UEFA Champions League: 5 instances when teams from the same country reached the final
The Madrid derby is set to grace the Champions League final for the second time in the tournament’s history when Real meet Atletico at the iconic San Siro this Saturday. The two teams famously met in the 2013-14 final, when Los Blancos won the fixture 4-1 and claimed the La Decima, their historic 10th Champions League title.
Things look better for Atletico this time around as the men in the red and white stripes knocked out German giants Bayern Munich and La Liga winners Barcelona, both of whom were favourites to win the title, on their way to the final and appear stronger than ever. Both the teams have already met twice this season in La Liga, with the Rojiblancos prevailing once and the teams taking a point each in the other encounter.
This final marks only the sixth time when teams from the same country are fighting for the honours. We take a look at the previous instances when encounters between clubs from the same nation have taken place in the UEFA Champions League final.
#1 Real Madrid vs Valencia (1999-2000)
The 1999-2000 Champions League season was dominated by Spanish teams, with three of the four semi-finalists hailing from Spain, viz. Barcelona, Real Madrid and Valencia. Madrid defeated previous year’s finalists Manchester United and Bayern Munich en route to the finale while Valencia saw off Lazio and Barcelona.
The final, which was played at the Stade de France in Paris saw Vincent del Bosque’s Real Madrid thrashValencia 3-0, as a Fernando Morientes header and Steve McManaman’s volley gave Madrid a 2-0 lead before Raul scoring a third to take the match out of Valencia’s reach.
The win was Real’s eighth European Cup Championship overall and their second in three seasons. It was a landmark for being the first match where clubs from the same country competed in the final and was also the first time that an Englishman, Steve Mcmanaman, won the tournament with a foreign club.