UEFA Champions League 2010 - Final match
The final football match of the 2010 UEFA Champions League was won by Internazionale (Inter Milan). It was played between Bayern Munich and Internazionale. The competition was fierce as both the teams were chasing a treble. Being played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid, both teams did not have home advantage. It was won 2-0, thus achieving the treble.
For the first time in five years an English team was not in the final. It also was the first final to be played on a Saturday rather than the traditional Wednesday. Both teams had previously met on 4 occasions prior to the 2010 UEFA Champions League final. Bayern was the dominant side with 2 wins to Internazionale’s one.
The managers of both the teams had won the Champions League final earlier. Bayern’s Louis van Gaal with Ajax in 1995, and Inter's José Mourinho was Porto’s manager in 2004.
Conquering the finals, Internazionale, qualify to play both, the 2010 UEFA Super Cup and the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup.
The Bernabéu Stadium has proudly hosted three European Cup finals before this. The official ball for the match was the Adidas Finale Madrid.
Both the teams had players missing out the final facing suspensions. Bayern’s Franck Ribéry was facing a three match suspension following a foul against Lyon in the semi-final. Thiago Motta was a key player for Inter sitting on the bench facing a two match suspension.
The Germans were taken to task as the Nerazzurri took off on the front foot, but the counter-attack led by Arjen Robben was evident in the third minute.
A counter-attacking strategy was taken up by Inter that saw them have less possession than Bayern. Although Bayern looked comfortable, 10 minutes into the match Robben again was the mastermind of an attack but he was unable to achieve a shot on target from a close range. Robben and Sneijder were the centre of most of the early action.
Diego Milito scored both goals, in the 35th and 70th minutes. The first goal was scored following an Inter goal kick, Milito flicked it down to Wesley Sneijder, who returned the pass to Milito to score. The second goal came as a result of a pass which he collected from Samuel Eto'o and beat Daniel van Buyten with the ball.
Time was rapidly ticking away from Van Gaal's team as they struggled to break down the resilient backline. Inter defenders were confidently dealing with the balls into the box, while Zanetti was more capable of dealing with Robben than Chivu after he was moved to left back.
Three minutes of added time were signaled by the referee, Milito was substituted shortly before the end of the match. His brace made the difference on club football's biggest stage, and the final whistle marked the start of a long night of celebrations for the Nerazzurri.
After Internazionale had won the match Milito claimed that his side deserved to be the Champions and stated the win brought "incredible happiness". Referring to the success of Inter's counter-attacking tactics, Mark van Bommel, captain Bayern, accepted Inter was the "most effective team".
Jose Mourinho proved his critics right by revealing that he would likely resign from Inter to pursue the goal of being the first manager to win the Champions League with three clubs. Media reports and speculations had already linked him with a move to Real Madrid.
The ban on Franck Ribéry was reckoned to be the decisive factor by Bayern Munich's honorary president, Franz Beckenbauer. He said "We would never have lost with Ribéry" on Sunday. Coach, Louis van Gaal, was of the opinion that they did miss the magic of the left out French Winger but they had won a lot of matches in the season without him.
Diego Milito was chosen as the UEFA Man of The Match.
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