2015 UEFA Champions League final


The 2015 UEFA Champions League final was the final match of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, the 60th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. It was played at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, on 6 June 2015, between Italian side Juventus and Spanish side Barcelona.
For the second time – after 2010 – both teams came into the final with the possibility of definitively winning a continental treble, having each won their national league and cup for the season. Barcelona scored the only goal of the first half after four minutes, through Ivan Rakitić. Ten minutes after the interval, Juventus equalised with a goal by Álvaro Morata. In the 68th minute, Luis Suárez put Barcelona back in the lead, and Barcelona's win was confirmed when Neymar scored with the last kick of the game. It was Barcelona's fifth trophy in the competition, and sealed their second treble, the other coming in 2009. It was also Juventus' sixth defeat in a European Cup final, the most by any club, a record they previously shared with Bayern Munich and Benfica.
As winners, Barcelona earned the right to play against the winners of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, Sevilla, in the 2015 UEFA Super Cup, and won that match 5–4. They also qualified to enter the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan as the UEFA representative, going on to beat Argentina's River Plate in the final.

Venue

The Olympiastadion was announced as the venue for the final at the UEFA Executive Committee meeting in London on 23 May 2013. This was the first European Cup/Champions League final hosted in Berlin.
The current Olympiastadion was built for the 1936 Summer Olympics in the western part of the city. Since 1985, the stadium has hosted the finals of both the DFB-Pokal and its female equivalent. The Olympiastadion hosts the Internationales Stadionfest, which was an IAAF Golden League event from 1998 to 2009. The stadium hosted the 2009 World Championships in Athletics.
Aside from its use as an Olympic stadium, the Olympiastadion has a strong footballing tradition, having been the home of Hertha BSC since 1963. It was also used for three matches at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, and was renovated ahead of the 2006 tournament, at which it hosted six matches, including the final.

Background

This was the eighth European Cup/UEFA Champions League final for both Juventus and Barcelona. Juventus won two of their previous finals and lost five, while Barcelona won four of their previous finals and lost three. Barcelona also played in six Cup Winners' Cup finals, while Juventus also played in one Cup Winners' Cup final and four UEFA Cup finals.
The two teams had previously played six times in UEFA club competitions, but never in a final. In their previous UEFA club competition meetings, Barcelona won 2–1 on aggregate in the 1985–86 European Cup quarter-finals and 3–2 on aggregate in the 1990–91 European Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals, while Juventus won 3–2 on aggregate in the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. They also played in the 1952 Latin Cup semi-finals, won by Barcelona 4–2, and the 1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup second round, won by Juventus 4–2 on aggregate.
Similar to the 2010 UEFA Champions League final, both teams entered the final in the possibility of winning the treble of domestic league, domestic cup and Champions League titles. Juventus were crowned champions of the 2014–15 Serie A on 2 May, and won the 2015 Coppa Italia final eighteen days later. Barcelona were crowned champions of the 2014–15 La Liga on 17 May, and won the 2015 Copa del Rey final thirteen days later. While it would have been the first treble for Juventus, Barcelona had previously won the treble in 2008–09.

Route to the final

''Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first.''

Juventus

As winners of the 2013–14 Serie A, Juventus qualified automatically for the group stage. They were seeded second in Group A featuring – in seeded order – Atlético Madrid, Olympiacos, and Malmö FF.
Their campaign began on 16 September, hosting Malmö at the Juventus Stadium, winning 2–0 through second-half goals by Carlos Tevez. On 1 October, they travelled to face Atlético at the Vicente Calderón Stadium, losing by a sole goal from Arda Turan late on, a result that left all four teams level on three points apiece. Three weeks later Juventus again lost by one goal on their travels, Pajtim Kasami scoring in the first half for Olympiacos, whose goalkeeper Roberto played a key role. On 4 November, hosting the Greeks, Juventus won 3–2 after trailing 1–2, getting two goals in as many minutes from Roberto's own goal and Paul Pogba's winning strike.
On 26 November, Juventus won away for the first time in the group, with second-half goals from Fernando Llorente and Tevez at Malmö's Swedbank Stadion. In the final group game on 9 December, they hosted a goalless draw against Atlético, which sent both teams through, but Juventus in second place.
As group runners-up, Juventus had to face a group winner – Germans Borussia Dortmund of Group D – in the last 16. They won 2–1 at home in the first leg on 24 February 2015, with all the goals in the first half – visitor Marco Reus equalised either side of strikes from Tevez and Álvaro Morata. The same forwards were on target in the second leg at the Westfalenstadion on 18 March – Tevez scored twice, including in the third minute – as Juventus won 3–0, and 5–1 on aggregate.
In the quarter-finals, Juventus faced Monaco, runners-up in the 2013–14 Ligue 1. The only goal of the tie came in the first leg at home on 14 April, Arturo Vidal scoring a penalty kick after Ricardo Carvalho tripped Morata. It was their first advancement into the semi-finals for 12 years.
On 5 May, Juventus hosted reigning champions Real Madrid at Juventus Stadium. Morata opened the scoring against his former team, and Cristiano Ronaldo equalised before half time. Tevez scored the winning goal from the penalty spot after he was fouled by Dani Carvajal. Eight days later, the two teams drew at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium: Ronaldo scored a penalty after Giorgio Chiellini fouled James Rodríguez, but in the second half Morata equalised. Juventus advanced to the final 3–2 on aggregate.

Barcelona

Barcelona qualified for the group stage as runners-up to Atlético in the previous season's La Liga. They were the top seeds in Group F, alongside – in order – Paris Saint-Germain, Ajax and APOEL.
In their first game of the group, defender Gerard Piqué headed the only goal to defeat APOEL at the Camp Nou on 17 September. However, thirteen days later at the Parc des Princes, they fell 3–2 to Paris Saint-Germain. On 21 October, Barcelona hosted Ajax and got first-half goals through Neymar and Lionel Messi; Anwar El Ghazi scored for the visitors with two minutes to play but Sandro's added-time strike confirmed a 3–1 win. Barcelona travelled to the Amsterdam Arena on 5 November and defeated Ajax 2–0 with a Messi goal in each half; he equalled the tournament's record of 71 overall goals.
On 25 November, Barcelona played APOEL at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia, winning 4–0 with a hat-trick from Messi and a further goal from Luis Suárez; Messi became the competition's all-time top scorer. Barcelona won the group with a 3–1 home win over PSG on 10 December. They initially fell behind to a goal by Zlatan Ibrahimović, but replied with a goal each from the South American forward line of Messi, Neymar and Suárez.
In the last 16, Barcelona faced Manchester City, winners of the 2013–14 Premier League and Group E runners-up. In the first leg at the City of Manchester Stadium on 24 February 2015, Suárez scored twice in the first 30 minutes, and Sergio Agüero got a goal back for the hosts after the break. In the return game on 18 March, City goalkeeper Joe Hart limited Barcelona to a single goal by Ivan Rakitić, and Barcelona advanced 3–1 on aggregate.
Barcelona met PSG again in the quarter-finals. On 15 April in Paris, Neymar scored the only goal of the first half and Suárez added two more, with the hosts getting a consolation through Jérémy Mathieu's own goal. Six days later, two first-half goals from Neymar sealed a 5–1 aggregate win.
In the semi-finals, Barcelona's opponents were Bayern Munich, winners of the 2013–14 Bundesliga. They hosted the first leg on 6 May, breaking the deadlock with two late goals from Messi in a three-minute spell, and an added-time addition by Neymar. Six days later at the Allianz Arena, Bayern took the lead through Medhi Benatia, and Neymar put Barcelona into the lead by half time. Second-half goals by Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Müller gave Bayern a 3–2 win on the night, but Barcelona advanced 5–3 on aggregate.

Pre-match

Ambassador

Former Germany international player Karl-Heinz Riedle, who won the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund against Juventus in 1997, was named the ambassador for the final.

Logo

UEFA unveiled the visual identity of the final on 29 August 2014. It blends the stadium with the city's Brandenburg Gate.

Ticketing

With a stadium capacity of 70,500, 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 5 to 23 March 2015 in four price categories: €390, €280, €160, and €70. The rest of 24,500 tickets were allocated to sponsors and officials.

Related events

The 2015 UEFA Women's Champions League final was held on 14 May 2015 at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in Berlin. Unlike recent years, in which the Women's Champions League final was held in the same week as the men's Champions League final, the two matches are separated by almost a month, as the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup started in early June.
The annual UEFA Champions Festival was held between 4–7 June 2015 in the streets around Brandenburg Gate.