The most iconic Champions League final performances ranked

May 28, 2026 No Comments

The most iconic Champions League final performances rankedByAlex BysouthBBC Sport senior journalistPublished9 minutes agoIt’s European football’s grandest stage, where goalscorers are etched in Champions League folklore and match-winning performances can define careers.You know the drill. With Saturday’s showdown between Arsenal and holders Paris St-Germain on the horizon, we’re looking at the most iconic individual Champions League final performances of all time.I’ve ranked my top 10 below – a heady mix of last-gasp goals, all-round artistry and golden-gloved heroes. You can have your say below too.Ranking the most successful world record transfers of the past 50 years

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Shackling Zizou

10. Paul Lambert (Borussia Dortmund v Juventus, 1997)

Zinedine Zidane is Champions League royalty, as a player and a coach. But there is one final – and one player in particular – that sticks in the Frenchman’s mind. “Oh my god, that game!” he remarked to Paul Lambert when they met years later.

Lambert joined Dortmund on a free transfer in 1996. Portugal star Paulo Sousa arrived fresh from winning the Champions League with Juventus the same summer, but it was the Scottish midfielder who wrote his name into Westfalenstadion legend.

Dortmund saw off Manchester United in the semi-finals to set up a showdown against Juventus in Munich in 1997, with Lambert handed the task of man-marking a playmaker emerging as one of the world’s greatest.

“The thing about Zidane, he drifts off your shoulder. He often goes away from the ball, almost baiting you. But the ball’s not the danger, it’s him,” Lambert told the Guardian. “Zidane did put me on the backside a couple of times because he’s brilliant. But he’s not going to evaporate, is he?”

As modest as his account is, Lambert didn’t give Zidane an inch and that was the platform for Dortmund to engineer a 3-1 win over the reigning champions.

Juventus chiefs were so impressed they offered to buy him that summer and, Lambert told BBC Scotland, former Juventus midfielder Antonio Conte later confessed: “You were unbelievable.”

The redemption arc

9. Rodri (Manchester City v Inter Milan, 2023)

In what seemed like a classic case of Pep Guardiola overthinking a final, Manchester City lynchpin Rodri was left on the bench for the Champions League defeat by Chelsea in 2021.

Two years later, the Spaniard was a key figure as City won not just Europe’s top prize for the first time, but the Treble.

Rodri was a phenomenon at the heart of City’s midfield against Inter – alongside John Stones, Pep couldn’t resist some tinkering – and scored a fine winning goal in Istanbul.

“Emotional. A dream come true,” reported Rodri, before cursing on live TV.

Didier Drogba celebrates after scoring against Bayern Munich

8. Didier Drogba (Chelsea v Bayern Munich, 2012)

Didier Drogba’s only previous Champions League final performance ended in defeat and disbelief, his red card in extra time coming before Manchester United won on penalties in 2008.

Four years later, falling behind late on after being dominated by Bayern in Munich, Chelsea and Drogba’s hopes seemed to be fading fast. Yet, in the 88th minute, the Ivory Coast striker found the energy to crash a header beyond Manuel Neuer.

Drogba must have felt a sense of deja vu when he gave away a penalty in extra time, but Petr Cech saved Arjen Robben’s effort and Chelsea took it to a shootout.

This time, having been unable to contribute four years earlier, Drogba stepped up to coolly net the winning spot-kick and clinch Chelsea’s first European crown.

7. Oliver Kahn (Bayern Munich v Valencia, 2001)

Oliver Kahn was in goal for that agonising, stoppage-time turnaround against Manchester United – two years later, the German stopper would prove Bayern Munich’s hero against a vintage Valencia in Milan.

With a generation of Bayern superstars carrying the weight of 1999 – and still searching for a first European title since 1976 – another opportunity seemed to be slipping by as Valencia took them to penalties.

Bayern trailed 2-1 in the shootout when a flying Kahn threw his bear-like paws in front of Zlatko Zahovic’s effort, then palmed Amedeo Carboni’s strike on to the crossbar.

With the score 5-4 in Bayern’s favour in sudden death, Kahn again guessed correctly to deny defender Mauricio Pellegrino and end Bayern’s 25-year wait for the trophy.

Kahn was named the world’s best goalkeeper later that year and finished third in the Ballon d’Or.

Zinedine Zidane scores against Leverkusen

6. Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid v Bayer Leverkusen, 2002)

Zidane had his pick of top clubs when leaving Bordeaux in summer 1996, opting for Turin where Juventus were polishing a freshly-collected Champions League trophy.

With Zizou in their side, The Old Lady looked formidable. They reached the final again in the Frenchman’s first season only to be downed by a Lambert-inspired Dortmund.

Never mind, better luck next year and all that. Except, after reaching a third successive final, Juventus were beaten by Real Madrid in Amsterdam. The Italians haven’t won it since.

Zidane, however, would finally get his hands on the trophy after a world-record move to Real Madrid’s Galacticos. And he did so in the most spectacular fashion.

At 1-1, Roberto Carlos’ seemingly harmless cross was lofted high into the Hampden Park sky, destined to drop where D and penalty box chalk collides. Zidane, tracking the star-patterned leather like a skeet shooter, hips coiled, unloaded a gold-medal hit.

One of the most satisfying volleys you’ll ever witness and worthy of Zidane’s only Champions League triumph as a player.

Argentine aura

5. Diego Milito (Inter Milan v Bayern Munich, 2010)

Diego Milito went under the radar. An afterthought among Argentina’s plethora of star forwards – sporadic international appearances and a fistful of goals.

Racing Club, Genoa, Real Zaragoza. It was a a career in the shadows until ‘the prince’ joined Jose Mourinho’s Inter.

By the end of that Treble-winning season, Milito was an Inter legend. The gnarly striker scored the Coppa Italia winner, then the goal that secured Mourinho’s side the Scudetto.

But his most iconic performance came in the Champions League final against Bayern.

The 30-year-old’s match-winning double showcased all the reasons Mourinho loved him – the first, nodding down a long ball to Wesley Sneijder and deftly netting the return pass. The second, a foray of cool feet and an even cooler finish.

Milito returned to Milan a hero. Mourinho, of course, never left the Bernabeu.

4. Lionel Messi (Barcelona v Manchester United, 2011)

Lionel Messi has won the Champions League four times. The Argentine’s wizardry lit up all of the three finals he started but 2011 goes down as one of the most sublime individual performances of all time.

Messi toyed with United like a kid on the Playstation – twisting, turning, nutmegging defenders whose flailing white shirts might as well have been a call for surrender. He took the ball in the tightest of spaces and appeared to have the whole of Wembley to himself.

The only surprise was Messi only scored once, nonchalantly finding the bottom corner from 20 yards. In the end, 3-1 flattered United.

The superb subs

Eddie Jones and Mikel Arteta might call them “finishers” but the Champions League final is a stage for solid-gold super subs – think Henrik Larsson in 2006, coming off the bench in his final Barcelona appearance to drag the game away from Arsenal with assists for Samuel Eto’o and fellow substitute Juliano Belletti, or a teenage Patrick Kluivert netting Ajax’s winner against AC Milan in 1995.

Yet perhaps one of the most devastating substitute appearances in recent history came in 2018, with Liverpool having just levelled against Real Madrid…

3. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid v Liverpool, 2018)

An hour on the clock, enter Gareth Bale. Never a favourite in Madrid but about to forge his story into Los Blancos’ history. The Welshman had been on the pitch all of two minutes when he took off, legs circling through the air like a kickboxer to meet a hanging cross and acrobatically send it looping into the top corner.

With Liverpool chasing the game late on, Bale found space again – this time almost 40 yards from goal, throwing all he had into a booming drive with a touch of draw like he was splitting the 10th at Augusta.

It was enough to fool goalkeeper Loris Karius, whose knuckle-crunching attempt to catch the swerving shot only helped it into the net, Bale’s two-goal 30-minute cameo becoming instantly iconic in Madrid and Merseyside for different reasons.

2. Teddy Sheringham (Manchester United v Bayern Munich, 1999)

There has, arguably, never been a more impactful substitute double-act than Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on a balmy Barcelona evening in 1999.

It’s tempting to package them together, but this is ‘individual’ performances so, if I’ve got to make a call, then despite Solskjaer’s winning-goal glory, it’ll have to be Sheringham.

First, he grabs the equaliser. It’s 1-0 to Bayern in added time when Peter Schmeichel arrives in the box to cause chaos. The corner is scrambled away to Ryan Giggs, who scuffs a shot goalward and a delirious Sheringham sweeps in, scouting over his shoulder to check the offside while wheeling away celebrating wildly.

Moments later, United earn another corner. This time Sheringham, fuelled by the belief he should have started after also scoring in the FA Cup win days earlier, nods back across goal, his fellow super sub reacting quickest. “And Solskjaer has won it!”

Stevie’s miracle

1. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool v AC Milan, 2005)

In one of the most dramatic European finals of all time came a performance to match. Liverpool were 3-0 down at half-time against AC Milan, unable to live with Hernan Crespo and Andriy Shevchenko, or a midfield including Kaka, Clarence Seedorf and Andrea Pirlo. They were gone. Finished. Except no-one told Steven Gerrard.

Nine minutes into the second half, the homegrown captain, neck muscles flaring, flicked a header beyond Dida, circling his arms to rouse the Reds in the Istanbul stands.

Substitute Vladimir Smicer snuck another from long range before a striding Gerrard was clipped by Gennaro Gattuso. Xabi Alonso levelled on the rebound after his penalty was saved.

Gerrard – whose wonder-strike against Olympiakos carried his side into the knockouts – was everywhere, fighting cramp, covering every inch of turf, playing centre-midfield, full-back and anywhere Liverpool needed him.

Jelly-legged stopper Jerzy Dudek was the shootout hero and Gerrard’s miracle was complete.

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