Wembley Stadium to make history

After an 11-year hiatus the Champions League Final returns to London’s Wembley Stadium for a record eighth time on Saturday night.

How and where to watch the 2024 Champions League Final

That is double the number of finals hosted at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, the San Siro in Milan and Heysel Stadium in Brussels.

On the biggest stage of all, the lights shine the brightest, which is why it’s surprising that despite having appeared in 17 finals, winning 14 of them, Real Madrid will be making their first appearance at Wembley.

Dortmund, who won the trophy in Munich in 1997, also played in the most recent final to be held under the arch in 2013, though they were edged-out by Bayern Munich on that night.

Two Spanish sides, two English, one German, one Dutch and a Portuguese club have all lifted the famous old trophy at the ‘home of football’ – but who were they?

Let’s take a stroll down Wembley Way’s memory lane, shall we?

The first Wembley final came in 1963 when powerhouses Benfica were toppled by Milan

Eusebio – who else – gave the Portuguese the lead with his sixth goal of the competition but two goals in eight second-half minutes from Jose Altafini turned the game on its head. The Italian ended as the competition’s top scorer with 14 goals.

Just five years later the showpiece was held under the Twin Towers for a second time.

Manchester United toppled Benfica 4-1 after extra-time with Bobby Charlton scoring twice, George Best getting one and Brian Kidd the other infront of a crowd of more than 92,000.

European Cup Finals @ Wembley 🏟️

1963: Milan 2-1 Benfica
1968: Man Utd 4-1 Benfica
1971: Ajax 2-0 Panathinaikos
1978: Liverpool 1-0 Club Brugge
1992: Barcelona 1-0 Sampdoria
2011: Barcelona 3-1 Man Utd
2013: Bayern Munich 2-1 Dortmund pic.twitter.com/9vv7cuZZ9L

— My Greatest 11 (@MyGreatest11) May 30, 2024

Three years later Ajax won the first of their three straight titles with a 2-0 win over Panathinaikos at Wembley with goals in the…

Source link : https://www.101greatgoals.com/features/wembley-history/

Author : Alex Hoad

Publish date : 2024-05-31 10:07:52

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