The Champions League finals are the biggest game in the European club football calendar, and for a good reason.
The continent has the biggest stars in the world at the moment and continues to break new ground.
UEFA has done an amazing job of keeping things together and has also won the battle against the European Super League.
This means we will continue to enjoy one of the best competitions there is in any sport in the world, and we have seen some amazing finals in the competition.
Before the last decade, we watched an unknown FC Porto win the 2004 final against AS Monaco, with Jose Mourinho becoming known to the world as the best manager because of that victory which made more fans buy Champions League tickets.
We also watched as Liverpool came from three goals down in the first half to beat AC Milan on penalties in 2005.
Lionel Messi also emerged as a superstar and helped Barcelona to win the competition in the 2008/2009 campaign before going on to win several others with the Blaugranas.
In the last decade, there have been some amazing finals of the Champions League, and we take a look at some of them in this article.
Chelsea vs Bayern Munich 2012
As soon as Roman Abramovich came to town, Chelsea instantly became one of the biggest clubs in the world.
The Russian is arguably the most generous owner of a football club we have seen in European football, and he craved winning the Champions League.
His Chelsea side had been through many managers before 2012 and dominated the English game, as they won several league and domestic cup titles.
However, the Champions League continued to elude them after losing the 2008 final to Manchester United in Moscow.
In 2012, they were not to be denied, even though they were not being managed by a seemingly world-class coach.
Led by Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard, Chelsea’s 2012 campaign was one of the fairytale stories in the competition, and when they reached the final, Bayern Munich were the favourites.
The Germans appeared stronger on paper, and the match was played in their stadium, which was a huge advantage.
However, in a very closely contested game in which Bayern seemed to be the better side, the match ended 1-1 in normal time after Drogba dramatically equalised for Chelsea five minutes after Thomas Muller had opened the scoring in the 83rd minute.
There were no winners in extra time, and Chelsea defeated the Germans on penalty.
Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund 2013
Bayern Munich came back stronger in the next campaign, where they faced Borussia Dortmund in the final at Wembley.
It seemed they would suffer consecutive heartbreaks when BVB equalised a Mario Mandzukic 60th-minute opener in the 67th minute through Ilkay Gundogan.
However, Arjen Robben scored an 89-minute winner for the Bavarians in the all-German final and confirmed Bayern is the biggest club in the country.
That final was one of the finest in the last decade, and it was significant in the careers of players and coaches at both clubs.
Jurgen Klopp became known by more fans after his side had a brilliant campaign and reached the final as one of the underdogs of European football.
It was also one game Gundogan showed his class, and it brought more interest to the German game for fans around the globe.
Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid 2014
Real Madrid faced Atletico Madrid in the first of two interesting Champions League finals in 2014 as they looked to beat their less successful neighbours to win the cup.
Madrid was already the king of Europe, but Atleti deserved their place in that final.
They played some superb football while defending better than almost all the clubs in the competition that year.
Diego Simeone had some really talented players in his squad in the 2013/2014 season, and they pushed the team to the final of that Champions League.
It seemed they would create one of the biggest underdog stories of the decade when they took an early lead through Diego Godin in the 36th minute.
Atletico held on to that lead until added time, and most fans who watched that game were convinced that they would win the Champions League.
However, in the third minute of added time, Sergio Ramos equalised for Madrid to break the hearts of Atletico.
It was one of the most devastating blows we have seen in a Champions League final. Madrid would then score three more goals in extra time against an Atleti side that seemed too broken to react to the equaliser.
Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid 2016
Real Madrid and Atletico de Madrid are from the same City, and Atletico has laboured under the shadows of their more illustrious neighbours for most of their existence.
In Diego Simeone, Atleti has a manager who is not afraid of anyone, and the Argentinian has passed that fearlessness to his players since he became their gaffer.
After breaking the hold of Barcelona and Real Madrid to win the Spanish top flight, his next big achievement is the Champions League final appearances he has taken them to.
They reached the 2014 final, where they faced Madrid, only for both clubs to meet again in the 2016 final, with Atletico given a second chance to earn a victory against their bitter rivals.
The game lived up to expectations from the start as Madrid took an early lead through Sergio Ramos in the 15th minute, and both teams had a good go at each other before Yannick Carasco equalised for Atletico in the 79th minute.
This time Atleti looked more prepared, and no winner could be found in extra time before the match went into penalties.
Real Madrid ultimately triumphed, but that game remains one of the finest Champions League finals in the last decade.
Real Madrid vs Liverpool 2018
Liverpool won yet another Champions League title when they faced Liverpool in the 2018 edition as Jurgen Klopp’s men surprisingly reached the final.
In that campaign, Liverpool was unstoppable, and the trio of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino helped them to defeat some tough opponents along the way.
Real Madrid also saw off some top clubs on their way to winning a 13th title in the world’s most prestigious club competition.
Los Blancos have always won when they reach the final, but Liverpool was confident they could win, and fans will argue that they deserve to be champions in that campaign.
The Reds started the match very well and had Madrid gasping for air for much of the opening exchanges, but a mistake by Lloris Karius gifted Karim Benzema a chance, and the Frenchman did not miss the open goal.
Liverpool struck back through Sadio Mane as it seemed they were going to win the game as they pressed the Spanish giants for much of the minutes after they had equalised.
However, a terrible mistake from Karious again let Gareth Bale score from 25 yards out to give Liverpool more work to do, but their players could not get over the mistake, and Bale scored another goal from a stunning overhead kick.
This match was one of the finest Champions League games we have seen, and Liverpool will feel they did not deserve to be the losing team.
They had done their best to ensure they won, but it was all undone by their goalkeeper, who chose the wrong time to have a bad day.
The 2021 final between Manchester City and Chelsea was another incredibly good final as Pep Guardiola benched Fernandinho only to lose the game to Thomas Tuchel.
The 2022 final between Liverpool and Real Madrid was also a close game as the Reds did all they could but could not beat Los Blanco’s goalkeeper, only for Vinicius Junior to score the game’s only goal against the run of play.
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