2007 Champions League Final
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| Event | 2006–07 UEFA Champions League | ||||||
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| Date | 23 May 2007 | ||||||
| Venue | Olympic Stadium, Athens | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Filippo Inzaghi (Milan) | ||||||
| Referee | Herbert Fandel (Germany) | ||||||
| Attendance | 63,000 | ||||||
| Weather | Partly cloudy 24 °C (75 °F) 46% humidity |
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The 2007 UEFA Champions League Final was an association football match between A.C. Milan of Italy and Liverpool F.C. of England on 23 May 2007 at the Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece. The showpiece event was the final match of the 2006–07 season of Europe's premier cup competition, the UEFA Champions League. The teams were appearing in the final, two years after facing each other in the 2005 final which Liverpool won 3–2 in a penalty shootout after the match finished 3–3.
Both teams had to pass through five rounds before they reached the final. They both entered in the third qualifying round and won their respective groups before they reached the knockout stage, where matches were contested over two legs, with a match at each team's home ground. Milan's victories varied from close affairs to comfortable victories. They defeated Celtic by a single goal over two legs, while they beat Manchester United 5–3 on aggregate in the semi-final. Liverpool's matches were mainly all close affairs; they beat defending champions Barcelona on the away goals rule in the first knockout round and beat Chelsea in a penalty shootout in the semi-finals, although they did record a 4–0 aggregate win over PSV Eindhoven in the quarter-finals.
Before the match there were ticketing problems because a large number of fans gained entry to the stadium without valid tickets. After the match, a UEFA spokesman accused Liverpool of having the worst fans in Europe, a claim later denied by UEFA president Michel Platini. Watched by a crowd of 63,000, Milan took the lead when Andrea Pirlo's free-kick deflected off Filippo Inzaghi in the first half. Milan extended their lead in the second half when Inzaghi scored a second goal. Liverpool scored a late goal through Dirk Kuyt, but were unable to equalise before the end of the match. Milan won the match 2–1 to win their seventh Champions League.
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