The 2011 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match played on 28 May 2011 at Wembley Stadium in London that decided the winner of the 2010–11 season of the UEFA Champions League. The winners received the European Champion Clubs' Cup (the European Cup). The 2011 final was the culmination of the 56th season of the tournament, and the 19th in the Champions League era.
The final was contested by Barcelona of Spain and Manchester United of England, a repeat of the 2009 final held in Rome which Barcelona won 2–0. The match kicked-off at 19:45 BST. The referee for the match was Viktor Kassai from Hungary. The venue, the new Wembley Stadium, hosted its first European Cup final, having opened in 2007. The old Wembley Stadium hosted the finals in 1963, 1968, 1971, 1978 and 1992.
Both teams entered the competition having won it three times previously, Manchester United in 1968, 1999 and 2008; Barcelona in 1992, 2006 and 2009. To reach the final, in the knockout phase Barcelona beat Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk and lastly Real Madrid in the 212th El Clásico derby, while Manchester United beat Marseille, Chelsea and Schalke. Manchester United and Barcelona entered the final as champions of their domestic leagues (the Premier League and La Liga, respectively), but neither team had won a domestic cup that season.
Barcelona dominated the match, winning 3–1 with goals from Pedro Rodríguez, Lionel Messi and David Villa, securing their fourth Champions League title. Wayne Rooney scored for Manchester United to level the score going into half-time.
Barcelona thus qualified to play Porto, the winners of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, in the 2011 UEFA Super Cup in Monaco on 26 August 2011, and they also earned a place in the semi-finals of the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup in December 2011 as the UEFA representative.
Read more about 2011 UEFA Champions League Final: Background, Route To The Final, Broadcasting
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