The 10 best finals of the Champions League era
Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid square off in the Champions League final for a second time in three years, and if the first all-Madrid final was any indication, we should be in for another all-time classic.
The 2014 final saw some late drama, but where does it rank among the best finals in the Champions League era? It was difficult, but we've gone back through the last 24 years and narrowed it down to a top ten.
10. Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund, 2013
Jurgen Klopp's young, vibrant and fearless Dortmund had captured the hearts of neutral fans, while Bayern's Golden Generation around Bastian Schweinsteiger and Philipp Lahm were desperate to break through after a heartbreaking final loss to Chelsea at home one year earlier.
Arjen Robben, one of the main scapegoats for Bayern's agony after he missed a penalty against Chelsea in extra time, absolved Bayern of their demons with a superb late winner that decided the first all-German European final and sealed the club's first ever treble.
9. Barcelona vs Juventus, 2015
Ivan Rakitic scores the first goal of the 2015 Champions League final.
Barcelona were big favorites and threatened to make victory a foregone conclusion with an early goal from Ivan Rakitic. But the Old Lady responded and held strong against the fearsome Messi-Suarez-Neymar triumvirate with Alvaro Morata equalizing early in a thoroughly entertaining second half.
But M-S-N proved to be simply too strong as Suarez and Neymar each scored to pull away. Barca celebrated its fourth Champions League title in ten years and second treble in six seasons, while Juve dropped their fourth straight final.
8. Manchester United vs Chelsea, 2008
The first and only all-English final came at the height of the Premier League's dominance in Europe, and United and Chelsea both lived up to the billing.
Cristiano Ronaldo's header gave United an early lead before Frank Lampard tied it up, and both teams hit the woodwork before going into extra time, during which Didier Drogba was sent off for slapping Nemanja Vidic. Penalties had to settle this final, and with a chance to give Chelsea their first-ever European Cup after Ronaldo had his penalty saved, John Terry slipped in the Moscow rain to give United another chance. The Red Devils took it, and took home their third and final Cup.
7. Barcelona vs Manchester United, 2011
Pep Guardiola gets thrown in the air after sealing Barcelona's treble.
At the peak of their powers under Pep Guardiola, Barcelona won its third Champions League title in six years with a tiki-taka masterclass against an outmatched and outclassed Manchester United side.
After Wayne Rooney instilled some hope for an upset with a wonderful first-half equalizer, Barcelona turned it up a notch in the second half, with Lionel Messi and David Villa grabbing the decisive goals. After watching his team be picked apart by Barcelona's mesmerizing passing and movement, Ferguson conceded after the final whistle that he had just been beaten by the best team he's ever faced in his managerial career.
6. Borussia Dortmund vs Juventus, 1997
Juventus became the third straight side to lose the final after winning it the previous year as Borussia Dortmund counter-attacked their way to a massive upset in Munich's Olympiastadion.
Reigning Ballon d'Or winner Matthias Sammer won the battle against eventual Ballon d'Or winner Zinedine Zidane, while two goals from Karl-Heinz Riedle had the Germans comfortably up at halftime. Alessandro Del Piero scored off the bench to make it close again, but 20-year-old Lars Ricken famously scored a sublime 30-yard chip just 16 seconds after his own introduction to secure Dortmund's greatest victory in club history.
5. Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid, 2014
Ronaldo celebrates the third Real goal in extra time to defeat Atletico.
Those who worried that an all-Madrid final would fail to appeal to the masses were quickly muted as Real and Atletico served up one of the competition's all-time classics.
Atletico shrugged off the early loss of hobbled star Diego Costa to take the lead through captain Diego Godin before halftime, then defended ferociously as Real missed several chances to equalize. But just when it seemed Atletico would win their first European crown, Sergio Ramos' dramatic stoppage-time header sent the game into extra time. There, Real scored three goals to bring the club the long-awaited La Decima. Also, Cristiano Ronaldo took his shirt off.
4. Real Madrid vs Bayer Leverkusen, 2002
One of the most evenly played finals of the Champions League era was settled by perhaps the competition's greatest ever goal in a final -- Zinedine Zidane's 18-yard scissor kick beauty just before halftime. Raul and Lucio had traded early goals before Zidane's masterstroke gave Real the lead for good.
An injury to Real goalkeeper Cesar in the second half forced 21-year-old Iker Casillas back into action as Leverkusen began to besiege the Madrid goal. The future club legend made a series of stunning saves to deny the Germans a late equalizer. Thanks to him, the original Galacticos held on for Real's 9th European Cup.
3. Man United vs Bayern Munich, 1999
It didn't serve up a particularly great first 90 minutes, but no final may ever top the late drama United produced in Barcelona. Mario Basler had put the Germans ahead with an early free kick goal, and Bayern always looked closer to finding a second than United to an equalizer ... until time dwindled into stoppage time.
Teddy Sheringham put away a David Beckham corner in the 91st, fellow substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer "put the ball in the Germans' net" on another corner just two minutes later, and in the blink of an eye United had stolen the title from the Germans. As United's incredulous players celebrated the club's first ever treble, and a devastated Sami Kuffour beat the turf in one of the competition's most iconic images, Red Devils coach Sir Alex Ferguson quipped perhaps his most famous line.
"Football, bloody hell."
2. AC Milan vs Barcelona, 1994
Without the injured Marco van Basten and Gianlugi Lentini (then the world's most expensive footballer ever), and the suspended Allesandro Costacurta and captain Franco Baresi, Milan's odds against Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team" couldn't have been stacked higher. Yet the Rossoneri still managed to pull off the upset with a team performance many pundits henceforth described as the best in the competition's history.
Having failed to win any of their last six Serie A games going into the final, Milan completely dominated a Barcelona featuring Romario and the spine of their '92 European Cup winning side -- Hristo Stoichkov, Pep Guardiola and Ronald Koeman. Within 60 minutes the final was decided, as goals from Daniele Massaro (2), Dejan Savicevic and Marcel Desailly gave Milan a comprehensive 4-0 victory.
1. Liverpool vs AC Milan, 2005
Forever known as the "Miracle of Istanbul," Liverpool's triumph over Milan after erasing a three-goal deficit in the second half remains the greatest comeback ever in a European Cup final.
After Paolo Maldini and two goals from Hernan Crespo staked Milan a 3-0 halftime lead, Steven Gerrard, Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alonso stunned the Rossoneri -- and the world -- with three goals in six breathtaking minutes to turn the final on its head. It went back-and-forth for the final half hour of regulation and extra time, with Jerzy Dudek's double save on Andriy Shevchenko in the waning minutes sending the game into a shootout. There, Dudek denied Shevchenko again on the decisive penalty, handing the Reds their 5th and unlikeliest of European Cups.
MORE FROM FOX SOCCER