2003 UEFA Champions League Final
Match programme cover
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| Event | 2002–03 UEFA Champions League | ||||||
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| After extra time Milan won 3–2 on penalties |
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| Date | 28 May 2003 | ||||||
| Venue | Old Trafford, Manchester | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Paolo Maldini (Milan) | ||||||
| Referee | Markus Merk (Germany) | ||||||
| Attendance | 62,315 | ||||||
| Weather | Clear 18 °C (64 °F) |
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The 2003 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match that took place at Old Trafford in Manchester, England on 28 May 2003 to decide the winner of the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League. The match was contested by two Italian teams: Juventus and Milan. The match made history as it was the first time two clubs from Italy had faced each other in the final. It was also the second intra-national final of the competition, following the all-Spanish 2000 UEFA Champions League Final three years earlier. Milan won the match via a penalty shoot-out after the game had finished 0–0 after extra time. It gave Milan their sixth success in the European Cup.
Juventus entered the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League as Serie A champions and so qualified for the group phase, Milan finished fourth so started off in the third qualifying round.
Juventus went into the Champions League final as champions of Italy for the 27th time. Milan came third in the league, finishing with eleven fewer points than Juventus, but won the Coppa Italia. In the Serie A games between the two sides in 2002–03, Juventus won 2–1 on 10 November at the Stadio delle Alpi while Milan won the reverse fixture by the same scoreline at the San Siro.
Milan won Group G of the first group round, a group that also included Bayern Munich, Lens and Deportivo La Coruña, advancing to the second group round where they won Group C. They defeated Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Lokomotiv Moscow. They lost only two matches (Dortmund 1–0, and Real Madrid 3–1), and advanced to the quarter-finals where they met Ajax. The first leg was a draw (0–0) so the decisive match was the one at the San Siro which Milan won (3–2). In the semi-finals, they met local rivals Internazionale. Both matches finished equal (0–0; 1–1), but Milan advanced on the away goals rule, despite both teams technically playing at home.
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