Initial host selection

An open bidding process was launched on 22 September 2017 by UEFA to select the venues of the finals of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Women's Champions League in 2020. Associations had until 31 October 2017 to express interest, and bid dossiers must be submitted by 1 March 2018. Associations hosting matches at UEFA Euro 2020 were not allowed to bid for the 2020 UEFA Champions League final.^{[citation needed]}

UEFA announced on 3 November 2017 that two associations had expressed interest in hosting the 2020 UEFA Champions League final.^[11]

More information Country, Stadium ...

Bidding associations for final

Country	Stadium	City	Capacity	Notes
Portugal	Estádio da Luz	Lisbon	65,647	Hosted the 2014 UEFA Champions League final
Turkey	Atatürk Olympic Stadium	Istanbul	76,092	Hosted the 2005 UEFA Champions League final

Close

The Atatürk Olympic Stadium was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Kyiv on 24 May 2018.^[12][13][14]

On 17 June 2020, the UEFA Executive Committee announced that due to the postponement and relocation of the 2020 final to the Estádio da Luz, Istanbul would instead host the 2021 final.^[6]

Relocation to Porto

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey, Premier League side Aston Villa offered to have Villa Park in Birmingham as the venue for the Champions League final instead of Istanbul to hold 8,000 English fans, which could be affected by travel limitations.^[15] Villa Park has previously hosted the 1999 Cup Winners' Cup Final, the last final of that UEFA competition. It also hosted the 2012 FA Community Shield, also contested between Manchester City and Chelsea, due to Wembley Stadium – England's national stadium – hosting the Olympic football tournament finals in the previous days, being picked in part because of its equidistance between Manchester and London. On 7 May 2021, Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps advised against any fans traveling to Turkey for the game.^[16]

In negotiations with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, UEFA would only consider Wembley as a potential venue within the United Kingdom, and required guarantees that their officials, sponsors and journalists would be exempt from the UK COVID-19 travel restrictions.^[17] The British Government was unable to agree to this,^[18] and on 13 May 2021, UEFA announced the final was relocated to the Estádio do Dragão in Porto, Portugal,^[5] a country that was on the British "green list" for unrestricted travel during the pandemic.^[18]

Officials

On 12 May 2021, UEFA named Spaniard Antonio Mateu Lahoz as the referee for the final. Mateu Lahoz had been a FIFA referee since 2011, and was previously the fourth official in the 2019 UEFA Champions League final. He officiated six prior matches in the 2020–21 Champions League season, with one match in the play-off round, four in the group stage and one quarter-final leg. He served as a referee at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, and was selected as an official for UEFA Euro 2020. He was joined by six of his fellow countrymen, including assistant referees Pau Cebrián Devís and Roberto Díaz Pérez del Palomar. Carlos del Cerro Grande served as the fourth official, while Alejandro Hernández Hernández acted as the video assistant referee. Juan Martínez Munuera and Íñigo Prieto López de Cerain were appointed as assistant VAR officials, along with Polish referee Paweł Gil.^[2]

Opening ceremony

American DJ and electronic music producer Marshmello performed a virtual show for the opening ceremony before the match, along with Selena Gomez and Khalid.^[26]

Summary

The match kicked off around 8 p.m. in front of a crowd of 14,110. In the fourth minute, Kai Havertz played the ball across the Manchester City penalty area but it was gathered by Ederson. Five minutes later, a long kick from Ederson found Sterling, who controlled the ball and was about to shoot when he was dispossessed by Reece James.^[28]: 11 Havertz then passed to Werner, who missed the ball from close range when attempting to shoot. In the 15th minute, Mason Mount passed to Werner, who shot straight at Ederson, before then seeing a subsequent strike tipped away for a corner. Ben Chilwell played in a cross to the far post but N'Golo Kante's header went over the Manchester City bar.^[28]: 10 In the 28th minute, Phil Foden was played in on goal and was about to shoot when Antonio Rüdiger tackled him. Two minutes later, Kyle Walker sent the ball across the Chelsea penalty area but it fizzed just out of Mahrez's reach. With ten minutes of the half remaining, İlkay Gündoğan became the first player to be booked after a foul on Mount.^[28]: 9

In the 38th minute, Kante played the ball to Havertz, who was denied a shooting opportunity by a tackle from Oleksandr Zinchenko. A minute later, Chelsea were forced to make the first substitution of the match with the injured Thiago Silva being replaced by Andreas Christensen. Three minutes before half-time, Chelsea took the lead. Mount passed to Havertz, who went one-on-one with Ederson, and although the goalkeeper rushed out and deflected the ball away, Havertz passed it into an empty net to make it 1–0. There were three minutes of stoppage time.^[28]: 8

Neither side made any lineup changes during the interval. Manchester City dominated the early stages of the second half.^[28]: 7 Twelve minutes into the half, Rüdiger was booked for a foul on City's Kevin De Bruyne, who was injured in the challenge, leaving the pitch due to the new concussion protocol, in tears, to be replaced by Gabriel Jesus. Two minutes later, Manchester City appealed for a penalty when the ball struck James on the arm in his own penalty area, but the VAR review decided against a foul, noting that the ball deflecting off James' chest first. In the 64th minute, Bernardo Silva was replaced by Fernandinho for Manchester City before Christian Pulisic came on for Werner for Chelsea.^[28]: 6

With 21 minutes remaining, City pressed for an equalizer. Mahrez's cross to Gündoğan was cleared by César Azpilicueta. Four minutes later, Pulisic flicked the ball to Havertz, who passed it back to Pulisic, but his attempted shot rolled just past the City goalpost. In the 75th minute, Sterling passed to Jesus, but the ball was cleared by Chilwell. Manchester City made their third substitution when Sergio Agüero, the club's highest goalscorer of all time playing his last ever game, came on for Sterling.^[28]: 5 Mateo Kovačić was brought on for Chelsea to replace Mount in the 80th minute, and five minutes later, Agüero attempted to find Foden with a lofted cross to the far post, but the ball was easily caught by Édouard Mendy in the Chelsea goal. A minute later, Walker played a cross-field out-swinging pass that narrowly missed both Agüero and Foden.

Two minutes from the end of the match, Jesus was booked for a foul on Havertz before Christensen made a block to maintain his side's lead. At the end of regular time, the fourth official displayed that a minimum of seven minutes of stoppage would be played.^[28]: 4 In the final minute, Mahrez's half-volley from the edge of the Chelsea penalty area went just over the crossbar, and the match was brought to an end with Chelsea winning 1–0.^[28]: 3

Details

A "home" team was determined, for "administrative purposes,"^{[note 1]} through a special draw held on 19 March 2021,^[29] after the quarter-final and semi-final draws.

More information Manchester City, 0–1 ...

Manchester City	0–1	Chelsea
	Report	Havertz 42'

Close

Manchester City[4]

Chelsea[4]

GK 31 Ederson RB 2 Kyle Walker CB 5 John Stones CB 3 Rúben Dias LB 11 Oleksandr Zinchenko CM 20 Bernardo Silva  64' CM 8 İlkay Gündoğan  35' CM 47 Phil Foden AM 17 Kevin De Bruyne (c)  60' CF 26 Riyad Mahrez CF 7 Raheem Sterling  77' Substitutes: GK 13 Zack Steffen GK 33 Scott Carson DF 6 Nathan Aké DF 14 Aymeric Laporte DF 22 Benjamin Mendy DF 27 João Cancelo DF 50 Eric García MF 16 Rodri MF 25 Fernandinho  64' FW 9 Gabriel Jesus  88'  60' FW 10 Sergio Agüero  77' FW 21 Ferran Torres Manager: Pep Guardiola

GK 16 Édouard Mendy CB 28 César Azpilicueta (c) CB 6 Thiago Silva  39' CB 2 Antonio Rüdiger  57' RWB 24 Reece James LWB 21 Ben Chilwell CM 5 Jorginho CM 7 N'Golo Kanté AM 29 Kai Havertz AM 19 Mason Mount  80' CF 11 Timo Werner  66' Substitutes: GK 1 Kepa Arrizabalaga GK 13 Willy Caballero DF 3 Marcos Alonso DF 4 Andreas Christensen  39' DF 15 Kurt Zouma DF 33 Emerson MF 10 Christian Pulisic  66' MF 17 Mateo Kovačić  80' MF 20 Callum Hudson-Odoi MF 22 Hakim Ziyech MF 23 Billy Gilmour FW 18 Olivier Giroud Manager: Thomas Tuchel

Statistics