Arjen Robben’s late goal fired Bayern Munich to UEFA Champions League glory with a 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in a compelling final at Wembley.
The former Chelsea man, who missed a penalty against his old club in the final last year, found the net with just 90 seconds remaining to settle an end-to-end contest packed with drama and incident to secure a fifth European crown for the Bundesliga champions.
Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was worked by Marco Reus in the 19th minute when the talented midfielder evaded the attention of Philipp Lahm and Dante to warm Neuer’s palms with a drive from outside the box, before Sven Bender’s low curled effort was gathered with relative ease.
Bayern, who tasted final defeat in 2012 and 2010, finally threatened in the 27th minute as Mario Mandzukic’s towering header from Franck Ribery’s cross was acrobatically turned over by Roman Weidenfeller, and Javi Martinez then escaped from his marker to glance the resulting corner narrowly over.
Thomas Muller was left to rue a missed opportunity from a corner when he failed to make a clean contact, before the half drew to a close with an unorthodox block from Weidenfeller as he kept out Robben’s shot with his face after Mats Hummels misjudged a long ball over the top by Dante.
The deadlock was finally broken on the hour mark as Ribery threaded a pass through the advancing Dortmund defence for Robben to run onto, with the former Chelsea man drawing Weidenfeller to the touchline before cutting the ball back across the box for Mandzukic to tap home.
But Bayern’s lead was short-lived with referee Nicola Rizzoli pointing to the spot after Dante’s clumsy lunge on Reus, allowing Ilkay Gundogan to step up to send Neuer the wrong way in front of the yellow wall of Dortmund fans.
Jupp Heynckes’ side looked certain to regain the lead only to be denied by a stunning last-ditch clearance from Neven Subotic, who appeared second best to Robben but showed the commitment and desire required to clear Muller’s pass from off the toes of the Bayern man.
Lewandowski rifled a dipping volley home from long range but Rizzoli’s whistle had already been blown for handball against the striker, before David Alaba’s drive towards the top corner was fisted away by a diving Weidenfeller, with the Dortmund keeper in action once again as the 90 minutes ran down to deny Schweinsteiger.
But just when the game looked certain to go into extra time, Robben burst through the centre of the Dortmund defence to collect Ribery’s back-heel, jinked away from one tackle and Weidenfeller before rolling the ball home.
There was no second title for 1997 winners Dortmund but Jurgen Klopp’s side more than played their part on a night of gripping drama in front of 86,298 fans at the home of English football.
“First of all, congratulations to Bayern, as they won. After the game you have to respect the result,” Klopp said.
“We deserved to be in the final. We showed this tonight. That is not the most important thing but it is important.”
“The game was really close, but it was kind of deserved for Bayern because they were the better team in the second half, but for us it is very hard and disappointing,” Dortmund defend Mats Hummels said.
“In the first 25 minutes we were the better team, but we missed the goals we needed and we were a little bit tired in the last minutes because it was a hard and intense game.
“They get the cup, we don’t. It is one of the hardest games we can lose.” – Sky Sports
