2014 Champions League Final: Facts & Figures

The 2014 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid takes place at Lisbon’s Stadium of Light on Saturday.

Here’s a set of facts and figures relevant to the Champions League final – make sure you see our other Champions League final articles too (links at the bottom):

• The final will be the 59th since the competition started as the European Cup in the 1955-56 season. Real Madrid won the first five finals and hold the record with nine final successes.
• It will be their 13th final in all and they will be seeking their 10th victory and their first since 2002.
• Their nine wins came in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000 and 2002. They also lost finals in 1962, 1964 and 1981.
• Atletico Madrid are competing in their second final. Their only other appearance came in 1974 when they drew 1-1 with Bayern Munich in Brussels and two days later lost 4-0 in what has been the only replayed final.
• This is the first final in either the European Cup or Champions League to be played in Lisbon since Celtic beat Inter Milan 2-1 at the National Stadium on May 25, 1967 to become the first British and northern European club to lift the European Cup.
• Francisco Gento of Real holds the record with six winners medals followed by Alfredo di Stefano of Real and Paolo Maldini of AC Milan who both have five. Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas can pick up his third winners medal after playing in the 2000 win over Valencia and coming on as a substitute in the 2002 win over Bayer Leverkusen.
• For the second successive season, and for the fifth time in all, the final is being contested by teams from the same country, but never before have two teams from the same city competed in any of UEFA’s club competition finals.
• The four previous one-nation finals were in 1999-2000 when Real beat Valencia 3-0 in Paris; 2002-03 when AC Milan beat Juventus on penalties in Manchester; 2007-08 when Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties in Moscow and last year when Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in London.
• Atletico and Real have met 194 times in the Spanish leagu and cup with Real winning 102 times, Atletico 46 with 46 draws.
• This season’s league matches ended with Atletico winning 1-0 at Real in September before a 2-2 draw at Atletico in March. Real beat Atletico 5-0 on aggregate in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey which they went on to win while Atletico won their first Spanish league title since 1996.
• This is not the first time they have in European competition as their paths crossed in the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1958-59. Real won the first leg 2-1 at home, Atletico won the second leg 1-0 and in the days before away goals, Real won the replay 2-1 in Zaragoza.
• Atletico will become only the fifth club to win all three main UEFA club competitions (European Cup/Champions League; Cup Winners’ Cup and UEFA Cup/Europa League) if they are successful following their Cup Winners Cup win in 1962 and their victories in the Europa League in 2010 and 2012.
• Juventus, Ajax Amsterdam, Bayern Munich and Chelsea are the four other clubs to have won all three. Real have won the Europa Cup/Champions League and UEFA Cup in the past but never won the Cup Winners’ Cup before it ended in 1999.
• Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti who won the European Cup as a player with AC Milan in 1989 and 1990, also managed Milan to victory in the 2003 and 2007 Champions League finals as well as losing in the 2005 final. If Real win he will become only the second man to lift the European Cup three times as a coach, joining Bob Paisley, who guided Liverpool to victory in 1977, 1978 and 1981.
• If Atletico win Argentine Diego Simeone will become only the third non-European coach to lift the European Cup after compatriots Luis Carniglia (Real 1958 and 1959) and Helenio Herrera (Inter Milan 1964 and 1965).

Also See:

Our 2014 Champions League Final preview.
Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid – 2014 Champions League Final – Live Blog
La Decima: Real Madrid and the Hunt for a Tenth European Cup