Monday 24 August 2020, 07:57

Bayern crowned champions of Europe

  • Bayern Munich win the UEFA Champions League

  • Another treble for Bayern and plenty more records besides

  • FIFA.com takes a look back at the 2019/20 season

Bayern Munich are the 2020 UEFA Champions League winners!

In a tense final at the Estadio da Luz, the record German league winners defeated French rivals Paris Saint-Germain 1-0, with former PSG forward Kingsley Coman of all people getting the only goal of the game in the 59th minute.

This is the second time that Bayern have won the treble – Bundesliga, DFB Cup and UEFA Champions League – after first achieving the feat in 2013. It is also the sixth time that they have won Europe’s premier club competition, after 1974, 1975, 1976 (when it was still called the European Cup), 2001 and 2013.

"We were obviously so happy at the final whistle. It was such a relief after five minutes of time added on. We were all desperate for the referee to blow," said captain Manuel Neuer out on the pitch just seconds after the match had finished. "We worked hard for this – we deserved it. It’s a dream come true for all of us.”

FIFA.com takes a look back at what was a unique season in Europe’s foremost club competition.

Highlights

Bayern hand Barcelona a thrashing: The quarter-final between Bayern and Barcelona was set to be an absolute classic with two European heavyweights going toe-to-toe, featuring world-class stars of the calibre of Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski. As it transpired, the proud Catalans went home severely chastened, having gone down 8-2 over the 90 minutes in what was their worst ever Champions League defeat. Never before had a team scored four goals against the Blaugrana in one half of football, while eight goals overall was a Champions League record for a knock-out match. A few days later, coach Quique Setien and sporting director Eric Abidal were shown the door, and the playing squad is set for major upheaval.

Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona looks dejected

Tough to win, even harder to defend: Once again, the reigning champions failed to defend their title. This time around it was Liverpool, who fell in the Round of 16 in a dramatic tie with Atletico Madrid, the Reds going down at home 3-2 after extra time. Real Madrid are therefore still the only team to win the Champions League twice in a row (in 2017 and 2018). 2020 was not to be their year, however, the Galacticos also losing in the Round of 16 to Manchester City, 2-1 being the scoreline in both legs.

New tournament format: The COVID-19 pandemic meant that the Champions League season was also interrupted, and then played over just one leg from the quarter-finals onwards. All of those matches were held at two stadiums in Lisbon: the Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (better known as the Estadio da Luz, which hosted the final) and the Estadio Jose Alvalade, home to Benfica’s local rivals Sporting.

Two goals in stoppage time: PSG were 1-0 down after 90 minutes of their quarter-final against Italian surprise package Atalanta and on the cusp of elimination. Marquinhos and substitute Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting then turned the match on its head in added time.

Facts and figures

500 - Bayern scored their 500th Champions League goal in the final, a feat only achieved by two other clubs: Real Madrid (567) and Barcelona (517).

15 - Top-scorer this year was Robert Lewandowski (Bayern) with 15 goals, ahead of Erling Haaland (10, Borussia Dortmund) and Bayern team-mate Serge Gnabry, 9.

11 – 11 matches, 11 wins, with 43 goals scored and only eight conceded – that is Bayern’s perfect record in this Champions League season. No team had even gone through an entire campaign winning every match. The Bavarians are also on a 21-game winning streak across all competitions and are unbeaten in 30 (29 wins, one draw) – both of them club records.

3 – Never before had three teams coached by Germans made it through to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

3 – This is just the second time that Bayern have lifted all three trophies in one season, after 2013 when legendary coach Jupp Heynckes was at the helm. Don Jupp, as he was known, took over the reins after the season had already begun, turning around their fortunes and leading them to the treble. This year Hansi Flick was named coach in November 2019 with the club fourth in the league – and then came that incredible unbeaten run…