2019 UEFA Champions League final

The 2019 UEFA Champions League final was the final match of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League, the 64th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA and the 27th season since it was rebranded the UEFA Champions League. It was played at the Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid, Spain on 1 June 2019, between English sides Tottenham Hotspur (in their first and to date, only appearance) and Liverpool (in their ninth overall and their second in a row, having been defeated by Real Madrid in 2018). It was the seventh Champions League final – and the fourth of the decade – to feature two teams from the same association, and the second all-English final (the first was in 2008). It was also the first final since 2013 to not feature at least one Spanish team, with Real Madrid and Barcelona having shared the previous five titles between them.

Liverpool won the final 2–0, with a penalty which was scored after 106 seconds by Mohamed Salah, and a goal by substitute Divock Origi after 87 minutes. As winners, for the sixth time in their history, Liverpool earned the right to play in the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup, as well as against Chelsea, the winners of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League, in the 2019 UEFA Super Cup, winning in both competitions. They also secured qualification for the group stage of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League. As Liverpool had already qualified through their league position, the reserved berth was given to Red Bull Salzburg, the champions of the 2018–19 Austrian Bundesliga, the 11th-ranked association according to next season's access list.

In March 2018, UEFA announced that a fourth substitution would be allowed in extra time and that the number of substitutes would be increased from 7 to 12. The kick-off time was also changed from 20:45 CEST to 21:00 CEST. The match was also the first Champions League final to use the video assistant referee (VAR) system.

Venue

This was the fifth European Cup/UEFA Champions League final held in Madrid, after the 1957, 1969, 1980 and 2010 finals, all held at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.

The 67,000-seat Estadio Metropolitano is the home of Atlético Madrid, who have occupied it since major renovations were completed in September 2017. Due to UEFA regulations regarding naming rights of non-tournament sponsors, the stadium was referred to as the "Estadio Metropolitano" in all UEFA materials.

Host selection

For the first time, UEFA launched an open bidding process to select the venues of the club competition finals (UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Women's Champions League and UEFA Super Cup). The bidding process was opened on 9 December 2016 and associations were given until 27 January 2017 to express interest and 6 June 2017 to submit bid dossiers to UEFA.

UEFA announced on 3 February 2017 that the associations of Azerbaijan and Spain had expressed interest in hosting the Champions League final. On 7 June 2017, UEFA confirmed that they submitted bids for the 2019 UEFA Champions League final, with Azerbaijan proposing the 68,700-seat Baku Olympic Stadium and Spain proposing the then-unfinished Estadio Wanda Metropolitano, which would hold 67,000 spectators. The bid evaluation report was published by UEFA on 14 September 2017. The Wanda Metropolitano was selected as the venue by the UEFA Executive Committee on 20 September 2017, while the Baku Olympic Stadium was successful in its bid to host the 2019 UEFA Europa League Final.

Background

Tottenham Hotspur reached their first ever Champions League final, becoming the eighth unique finalist from England and the fortieth overall. They were the first final debutants since fellow English and London club Chelsea in 2008. It was the fifth time they had appeared in the final of a UEFA competition, having played in one Cup Winners' Cup final (winning in 1963 to become the first British team to win a European trophy) and three UEFA Cup finals (winning in 1972 and 1984 and losing in 1974). Had they won the final, they would have become the third English club, as well as the sixth club overall, to have won all three pre-1999 major European trophies (European Cup/Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League and the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup).

In eight matches, they had a record of four wins, one draw and three losses in European competitions against fellow English clubs. Of the four ties, Tottenham won two: against Manchester City in this season's quarter-finals, and against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 1972 UEFA Cup final, the inaugural final of the competition, becoming the first British team to win two different European trophies.

Liverpool reached their ninth overall final, an English record, as well as their second in a row, having lost to Real Madrid in 2018. They had won the competition on five occasions (1977, 1978, 1981, 1984 and 2005) and lost three times (1985, 2007 and 2018). This was also their 14th final in UEFA competitions, having played in one Cup Winners' Cup final (losing in 1966) and four UEFA Cup/Europa League finals (winning in 1973, 1976 and 2001, and losing in 2016). In twenty matches, Liverpool had a record of seven wins, eight draws (one of which they won on penalties) and five losses in European competitions against fellow English clubs. Most recently, they won both legs against Manchester City in the 2017–18 Champions League quarter-finals. The match was the third Champions League final for manager Jürgen Klopp, who had lost both previous finals, with Borussia Dortmund in 2013 and with Liverpool in 2018.

The final was the 171st competitive meeting between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, with a record of 79 Liverpool wins, 48 Tottenham wins and 43 draws. Liverpool won both league fixtures during the 2018–19 Premier League season 2–1 at Wembley and Anfield. They had faced each other once before in a European tie, meeting in the semi-final of the 1972–73 UEFA Cup; Liverpool won the first leg 1–0 at Anfield and Tottenham won the second leg at White Hart Lane 2–1, though Liverpool advanced to the final on away goals, before beating Borussia Mönchengladbach in the final. Domestically, the sides had met once in a cup final, with Liverpool winning 3–1 after extra time in the 1982 Football League Cup final. Both managers were seeking their first major title with their respective clubs.

The match was the first final since 2013 not to feature a Spanish team, with Real Madrid (2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018) and Barcelona (2015) having won the previous five seasons of the competition. It was also the first final to be won by an English team since Chelsea in 2012, as well as the second all-English final, after Manchester United and Chelsea in Moscow in 2008. Overall, the match was the seventh final to feature two teams from the same association, previously achieved on three occasions by Spanish teams (2000, 2014 and 2016), and once by Italian (2003) and German (2013) teams, in addition to English in 2008.

As Chelsea and Arsenal also reached the 2019 UEFA Europa League Final, this was the first season to have multiple finals of major European club competitions featuring teams from a single nation.

Previous finals

In the following table, finals until 1992 were in the European Cup era, since 1993 were in the UEFA Champions League era.

Route to the final

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur, making their first appearance in a European competition final since 1984 and their first ever in the European Cup final, qualified directly for the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League group stage as the third-placed team in the 2017–18 Premier League. They were drawn into Group B alongside Spanish champions Barcelona, Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven and Inter Milan of Italy, all of whom are former European champions.

Spurs began their Champions League campaign at the San Siro in Milan, where they lost 2–1 to Inter after conceding twice in the final minutes of the match. At Wembley Stadium in London, the club's temporary home, Tottenham lost 4–2 to Barcelona and fell to third place in Group B. Spurs drew 2–2 with PSV Eindhoven on matchday 3, played in the Netherlands, but lost goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to a red card and conceded a late equalising goal to Luuk de Jong in the 87th minute. Tottenham conceded early to PSV in the home leg at Wembley, but two goals from Harry Kane late in the second half gave the team their first Champions League win of the season. Against Inter at Wembley, substitute Christian Eriksen's 80th-minute goal gave Spurs a 1–0 victory and prevented the club from being eliminated. The final group stage match against Barcelona at Camp Nou began with an early goal for the home side, but a late equaliser by Lucas Moura preserved a 1–1 draw for Tottenham. The team finished level on points with Inter, but advanced to the knockout stage on head-to-head away goals as group runners-up to Barcelona.

Tottenham faced German club Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16, marking the second time in three years that the two teams had met in a European competition. Spurs won 3–0 with a dominant performance in the first leg at home, highlighted by second-half goals from Son Heung-min, Jan Vertonghen and Fernando Llorente. The second leg at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund ended as a 1–0 win for the visitors, with a goal by Harry Kane early in the second half bringing the tie to 4–0 on aggregate and sending Tottenham to the quarter-finals.