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 and Liverpool. 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. 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 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. 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.| Association | Stadium | City | Capacity | Notes |
| Baku Olympic Stadium | Baku | 68,700 | Also bid to host the 2019 UEFA Europa League Final. | |
| Estadio Metropolitano | Madrid | 67,000 |
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
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 and three UEFA Cup finals. 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.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 and lost three times. This was also their 14th final in UEFA competitions, having played in one Cup Winners' Cup final and four UEFA Cup/Europa League finals. In twenty matches, Liverpool had a record of seven wins, eight draws 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 and Barcelona 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, and once by Italian and German 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.| Team | Previous final appearances |
| Tottenham Hotspur | - |
| Liverpool | 8 |
Route to the final
''Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first.''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.
The club was drawn in the quarter-finals against their compatriots and reigning English champions Manchester City, with two legs scheduled within 11 days of a Premier League fixture between the clubs. Tottenham hosted the first leg, the first European tie at the newly-completed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and won 1–0 thanks to a goal scored by Son Heung-min in the 78th minute, following an earlier penalty from City's Sergio Agüero in the first half that was saved by Hugo Lloris. Manchester City took an early 3–2 lead within 21 minutes to open the second leg, including two goals apiece for Son and City's Raheem Sterling and an additional goal scored by Bernardo Silva. Agüero's goal in the 59th minute gave Manchester City a 4–3 lead on aggregate in the series, but Fernando Llorente scored in the 73rd minute to tie the series once again and give Tottenham an advantage on away goals. Sterling scored a fifth goal for City in the third minute of stoppage time, but it was ruled out by the video assistant referee for an offside during the buildup to the goal, giving Tottenham a victory on away goals to send them to their first European Cup semi-final since 1962.
In the semi-finals, Tottenham faced Dutch club Ajax, who had won the European Cup four times. A resurgent Ajax had entered the competition through the qualifying rounds with a young squad and went on to eliminate reigning holders Real Madrid in the round of 16 and Juventus in the quarter-finals. Spurs, missing forwards Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, among others, to injuries, lost 1–0 in the first leg at home, Ajax's lone goal coming in the 15th minute from Donny van de Beek. Ajax began the second leg at their Johan Cruyff Arena with goals from Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech to extend their aggregate lead to 3–0 at half-time. Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino substituted defensive midfielder Victor Wanyama for striker Fernando Llorente at half-time, and his strike partner, Lucas Moura, scored the team's first goal of the semi-final in the 55th minute. Moura then scored a second goal five minutes later, his tight footwork helping him beat several Ajax players after an initial save by goalkeeper André Onana. After Tottenham failed to convert several chances to level the tie, the match entered five minutes of stoppage time. As the clock passed the five-minute mark, Moura completed his hat-trick with a first-time shot from just inside the penalty area to make the score 3–3 on aggregate and put Spurs through to the final on away goals. The second leg was hailed as one of the greatest comebacks in Champions League history, alongside Liverpool's semi-final played the day before.