aguero, there were many tears, but it is doubtful if anyone remembers them.
Chelsea celebrates in 2021, photo: Reuters
2. Liverpool – Tottenham 0:2 (2019)
It is impossible to grasp the dissonance between the madness that was in the Champions League in the 2018/19 season and the heavenly final we got. Real Madrid was humiliated against Ajax, which was eliminated by Tottenham in a miracle after it also passed Manchester City in a huge drama. Liverpool also did the unbelievable when, without Mohamed Salah, they turned a 3:0 loss at Barcelona into a 0:4 loss at Anfield.
In the final itself, Liverpool were awarded a penalty even before the fans had time to settle down. A cruel but justified whistle for Moussa Sissoko’s touch allowed Salah to make it 0:1 in the second minute, and from there the final sank into a coma. In soccer there is a cliché that an early goal “disrupts” the tactical plan for the scoring team as well, and this is what happened.
Jurgen Klopp’s team was satisfied with the advantage and lowered the gear, forgetting everything they had planned. On the other hand, the rusty Harry Kane, who missed the previous stages due to injury, looked lost on the pitch. We waited until the 87th minute to see the second goal, when Dibuque Origi closed the story. It was good for Liverpool, and good for us that it’s over.
Henderson just before Liverpool’s 2019 swing,
1. Milan – Juventus 0:0 and 2:3 in penalties (2003)
There were no shortage of legends on the pitch at Old Trafford. Despite this, the big story was the legend that wasn’t there, and when that’s the case – the final is in trouble. Pavel Nadved, the Ballon d’Or winner that year, missed the final for the stupid reason of accumulating yellow cards. More than a decade passed until UEFA came to its senses and decided to delete the accumulation of tickets before the final, but for the Czech star of Juventus it did not help.
This is the only final in the Champions League era in which no goals were scored. Another long evening that makes the fans pray for the day when overtime will be canceled. Andriy Shevchenko scored the decisive penalty, two years before he messed up in exactly the same position against Liverpool.
A look at the line-ups evokes strong nostalgic names, but on that evening these were mostly legends on paper. The legacy left from the 2003 final is mainly what would have happened if Nadved had played.
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to join Milan with the silver cup in 2003, photo: Reuters? We will fix it! If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us
