Munich receives Champions League final 2022

UPDATE: FC Bayern Munich gets the chance for a “final dahoam”. The final match of the European premier class retakes place in the Bavarian capital.

The first “final dahoam” is still a bad memory for FC Bayern, ten years after the grandiose disappointment in its own stadium on 19th May 2012. The German soccer record champion now gets a second chance, because..: The final of the Champions League 2022 will take place in Munich, and the Bavarian capital will be the venue for the fourth time.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, CEO of Bayern, was delighted with the award: “On behalf of FC Bayern, I would like to thank UEFA and its President Aleksander Ceferin for their trust. I am convinced that the city of Munich and FC Bayern will jointly organise a football festival at which we will present ourselves to the world in a professional and modern way. While at the same time, being sympathetic and close to our homeland.”.

Next May (30th), the winner of the European premier class will be determined at the Atatürk Stadium in Istanbul. St. Petersburg and Munich had applied as hosts in 2024 and 2022 respectively. The European Football Union (UEFA) has now decided: St. Petersburg with the Gazprom Arena (68,134 seats) is first, then the Allianz Arena (70,000 at international matches).

The first “final dahoam” brought FC Bayern the biggest disappointment after the lost final 1999 in Barcelona against Manchester United (1:2). The Munich team took the lead against FC Chelsea first in the 83rd minute by Thomas Müller, but Didier Drogba still equalled (88th). After Arjen Robben missed a penalty in extra time, the Bavarians lost the penalty shootout 3-4.

The city of Munich pays millions

The Henkel pot final is also a money game. The city of Munich will have to pay 8.5 million euros to UEFA – but it will also benefit. The economic department has calculated that a total of 179,000 visitors came to the city for the 2012 finals; outside the stadium alone they spent 47.6 million euros. About three per cent of this income probably went into the city’s coffers via taxes.

The year 2022 will thus be a year of major sporting events for Munich. In addition to the Champions League final, 50 years after the Summer Olympics, the city is also likely to host the second edition of the European Championships. The simultaneous staging of numerous European Championships was a great success at the premiere in Glasgow and Berlin in 2018.

The Olympic Stadium also hosted the first two Munich Champions League finals. The final in 1993, when Olympique Marseille with Rudi Völler won against AC Milan in the starting eleven (1:0), was also the first of the 1992 newly created premier class of football. In 1997, Borussia Dortmund won against Juventus Turin (3-1) – not least thanks to an unforgettable goal from Lars Ricken.

The last final of the Champions League in Germany so far took place in Berlin in 2015. At that time FC Barcelona won 3-1 against Juventus Turin. The Schalker Arena hosted the 2004 final between FC Porto and AS Monaco (3:0).