2021 UEFA Women's Champions League Final

The 2021 UEFA Women's Champions League Final was the final match of the 2020–21 UEFA Women's Champions League, the 20th season of Europe's premier women's club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 12th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Women's Cup to the UEFA Women's Champions League. It was played at Gamla Ullevi in Gothenburg, Sweden on 16 May 2021,[5][6] between English club Chelsea and Spanish club Barcelona. Due to local restrictions in Sweden caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the match was played behind closed doors.[7] By advancing to the final, Chelsea became the first club to see its men's and women's teams reach the Champions League final in the same season, having also qualified for the UEFA Champions League final.

2021 UEFA Women's Champions League Final
Match programme cover
Event2020–21 UEFA Women's Champions League
Chelsea Barcelona
0 4
Date16 May 2021 (2021-05-16)
VenueGamla Ullevi, Gothenburg
Player of the MatchAitana Bonmatí (Barcelona)[1]
RefereeRiem Hussein (Germany)[2]
Attendance0[note 1]
WeatherCloudy night
12 °C (54 °F)
87% humidity[3][4]

Barcelona won the match 4–0 for their first Champions League title. In doing so, they became the first club to have won both men's and women's UEFA Champions League titles – its men's team won the Champions League five times; it was a record Chelsea was also seeking. It was also the largest margin of victory in any single-legged UEFA Women's Champions League Final.[8]

Teams

In the following table, finals until 2009 were in the UEFA Women's Cup era, since 2010 were in the UEFA Women's Champions League era.

Team Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
Chelsea None
Barcelona 1 (2019)

Venue
Gamla Ullevi in Gothenburg hosted the final.

This was the first UEFA club competition final hosted at Gamla Ullevi, and the first hosted in the city of Gothenburg since the 2004 UEFA Cup Final at the Nya Ullevi. The stadium previously hosted matches at UEFA Women's Euro 2013 and the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.[9]

Host selection

An open bidding process was launched on 28 September 2018 by UEFA to select the venues of the finals of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Women's Champions League in 2021. Associations had until 26 October 2018 to express interest, and bid dossiers must be submitted by 15 February 2019.

UEFA announced on 1 November 2018 that two associations had expressed interest in hosting the 2021 UEFA Women's Champions League final.[10] and on 22 February 2019 that one association submitted their dossier by the deadline.[11]

Bidding associations for 2021 UEFA Women's Champions League Final
CountryStadiumCityCapacity
 SwedenGamla UlleviGothenburg16,600

The Czech Football Association expressed interest in nominating Sinobo Stadium in Prague but eventually did not submit a bid.

Gamla Ullevi was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan on 29 May 2019.[12][5]

Road to the final
Further information: 2020–21 UEFA Women's Champions League

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Chelsea Round Barcelona
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Knockout phase Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Benfica 8–0 5–0 (A) 3–0 (H) Round of 32 PSV 8–2 4–1 (A) 4–1 (H)
Atlético Madrid 3–1 2–0 (H) 1–1 (A)[lower-alpha 1] Round of 16 Fortuna Hjørring 9–0 4–0 (H) 5–0 (A)
VfL Wolfsburg 5–1 2–1 (H)[lower-alpha 2] 3–0 (A)[lower-alpha 2] Quarter-finals Manchester City 4–2 3–0 (H)[lower-alpha 3] 1–2 (A)
Bayern Munich 5–3 1–2 (A) 4–1 (H) Semi-finals Paris Saint-Germain 3–2 1–1 (A) 2–1 (H)

Notes

  1. The round of 16 second leg, in which Atlético Madrid were the administrative home team, was played at a neutral venue in Monza, Italy, due to travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic from the United Kingdom to Spain.[13]
  2. Both legs of Chelsea's quarter-final against VfL Wolfsburg were played in Budapest due to travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic between Germany and the United Kingdom.[14]
  3. The quarter-final first leg, in which Barcelona were the administrative home team, was played at a neutral venue in Monza, Italy, due to travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic from the United Kingdom to Spain.[14]

Pre-match
German referee Riem Hussein officiated the final.

Officials

On 4 May 2021, UEFA named German official Riem Hussein as the referee for the final. Hussein had been a FIFA referee since 2009, and previously officiated at UEFA Women's Euro 2017 and the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. She was joined by her compatriot Katrin Rafalski and Sara Telek of Austria as assistant referees. Katalin Kulcsár of Hungary served as the fourth official, while Julia Magnusson of Sweden was the reserve assistant referee. Hussein's fellow countrymen Bastian Dankert and Christian Dingert worked as the video assistant referee and assistant VAR officials, respectively.[2]

Match

Details

A draw was held on 12 March 2021, 12:00 CET (after the quarter-final and semi-final draws), at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland to determine which semi-final winner would be designated as the "home" team for administrative purposes.[15]

Chelsea 0–4 Barcelona
Report
Attendance: 0[note 1]
Chelsea
Barcelona
GK30 Ann-Katrin Berger
RB7 Jessica Carter
CB4 Millie Bright
CB16 Magdalena Eriksson (c)
LB21 Niamh Charles
RM8 Melanie Leupolz 46'
CM5 Sophie Ingle 38'
LM10 Ji So-yun 73'
RF14 Fran Kirby
CF23 Pernille Harder
LF20 Sam Kerr 73'
Substitutes:
GK1 Zećira Mušović
GK28 Carly Telford
DF3 Hannah Blundell
DF25 Jonna Andersson
DF29 Jorja Fox
MF11 Guro Reiten 46'
MF17 Jessie Fleming
MF24 Drew Spence
FW9 Bethany England 73'
FW22 Erin Cuthbert 73'
FW33 Agnes Beever-Jones
Manager:
Emma Hayes
GK1 Sandra Paños
RB8 Marta Torrejón 82'
CB12 Patricia Guijarro
CB4 María Pilar León
LB15 Leila Ouahabi 69' 82'
RM14 Aitana Bonmatí
CM10 Kheira Hamraoui
LM11 Alexia Putellas (c) 71'
RF16 Caroline Graham Hansen 62'
CF7 Jennifer Hermoso 71'
LF22 Lieke Martens
Substitutes:
GK13 Cata Coll
GK25 Gemma Font
DF3 Laia Codina
DF5 Melanie Serrano 82'
DF18 Ana-Maria Crnogorčević 82'
DF23 Jana Fernández
MF6 Vicky Losada 71'
FW9 Mariona Caldentey 62'
FW20 Asisat Oshoala 71'
FW24 Bruna Vilamala
Manager:
Lluís Cortés

Player of the Match:
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona)[1]

Assistant referees:[2]
Katrin Rafalski (Germany)
Sara Telek (Austria)
Fourth official:[2]
Katalin Kulcsár (Hungary)
Reserve assistant referee:[2]
Julia Magnusson (Sweden)
Video assistant referee:[2]
Bastian Dankert (Germany)
Assistant video assistant referee:[2]
Christian Dingert (Germany)

Match rules[16][17]

  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level
  • Twelve named substitutes
  • Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time[note 2]

See also

Notes
  1. The final was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden.[7]
  2. Each team was given only three opportunities to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time and at half-time in extra time.

References
  1. "Women's Champions League final Player of the Match: Aitana Bonmati". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 16 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  2. "Referee team appointed for UEFA Women's Champions League final in Gothenburg". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 4 May 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  3. "Chelsea v Barcelona: Match info". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 16 May 2021. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  4. "Torslanda, Västra Götaland, Sweden Weather Conditions". Weather Underground. 16 May 2021. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  5. "Gothenburg to stage 2021 Women's Champions League final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  6. "Dates, access list: Road to Gothenburg 2020/21". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 October 2019.
  7. "2021 Women's Champions League final: Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021. Due to current restrictions implemented by the local authorities in Sweden, the UEFA Womens' Champions League final will be played behind closed doors and therefore no tickets will be on sale.
  8. "Chelsea 0-4 Barcelona: Barça surge to first Women's Champions League title". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 16 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  9. "2021 Women's Champions League final: Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 September 2020.
  10. "11 associations interested in hosting 2021 club finals". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 November 2018.
  11. "9 associations bidding to host 2021 club finals". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 22 February 2019.
  12. "UEFA Executive Committee agenda for Baku meeting". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  13. "Women's Champions League dates confirmed". Chelsea FC. 25 February 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  14. "UEFA Women's Champions League venue changes". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 16 March 2021.
  15. "Women's Champions League quarter-final and semi-final draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 12 March 2021.
  16. "Regulations of the UEFA Women's Champions League, 2020/21". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 September 2020.
  17. "Two triple-headers approved for 2021 March and September national team windows". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
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