2006 UEFA Champions League final
The 2006 UEFA Champions League Final took place at the Stade de France in Paris on 17 May, 2006. Barcelona wore their traditional red and blue shirts, while Arsenal donned their yellow away kit. Arsenal made club history by reaching the final of the UEFA Champions League for the first time.
Match summary
Early on in one of the most controversial finals, Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann made European Cup/Champions League history as the first player to be sent off in a final. He was shown the red card in a decision by referee Terje Hauge in the 18th minute after Samuel Eto'o dove outside the box. Barcelona forward Ludovic Giuly followed up and knocked the ball into the empty net, but the goal was disallowed as the referee declared the play dead due to Lehmann's foul. As a result, Arsenal had to substitute midfielder Robert Pirès in order to bring on substitute goalkeeper Manuel Almunia.
Arsenal scored first in the 37th minute with a headed goal by defender Sol Campbell, his first ever in the Champions League competition. The assist came from Thierry Henry off a free kick on the right wing. The 10-man Arsenal side fought hard to hold on to the lead, however, in the 76th minute, Eto'o levelled the match by scoring an offside goal, ending Arsenal's run of 995 minutes without conceding a goal in European competition. Substitute Henrik Larsson, who had come on for Mark van Bommel, provided the assist.
An unlikely scorer, Brazilian defender Juliano Belletti, who came into the game as a substitute for Oleguer, gave Barcelona a 2-1 lead in the 81st minute. He took a through-ball, again from Larsson, inside the right side of the penalty area, drove deep near the goal line and shot deflecting off Almunia's right leg, between his legs, into the net from a narrow angle. Barcelona then comfortably held onto their lead to record just their second Champions League/European Cup title. They have now won a total of nine European trophies.
After the match, Hauge expressed regret that he showed the red card, particularly so quickly.[1]: "I would have liked to have taken a few more seconds before I made a decision," Hauge told a Norwegian newspaper. "If I'd done that, I could have given a goal and given a yellow card as well." FIFA President, Sepp Blatter himself criticized the referee saying, "He should give the advantage, finish the action and then he can come back and whistle."
Somewhat surprisingly, Arsenal's Thierry Henry did not feel that the ejection was erroneous, stating, "Jens probably deserved to be sent off."[2]. Just after the match ended, Thierry Henry was interviewed by a Sky Sports interviewer and he stated that he felt there "was a twelfth man in a Barcelona shirt," (a jibe not only at his feelings toward the refereeing of this match, but a day earlier an assistant referee had to be replaced after a newspaper published a picture of him wearing a FC Barcelona shirt) and that the referee "did not do his job". Arsène Wenger concurred much of what his Captain said in a later interview with Sky Sports.
Match details
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- Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway)
- Assistant referees:
- Arild Sundet (Norway)
- Steinar Holvik (Norway)
- Fourth official: Tom Henning Øvrebø (Norway)
Match stats
| Barcelona | Arsenal | |
|---|---|---|
| Goals scored | 2 | 1 |
| Total shots | 18 | 8 |
| Shots on target | 9 | 5 |
| Ball possession | 64% | 36% |
| Corner kicks | 3 | 4 |
| Fouls committed | 20 | 16 |
| Offsides | 1 | 1 |
| Yellow cards | 2 | 2 |
| Red cards | 0 | 1 |
| Man of the match | Eto'o | - |
See also
External links
