2016 UEFA Champions League Final
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 tournament organised by UEFA, and the 24th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. It was played at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, on 28 May 2016, between Spanish teams Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, 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, Sevilla, 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.
Venue
The San Siro, officially known as Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, was announced as the venue of the final at the UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Nyon, Switzerland, on 18 September 2014, the fourth European Cup/Champions League final hosted at the stadium following those in 1965, 1970 and 2001.The San Siro was built in 1925, opened in 1926 as the home of Milan, and was sold to the city in 1935. Internazionale 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, UEFA Euro 1980, and the 1990 FIFA World Cup. 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.Real Madrid 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, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 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 finals and two UEFA Cup finals. Their manager, Zinedine Zidane, 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, Giovanni Trapattoni, Johan Cruyff, Carlo Ancelotti, Frank Rijkaard 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 in January and leaving the Champions League to save their season from being trophy-less.
Atlético Madrid reached their third European Cup final after defeating Bayern Munich on away goals. 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 Cup Winners' Cup finals and two Europa League finals, with their most recent Europa League triumph in 2012 led by current coach Diego Simeone, 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 and Helenio Herrera as the only non-European coaches to win the European Cup/Champions League. More importantly, Atlético Madrid were seeking revenge for the 2014 final, which they lost 4-1 against Real Madrid after extra-time. If they would win the Champions League, they would join Juventus, Ajax, Bayern Munich and Chelsea as clubs to have won the three main European club competitions. 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.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 2010, and former Italian international Paolo Maldini, who won five European Cups with Milan.Logo
UEFA unveiled the brand identity of the final on 27 August 2015 in Monaco ahead of the group stage draw. The logo features the Milan landmark Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.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 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 was performed by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.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 in Reggio Emilia.The annual UEFA Champions Festival was held between 26–29 May 2016 at Milan's Piazza del Duomo.
Match
Officials
English referee Mark Clattenburg was announced as the final referee by UEFA on 10 May 2016.Goal-line technology
The goal-line technology system Hawk-Eye 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. His goalbound shot was cleared off the line by goalkeeper Jan Oblak. Five minutes later, Dani Carvajal received the first yellow card of the match after a late tackle on Antoine Griezmann. In the 15th minute, Toni Kroos 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. The referee, Mark Clattenburg, said in an interview with the Daily Mail four years later that he now realised it was offside.In the 46th minute, Fernando Torres won a penalty kick for Atlético after a foul from behind from Pepe. Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas 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 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.
After a goalless extra 30 minutes, the game was settled by a penalty shoot-out. Juanfran missed Atlético's fourth penalty, hitting the post, thus allowing Cristiano Ronaldo to seal Real Madrid's 11th Champions League title.
Details
The "home" team 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
| Statistic | Real Madrid | Atlético Madrid |
| Goals scored | 1 | 0 |
| Total shots | 5 | 5 |
| Shots on target | 2 | 3 |
| Saves | 3 | 1 |
| Ball possession | 48% | 52% |
| Corner kicks | 1 | 1 |
| Fouls committed | 6 | 6 |
| Offsides | 0 | 1 |
| Yellow cards | 1 | 0 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
| Statistic | Real Madrid | Atlético Madrid |
| Goals scored | 0 | 1 |
| Total shots | 9 | 10 |
| Shots on target | 4 | 1 |
| Saves | 0 | 4 |
| Ball possession | 45% | 55% |
| Corner kicks | 3 | 1 |
| Fouls committed | 8 | 7 |
| Offsides | 0 | 1 |
| Yellow cards | 3 | 2 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
| Statistic | Real Madrid | Atlético Madrid |
| Goals scored | 0 | 0 |
| Total shots | 11 | 3 |
| Shots on target | 2 | 0 |
| Saves | 0 | 2 |
| Ball possession | 44% | 56% |
| Corner kicks | 3 | 4 |
| Fouls committed | 4 | 3 |
| Offsides | 0 | 0 |
| Yellow cards | 2 | 0 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
| Statistic | Real Madrid | Atlético Madrid |
| Goals scored | 1 | 1 |
| Total shots | 25 | 18 |
| Shots on target | 8 | 4 |
| Saves | 3 | 7 |
| Ball possession | 46% | 54% |
| Corner kicks | 7 | 6 |
| Fouls committed | 18 | 16 |
| Offsides | 0 | 2 |
| Yellow cards | 6 | 2 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
Post-match
The match was the eleventh European Cup/Champions League final to be decided by penalty shoot-out. With their win, Real Madrid secured a record-extending eleventh European Cup/Champions League title. This was Real Madrid's 14th appearance in a European Cup/Champions League final. The club has not lost a final since 1981. On the other hand, Atlético Madrid became the only team to lose in their first three final appearances. Juventus and Barcelona had lost during their first two appearances in the final, but won on their third attempts in 1985 and 1992 respectively. Atlético's three losses in European Cup finals ranks them level with Barcelona, and behind only Juventus, Bayern Munich and Benfica.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. Muñoz, the first person to achieve the feat, had also done so by winning the title with Real Madrid 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 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. 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. On the result, he said, "Both teams got to the very end – the penalties went our way but could easily have gone the other. Congratulations to Atlético and Simeone. He's a great coach, but of course I'm happy with this victory." Simeone congratulated Real Madrid on their victory, saying, "hey were better than us again, this time in the penalty shootout." 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. Ronaldo added, "The penalties are always a lottery, you never know what will happen but our team showed more experience and we showed it by scoring all the penalties." Bale said that he was "cramping up", but described the win as an "amazing feeling". He also stated he felt nervous after his penalty, but not while taking it. On defeating their derby rivals, Bale added, "That's the most important thing . Obviously they gave us a great game and we're obviously feeling a little bit sorry for them but a final is a final and you have to win." Luka Modrić told the media he was happy and proud of the win, and that the team had shown character until the end. He added, "We deserved to win. I feel sorry for Atlético but I feel glad for ourselves that we won the game. This is Real Madrid's competition. The undecima . This trophy belongs to Real Madrid, it's why it's the best club in the world."