Records of the UEFA Champions League Final

Most Appearances

The players who have appeared in the finals the most times are Francisco Gento and Paolo Maldini with 8 finals appearances. Gento won the finals in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1966, and lost finals in 1962 and 1964. With 6 titles, Gento also holds the record for the most European Cup trophies. Maldini won the European Cup finals with AC Milan in 1989, 1990 and the Champions League finals in 1994, 2003 and 2007, though he lost the Champions League finals in 1993, 1995 and 2005.

Alfredo di Stefano is a close second, as Gento’s Real Madrid teammate he won finals in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1960 and lost finals in 1962 and 1964, which was his final year with Madrid.

Ronaldo has 6 appearances in Champions League finals and has won 5 Champions League trophies. He won his first final with Manchester United in 2008, he reached and lost the final the following year, and then won again in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018 with Real Madrid.

Top Goal Scorers

For some, simply playing in the Champions League final is one of the greatest accomplishments of their career. However, others want to take things a step further and show their goal scoring prowess in the final.

Real Madrid teammates Ferenc Puskas and Alfredo Di Stefano hold the record for the most goals scored in the European Cup finals. Puskas and Di Stefano scored four and three goals in the 1960 7-3 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, and Puskas scored his other three in the final of 1962 which Real Madrid lost 5-3 to Benfica. Di Stefano scored in the finals of 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 and his three in the 1960 final, becoming the only player to score in 4 consecutive European Cup finals.

Finals Hat-tricks

Only three players have scored a hat-trick in the finals, one of them was Pierino Prati, who scored three in the 1969 final when AC Milan beat Ajax Amsterdam 4-1.

The others are Alfredo di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas, who won in the 1960 final when Real Madrid faced Eintracht. Di Stefano scored three and Ferenc Puskas scored four, becoming the only player to ever do so in a final. Puskas also scored a hat-trick in the 1962 final versus Benfica, even though Real Madrid lost the game 5-3. Puskas is therefore also the only player to ever score a hat-trick in a final and lose.

Finals Top Goal Scorers

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 4 goals in Champions League finals, scoring his first in Manchester United's 1-1 draw with Chelsea that went to penalties where he won his first title. After moving to Real Madrid, he reached the finals once again in 2014 where he scored the final goal in a 4-1 victory over Real Madrid's local rivals Atletico Madrid. Ronaldo scored two more in the 2017 Champions League final vs Juventus, where Real Madrid won again by 4-1.

Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale has scored 3 goals in the Champions League finals, scoring his first in the 2014 finals against Atletico Madrid. The game had finished in regular time 1-1 after a late equaliser by Sergio Ramos. Bale then scored the first goal in extra time, before Marcelo and Ronaldo scored the final goals to secure victory. Bale also scored two goals in the 2018 finals when Real Madrid faced Liverpool in the finals. Bale's last goal was a huge bicycle kick that even impressed Real Madrid manager Zidane.

Coaches with the Most Finals Appearances

Marcello Lippi, Alex Ferguson, Carlo Ancelotti and Miguel Munoz have all reached the Champions League finals 4 times each.

Miguel Munoz coached Madrid in the 60s and reached his first final in 1960. This was the 6-3 final against Eintracht Frankfurt, a final that has set so many player, team and coaching records. He also reached the finals of 1962 and 1964 when Real Madrid lost to Benfica 5-3 and Inter Milan 3-1, but Munoz finally won his second European Cup trophy in 1966 when Real Madrid beat Partizan 2-1.

Marcello Lippi reached his first final with Juventus in 1996, where he played against Ajax. Juventus won in a tense penalty vs shootout after the match ended 1-1 after regular time, leading Lippi to his first trophy. Lippi brought Juventus to three more finals in 1997, 1998 and 2003 though Juventus failed to win in any of the three finals.

Sir Alex Ferguson, long-time Manchester United manager, brought his team to the finals 4 times in 1999, 2008, 2009 and 2011. The 1999 final is still one of the most dramatic comebacks in Champions League history, as Manchester United went down by 1-0 to Bayern Munich for the full 90 minutes. In injury time, or Fergie time as the term was coined by English media, Manchester United scored two goals from corners with their two substitute strikers. Manchester United returned to the Champions League almost 10 years later in 2008, where they faced Chelsea in a tough final that went to penalties. United won the final with the help from striker Cristiano Ronaldo and goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar. In 2008 and 2011 Manchester United lost the finals to Barcelona, by 2-0 and 3-1.

Carlo Ancelotti has reached a total of 4 finals with two teams. He reached the 2003, 2005 and 2007 finals with Italian side AC Milan. In the 2003 final his team beat Marcello Lippi's Juventus to win Ancelotti his first European silverware as a manager. In 2005, Ancelotti lost the final with AC Milan to Liverpool, after a highly dramatic match in which Liverpool came back from 3-0 to finish the match 3-3 in regular time, and then they went on to win on penalties. Ancelotti's AC Milan had their revenge in 2007 when they met Liverpool in the finals again and beat them 2-1. Ancelotti also reached the Champions League final in 2014 with Real Madrid. In this final, Real Madrid beat local rivals Atletico Madrid 4-1.

Most Successive Final Wins

This record can be split into most successive European Cup era finals and most successive Champions League era finals, but Real Madrid still has the record in both eras. Real Madrid set the record for the most successive Champions League finals with 5 finals from 1956-1960, winning all five. In the modern era, Real Madrid set the record with 3 successive finals between 2014 and 2018, winning all three finals.

Beyond Real Madrid, there have been a number of teams who have reached or won successive champions league finals. Ajax were not the first Dutch team to win the European Cup, in 1970 Feyenoord won the cup, but this was responded to by a fierce Ajax team winning the competition the following year. Ajax won the competition for three consecutive years from 1971-1973, with their legendary striker Johan Cruyff.

Bayern Munich replicated Ajax's success by winning three consecutive European Cups exactly after Ajax, namely in 1974-1976.

Until Real Madrid won the Champions League for 3 successive years, there was no team that matched Bayern Munich or Ajax's feat. However, there was a record set by teams from one country winning successive European cups right after Bayern Munich won their third title. From 1977-1982 Liverpool won the competition three times, Nottingham Forest won once and Aston Villa won once, setting the record for most successive finals for clubs from one nation. Of the English clubs who won the European Cup for those 6 consecutive years, only Liverpool has managed to win it again since.

Conclusion

The European Cup and Champions League finals have featured 41 different teams hailing from 10 different countries, including Spain, England, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, France, Yugoslavia, Romania, Scotland, Greece, Belgium and Sweden. There have been 22 clubs who have won the finals at least once and clinched their own European glory.

Ultimately, the competition is one of the most popular sporting events in the world, it even beats the Super Bowl in terms of viewership records, with the 2015 Champions League finals having a viewership of more than 380 million to the XLIX Super Bowl’s 115 million viewers.