2008 UEFA Champions League final

2008 UEFA Champions League final

Match programme cover
Event	2007–08 UEFA Champions League
Manchester United Chelsea 1 1
After extra time Manchester United won 6–5 on penalties
Date	21 May 2008
Venue	Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
UEFA Man of the Match	Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United)[1]
Fans' Man of the Match	Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Referee	Ľuboš Micheľ (Slovakia)
Attendance	67,310[2]
Weather	Cloudy 14 °C (57 °F) 96% humidity[3]
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The 2008 UEFA Champions League final was a football match that took place on 21 May 2008 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, to determine the winner of the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League. It was contested by Manchester United and Chelsea, making it an all-English final for the first time in the history of the competition; it was only the third time that two clubs from the same country had contested the final, after 2000 and 2003. It was the first European Cup final played in Russia, and hence the easternmost final in the tournament's history. It also marked the 100th anniversary of Manchester United's first league triumph, the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, and the 40th anniversary of United's first European Cup triumph in 1968. It was Manchester United's third European Cup final after 1968 and 1999, while it was Chelsea's first.

Manchester United won the match 6–5 on penalties, following a 1–1 draw after extra time. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for Manchester United in the 26th minute with a header from a cross by Wes Brown, but Frank Lampard equalised shortly before half-time. The second half and most of extra time passed without incident until Chelsea's Didier Drogba was sent off for slapping Nemanja Vidić four minutes from the end. In the penalty shoot-out, Ronaldo missed Manchester United's third kick, giving John Terry the chance to win the title for Chelsea, only for his shot to hit the post when he slipped as he was about to kick the ball. Edwin van der Sar then saved Nicolas Anelka's effort from Chelsea's seventh kick to secure Manchester United's third European Cup title.

More than 67,000 people watched the game in the stadium, along with more than 17.5 million television viewers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In addition to prize money received from earlier in the competition, Manchester United received €7 million for winning the final, while Chelsea received €4 million. As winners, Manchester United went on to play in the 2008 UEFA Super Cup, losing 2–1 to 2007–08 UEFA Cup winners Zenit Saint Petersburg, and the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup, which they won after beating 2008 Copa Libertadores winners LDU Quito 1–0 in the final.