How the other all-English European finals panned out

From John Terry’s penalty slip (and tears) in rainy Moscow, to Liverpool’s redemption against Tottenham in Madrid… how the other all-English European finals panned out as Manchester City take on Chelsea in the Champions League showpiece

  • Chelsea will face Manchester City in an all-English Champions League final 
  • This will be the third time the Blues have been involved in an all-English final 
  • They faced Man United in 2008 and Arsenal in the Europa League in 2019 
  • Sportsmail takes a look at the four previous all-English European finals 

Chelsea will take part in their third all-English European final when they face Manchester City on Saturday. 

The Blues have experienced both heartbreak and triumph and they will be hoping it’s the latter they get to enjoy in Portugal. For City, this will be their first European final since they won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1970.

Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel’s sides will face off in Porto, which is the sixth city to host two English finalists. Wolves and Tottenham played each other home and away for the 1972 UEFA Cup, while the other three finals took place in Moscow, Baku and Madrid.  

Ahead the fifth all-English European encounter, Sportsmail takes a look back at how the other four clashes panned out.

Chelsea will face Manchester City in an all-English Champions League final on Saturday

The first all-English European final came in 1972 when the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was rebranded as the UEFA Cup. It was also the first European final to feature two teams from the same nation.

Tottenham faced Wolves home and away over two legs, with Martin Chivers’ two goals in a 2-1 victory at Molineux proving crucial. The forward headed in from a free-kick in the 57th minute before Jim McCalliog equalised for the home side. 

But Chivers restored Spurs’ lead in the 87th minute, firing an unstoppable 25-yard shot past Wolves goalkeeper Phil Parkes.

Alan Mullery put Tottenham further ahead in the second leg before Dave Wagstaffe pulled one back, but Wolves were unable to get the second goal to force extra-time. 

Tottenham beat Wolves 3-2 over two legs in the first all-English European final in 1972

Tottenham had beaten AC Milan in the semi-final while Wolves got past Juventus in the quarters. UEFA were not too thrilled by the prospect of an all-English final and it seems the players’ wives were also left disappointed. 

Speaking to UEFA’s website, Chivers recalled: ‘It was strange for our wives because our wives were promised an all-expenses-paid away trip to the final if we ever reached it.

‘So they started dreaming of Madrid, Paris and Rome; and where did we finish? They weren’t enamoured to go to Wolverhampton, no. 

‘I had a good record at Wolverhampton, at Molineux – I’d scored in the three previous trips there. So it was a happy hunting ground for me. And could I do it again, I kept thinking. Yes, I was confident I could do something.’ 

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Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea (United win 6-5 on penalties) – 2008 Champions League

Chelsea’s first appearance in an all-English European final ended in heartbreak.

The Blues had beaten another English opponent in Liverpool to reach their first ever Champions League final, where they faced Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in Moscow.

The two clubs had dominated the Premier League for the last four years, with Chelsea winning the title in 2005 and 2006 before United won it back-to-back the following two years.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s 42nd minute header put United ahead before Frank Lampard equalised on the stroke of half time. 

Neither side found a winner in 90 minutes and they remained level throughout extra-time, though Chelsea had Didier Drogba sent off for slapping Nemanja Vidic as the players clashed towards the end of the game. 

Manchester United faced Chelsea in the first all-English Champions League final in 2008

Petr Cech and Edwin van der Sar were two of the best ‘keepers in the world at the time but it was the Dutchman who made himself the hero as the game went to a penalty shoot-out.

Cech looked to have made the crucial save from Ronaldo’s spot-kick, with Chelsea scoring all of their first four. Captain John Terry had the chance to win it but could only hit the post after slipping in his run up. Anderson and Salomon Kalou both scored the first penalties of sudden death. Ryan Giggs then tucked his spot-kick away before Nicolas Anelka stepped forward. 

The Frenchman didn’t look confident and he sent a tame effort to Van der Sar’s right, with the Dutchman able to get two strong hands on it to keep it out. That miss handed United their third European trophy and Ferguson’s second as manager.

Drogba would make amends in the 2012 final by equalising for Chelsea against Bayern Munich and then netting the winning penalty.

Cech also saved an Arjen Robben spot-kick in extra-time before saving Ivica Olic’s in the shoot-out.

John Terry had the chance to win the penalty shoot-out but his slip saw him hit the post

Edwin van der Sar saved the decisive spot-kick from Nicolas Anelka as United came out on top

Chelsea 4-1 Arsenal – 2019 Europa League

It was a better experience for Chelsea in their second all-English European final in 2019, which was the first Europa League final to feature two teams from the same city.

That meant both sets of supporters had to make the arduous trek from London to Baku’s Olympic Stadium – a journey which takes more than four days on public transport. 

The Blues had soared through their Europa League group and most of their knockout matches, but needed penalties to beat Eintracht Frankfurt in the semi-final.

Arsenal had also eased through their group before beating the likes of Napoli and Valencia on their way to Baku. 

Olivier Giroud came back to haunt Arsenal by scoring in the 2019 Europa League final

But it was not to be for Arsenal boss Unai Emery, who had won three Europa League trophies with Sevilla before his first taste of defeat in 2019. 

The two sides were level at half-time but three goals in 15 minutes put Chelsea in the driving seat in the second half. It was former Arsenal man Olivier Giroud who opened the scoring in the 49th minute, coming back to haunt his old club with a header past Cech, who had joined the Gunners from Chelsea in 2015.

Pedro made it 2-0 in the 60th before Eden Hazard scored from the penalty spot five minutes later.

Alex Iwobi managed to pull one back in the 69th minute but Hazard put the game beyond doubt with his second four minutes later. 

It was Hazard’s last game for Chelsea with the Belgian announcing he would be leaving the club during his post-match interview. It was also Maurizio Sarri’s last game as Chelsea boss before leaving for Juventus.

Eden Hazard netted twice in his last game for the Blues, who beat the Gunners 4-1 in Baku

Liverpool 2-0 Tottenham – 2019 Champions League 

It was a case of third time lucky for Jurgen Klopp as the German finally got his hands on the Champions League trophy, three days after Chelsea’s victory in Baku.

Klopp had lost the 2013 final when his Borussia Dortmund team were beaten by Bayern Munich. He then suffered more heartbreak as Liverpool lost to Real Madrid in 2018.

But the Reds, a year older and wiser from their previous final experience, came out on top when they faced Tottenham 12 months later.

Both Liverpool and Spurs had dramatic semi-finals to reach the showpiece event at Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano Stadium. 

The Reds overturned a 3-0 first leg defeat against Barcelona by winning 4-0 at Anfield. Divock Origi scored the winner thanks to an inspired corner routine from Trent Alexander-Arnold. 

It was third time lucky for Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-0 in 2019

Goals from Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi earned the Reds their sixth European Cup

Spurs, meanwhile, had Lucas Moura to thank for a sensational turnaround against Ajax. The Dutch side had won the first leg in north London and raced into a 2-0 lead in Amsterdam. Moura’s quick double just before the hour mark gave Tottenham a lifeline and he completed the comeback when he got his hat-trick in the sixth minute of injury time. 

But there would be no more Moura miracles in Madrid as Liverpool earned their sixth European Cup.  

The Reds were awarded a penalty after just 30 seconds when handball was given against Moussa Sissoko. Mohamed Salah converted the spot-kick and Divock Origi’s late second half strike put the trophy in Liverpool’s hands.

And it was in Madrid where the ‘Henderson shuffle’ was born, the Liverpool captain doing a quick jog on the spot before he lifted the trophy. He would repeat the move when the Reds won the Premier League the following season. 




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