It was the first Champions League Final to be held in the Allianz
Arena (known as "Fußball Arena München" for the final) which opened in
2005. With Bayern being one of two tenants of the Arena, it was the
first time since 1984 that a finalist had home stadium advantage.
The teams had not met before in the final. Bayern entered the
competition as four-time winners from eight final appearances, most
recently losing in 2010, while Chelsea had reached the final just once before, losing on penalties in 2008. Defending champions Barcelona
were eliminated by Chelsea in the semi-finals. Neither team reached the
final as champions of their 2011–12 domestic leagues (the Bundesliga and Premier League, respectively), although Chelsea won the 2012 FA Cup Final. The winners, Chelsea, will play the 2011–12 Europa League winners Atlético Madrid of Spain in the 2012 UEFA Super Cup, and also enter the semi-finals of the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup as the UEFA representative.
The Allianz Arena was announced by UEFA as the venue of the 2012
final on 30 January 2010, although the stadium was referred to as
"Fußball Arena München" for the match, as UEFA does not recognise
sponsorship by companies that are not among its partner organisations. The stadium, which opened in 2005, is the home stadium of both Bayern Munich and 1860 Munich, and was used for six matches at the 2006 FIFA World Cup including the opening match.The stadium was hosting its first major European final. The Olympiastadion in Munich, the previous home of Bayern Munich and 1860 Munich, hosted three European Cup Finals in 1979, 1993 and 1997.
During the match, the stadium was illuminated in green and turquoise to represent the official UEFA emblem of the Munich final, as the outer shell of the Allianz Arena can change colour.
To reach the final, in the knockout phase Bayern defeated Basel, Marseille, and Real Madrid (3–1 on penalties after a 3–3 aggregate score), while Chelsea overcame Napoli, Benfica, and the defending champions Barcelona (3–2 on aggregate).
Both teams reached the final having already lost out in their domestic leagues (the Bundesliga and Premier League respectively), but having also reached the final of their domestic cup competitions (the DFB-Pokal and FA Cup respectively), to be played prior to the Champions League Final. Chelsea won the FA Cup by defeating Liverpool 2–1, while Bayern lost the Final of the DFB-Pokal 2–5 to Borussia Dortmund.
Both clubs lost their most recent Champions League final, Bayern in 2010 to Internazionale 0–2, Chelsea in 2008 to Manchester United on penalties after a 1–1 draw. While that was Chelsea's only Champions League final, Bayern have played in eight Champions League/European Cup finals, winning four (1974, 1975, 1976, 2001) and losing four (1982, 1987, 1999 and 2010). They have only met each other once in Europe before, with Chelsea winning 6–5 on aggregate in the quarter-finals of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League.
The match marked the first time that a team had played at their home ground in the UEFA Champions League Final, and the fourth time in the history of the European Cup, after 1957, 1965 and 1984. For this reason, the fans of Bayern Munich call this match "Finale dahoam" (Bavarian for "final at home"). The final also marks the first time since 2007 where neither of the participants were champions of their domestic league.
Both clubs had players missing due to suspensions. Bayern were missing David Alaba, Holger Badstuber and Luiz Gustavo, while Chelsea were without Branislav Ivanović, Raul Meireles, Ramires and John Terry. John Terry was suspended after being red-carded in the semi-final, which automatically excludes a player from the final. The other six all received yellow cards in the semi-finals, which took them over the limit of a third yellow card of the competition, which triggers an automatic suspension from the next match. Players union FIFPro appealed to UEFA to allow the players with yellow cards to play, seeing the punishment of "missing the match of your life" as too harsh; UEFA rejected the appeal and stated the rule would not be reviewed for at least three years. Ivanović stated how he "had no idea [he] was one booking away from missing the Champions League final." UEFA confirmed that Chelsea captain Terry would be allowed to lift the trophy should Chelsea win, in spite of his suspension.
Only two of the 36 players had previously been in a winning squad in a Champions League Final: Chelsea's Paulo Ferreira and José Bosingwa were in the Porto squad in 2004. Ten of the Bayern 18 had earlier been in their squad that lost the 2010 final, although only four started both games: Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Arjen Robben and Thomas Müller. Eight of the Chelsea squad had been in their losing 2008 squad, including four who started both games: Petr Čech, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.
Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole would join Carlos Mozer as the only players to score in penalty shootouts in two European Cup/Champions League finals. Mozer had scored for Benfica in 1988 and for Marseille in 1991, losing both times.
Tens of thousands of Chelsea FC fans lined the streets on Sunday afternoon as the UEFA Champions League winners paraded their trophy – alongside the FA Cup – around west London.
It is the second time in two years that the victorious Chelsea players have ridden a pair of bold blue buses down Kings Road to celebrate winning a cup double. But it is the first time in their 107-year history that the Blues have celebrated winning the European Champions Clubs' Cup, and a sea of jubilant fans lined the streets to participate in the special moment.
Around 70,000 fans turned out to watch Chelsea parade their domestic double back in 2010, and despite 25,000 Blues fans returning from their trip to Munich, that number was rivalled on Sunday afternoon, west London reduced to a standstill to watch the squad travel from their Stamford Bridge home to Parson's Green.
Of course, the celebrations in the capital began on Saturday night, the moment Didier Drogba sent Manuel Neuer the wrong way with the last penalty in the UEFA Champions League final shoot-out to gift his side the trophy. It was a momentous occasion for London which, despite being a historic football city, had never before been home to European club champions.
It was also an emotional day for Chelsea supporters who, despite having had plenty to celebrate since the arrival of owner Roman Abramovich in 2003, have suffered their share of disappointment in this competition. The Blues have been eliminated at the semi-final stage of this competition in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2009, while they reached the UEFA Champions League final back in 2008 only to lose on penalties to Manchester United FC.
All that heartache looked a distant memory however, when the bus stopped for a short period at Eel Brook Common, and captain John Terry led his players in serenading the throngs gathered beneath with a version of 'Campéones, campéones'.
The microphone was then passed around the top deck for each of the stars to say a few words. A version of 'Happy birthday' was chanted for goalkeeper Petr Cech, who turned 30, while "Hello geezers" was David Luiz's greeting for the fans, before he offered his rendition of the famous Chelsea song 'Blue is the colour'.
Eventually the microphone reached manager Roberto Di Matteo, who had twice won the FA Cup and lifted the 1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup as a Chelsea player. He wasted little time in urging the fans to enjoy the moment. "We have waited a long time for this," said Di Matteo. "So celebrate today because it is a fantastic day for Chelsea football club, champions of Europe."
Frank Lampard, who captained the side to victory in Munich in place of the suspended Terry, expressed his gratitude. "This is the best club in the world," he said. "And this is the most amazing moment in all of our careers. It is brilliant to come back and celebrate it with all of our fans – thank you!"
