2022 UEFA Champions League final

2022 UEFA Champions League final
Match programme cover
Event2021–22 UEFA Champions League
Liverpool Real Madrid
England Spain
0 1
Date28 May 2022 (2022-05-28)
VenueStade de France, Saint-Denis
Man of the MatchThibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)[1]
RefereeClément Turpin (France)[2]
Attendance75,000[3]
WeatherPartly cloudy night
18 °C (64 °F)
45% humidity[4]
← 2021
2023 →

The 2022 UEFA Champions League final was the final match of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League, the 67th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 30th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. It was played at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France, on 28 May 2022, between English club Liverpool and Spanish club Real Madrid. It was the third time the two sides have met in the European Cup final, after 1981 and 2018, the third final held at the Stade de France, after the 2000 and 2006 finals, and the first time the same two teams have met in three finals.[5] Real Madrid won the match 1–0 via a 59th-minute goal from Vinícius Júnior, assisted by Federico Valverde, for a record-extending 14th title, and their fifth in nine years.[6]

This was the first final to be played in front of a full attendance since the 2019 final, as the previous two finals were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.[7] The final was originally scheduled to be played at the Allianz Arena in Munich. After the postponement and relocation of the 2020 final, the final hosts were shifted back a year, so the 2022 final was given to the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg.[8] Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, however, UEFA called an extraordinary meeting of the executive committee a day later,[9][10] and the final was relocated to the Stade de France.[11] Before the match, chaos descended following issues with crowd control, which led to kickoff being delayed by 36 minutes.[12]

As winners, Real Madrid earned the right to play against the winners of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League, Eintracht Frankfurt, in the 2022 UEFA Super Cup, and also qualified for the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup, in which they both won. The team also qualified for the 2025 expanded FIFA Club World Cup using UEFA's champions pathway (The winners of the 2021–2024 Champions Leagues), with Liverpool increasing their chances of qualifying using the UEFA coefficient pathway (The top 8 clubs qualifying).[13]

  1. ^ "Official Champions League final PlayStation Player of the Match: Thiabut Courtois". UEFA. 28 May 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Referee teams appointed for 2022 UEFA club competition finals". UEFA. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference attendance2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Tactical Line-ups – Final – Saturday 28 May 2022" (PDF). UEFA. 28 May 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  5. ^ "Liverpool vs Real Madrid Champions League final match facts: Previous meetings, pedigree, links and trivia, latest news". UEFA.com. 28 May 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Champions League final: Vinícius Júnior scores only goal as Real Madrid beat Liverpool to claim 14th European Cup". UEFA. 28 May 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  7. ^ Smith, Rory (23 August 2020). "Bayern Munich Wins Champions League, a Victory for Tradition and Team". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  8. ^ "UEFA competitions to resume in August". UEFA. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  9. ^ "UEFA calls extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee". UEFA. 24 February 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  10. ^ "Ukraine crisis: Uefa to move Champions League final after Russian invasion". BBC Sport. 24 February 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  11. ^ Panja, Tariq (25 February 2022). "Champions League final Will Be Played in Paris, Not Russia". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "FIFA Council confirms key details for FIFA Club World Cup 2025". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 20 December 2023.