Background
Prior to the 2010 final, Bayern Munich and Internazionale had previously met four times in European competition. In those four matches, Bayern hold the edge with two wins to Internazionale's one; the other match finished as a draw. The first meeting between the two sides took place in the third round of the 1988–89 UEFA Cup; Inter won 2–0 the first match at the Olympiastadion in Munich, but Bayern responded with a 3–1 win at the San Siro two weeks later to go through on the away goals rule. They were next drawn together in Group B of the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League, along with Spartak Moscow and Sporting CP. The first match between Bayern and Inter was played at the San Siro, where Bayern won 2–0; the return match finished as a 1–1 draw.
Both teams went into the final chasing the Treble, an achievement never before reached by teams from their respective countries; Internazionale came closest in 1965, when they won the Serie A and the European Cup but lost 1–0 to Juventus in the Coppa Italia final. Bayern Munich claimed their 22nd Bundesliga title on the last day of the season with a 3–1 win away to Hertha BSC on 8 May 2010, before claiming their eighth domestic Double with a 4–0 win over Werder Bremen in the 2010 DFB-Pokal Final on 15 May. Meanwhile, Internazionale beat Roma 1–0 for their sixth Coppa Italia on 5 May, and then won their fifth Serie A title in a row and their second Double on 16 May with a 1–0 win away to relegated Siena. With both teams having secured domestic Doubles going into the final, it was guaranteed that the Treble would be won for the second year in a row, following Barcelona's success in 2008–09.
The managers of both teams had won the Champions League before: Bayern manager Louis van Gaal won the competition with Ajax in 1995, while Inter's José Mourinho was manager of Porto's 2004 side. The winning manager would therefore become only the third in European Cup history to win as manager of two different clubs, following in the footsteps of Ernst Happel (Feyenoord in 1970 and Hamburg in 1983) and Ottmar Hitzfeld (Borussia Dortmund in 1997 and Bayern Munich in 2001 UEFA Champions League Final). It was the fifth final in European Cup history in which both managers were previous winners; the others were in 1962, 1978, 2002 and 2007. It was the first Champions League final where neither of the finalists exited the group stage as group winners.
The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium had previously hosted three European Cup finals: in 1957, 1969 and 1980. Real Madrid themselves won the 1957 final – their second of five consecutive wins – beating Fiorentina 2–0 in front of 120,000 spectators, the second highest attendance in a European Cup final. Milan won the next final at the stadium, beating Ajax 4–1 in 1969, and Nottingham Forest won 1–0 against Hamburg in the most recent final in Madrid in 1980.
The stadium was opened in 1947 following the election of Santiago Bernabéu as the president of Real Madrid. Upon construction, the stadium had a maximum capacity in excess of 75,000, but this was increased to 125,000 with the addition of a fourth stand in 1954. The stadium was chosen as one of two venues for matches at the 1964 European Nations' Cup, hosting both of the Spain team's matches, including their 2–1 win over the Soviet Union. In preparation for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, FIFA requirements forced renovations to the stadium, adding a canopy to three of the four stands and reducing the capacity to 90,800. The stadium hosted all three Group B matches and the final of the 1982 World Cup. Conversion to an all-seater stadium in 1998 further reduced capacity to just over 75,000, but the most recent expansion in 2006 increased capacity to just over 80,000. However, only around 75,000 seats were available for the 2010 final.
Read more about this topic: 2010 UEFA Champions League Final
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