The 2013 UEFA Europa League Final was the final match of the

2012–13 UEFA Europa League The 2012–13 UEFA Europa League was the 42nd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 4th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Amsterdam Aren ...

, the 42nd season of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

's secondary club

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

tournament organised by

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs fo ...

, and the 4th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

. The match was played at the

Amsterdam Arena The Johan Cruyff Arena ( nl, Johan Cruijff Arena ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of football club AFC Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to 1996 ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, Netherlands, on 15 May 2013, between Portuguese side Benfica and English side Chelsea. Chelsea won 2–1 to secure their first title in this competition. Chelsea were the first

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

title holders to play in the following season's Europa League, after becoming the first Champions League holders to be eliminated in the group stage. With this triumph, they became the first Champions League holders to win the Europa League, since the 2013 Champions League Final had not been played then. Chelsea also became the fourth club, and first in England, to win all three major UEFA club titles, having won the

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events J ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, and still held the Champions League title won for the first time the previous year. Chelsea were also the first team since

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

in the

1991 European Cup Winners' Cup Final The 1991 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was a football match played between Manchester United and Barcelona on 15 May 1991 at Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam. It was the final match of the 1990–91 European Cup Winners' Cup and the 31st European C ...

to win a major European final without making any substitutions. As a result of winning this competition, Chelsea secured a place in the

2013 UEFA Super Cup The 2013 UEFA Super Cup was the 38th UEFA Super Cup, an annual football match organised by UEFA and contested by the reigning champions of the two main European club competitions, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. In a re ...

against the winners of the

2012–13 UEFA Champions League The 2012–13 UEFA Champions League was the 58th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 21st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pl ...

, Bayern Munich.

Venue

The Amsterdam Arena was announced as the venue of the 2013 UEFA Europa League final on 16 June 2011. The home stadium of

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

since 1996, it staged the 1998 UEFA Champions League Final, where

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

beat

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

1–0 for their seventh title, and was also one of the

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament wa ...

venues, hosting five games including a semi-final. The previous home for Ajax's European matches, the Olympisch Stadion, also played host to European finals. One-legged finals include the 1962 European Cup Final, where Benfica defeated Real Madrid 5–3, and the

1977 European Cup Winners' Cup Final The 1977 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was a football match contested between Hamburger SV of West Germany and the defending champions, Anderlecht of Belgium. It was the final match of the 1976–77 European Cup Winners' Cup tournament and the 1 ...

, where

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

were beaten 2–0 by

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

. It also hosted the second legs of the 1981 UEFA Cup Final, between AZ '67 and

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

, and of the

1992 UEFA Cup Final The 1992 UEFA Cup Final was played on 29 April 1992 and 13 May 1992 between Ajax of the Netherlands and Torino of Italy. Ajax won on away goals after a 2–2 draw in the first leg in Turin and a 0–0 draw in the second in Amsterdam. The victor ...

, between Ajax and

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

Background

Benfica qualified for their ninth European final, the first in 23 years since their 1–0 loss to A.C. Milan in the

1990 European Cup Final The 1990 European Cup Final was a football match between Milan of Italy and Benfica of Portugal, played on 23 May 1990 at the Praterstadion in Vienna, Austria. The winning goal came in the 68th minute for Milan, when Frank Rijkaard ran through t ...

. Previous appearances include back-to-back victories in the

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

and 1962 European Cup finals (3–2 over

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and 5–3 over Real Madrid, respectively) and unsuccessful presences in five other European Cup finals –

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

(1–2 to Milan),

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in for a full term ...

(0–1 to

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter i ...

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * J ...

(1–4 to

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

(0–0, 5–6 on penalties to PSV) and 1990 (0–1 to Milan) – and one UEFA Cup final in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

(1–2 on aggregate to Anderlecht). Before this season, Chelsea had never reached a final of the UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League. They previously appeared in two

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

finals in

(2–1 win over Real Madrid) and

(1–0 win over

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

), and two

finals in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

(1–1, lost 5–6 on penalties to Manchester United) and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

(1–1, won 4–3 on penalties over

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

). The only previous meeting between Benfica and Chelsea in European competition was in the

2011–12 UEFA Champions League The 2011–12 UEFA Champions League was the 57th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 20th season in its current Champions League format. As part of a trial that started in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa L ...

quarter-finals, which the English won 3–1 on aggregate (1–0 in Lisbon and 2–1 in London) en route to the title. Both Benfica and Chelsea finished third in the

2012–13 UEFA Champions League group stage The 2012–13 UEFA Champions League group stage featured 32 teams: the 22 automatic qualifiers and the 10 winners of the play-off round (five through the Champions Route, five through the League Route). The teams were drawn into eight groups of fou ...

, and entered the 2012–13 Europa League in the round of 32. It was the fourth time in the tournament's history that both finalists featured in the Champions League group stage earlier in the season, after

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

Road to the final

''Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first.''

Pre-match

Ambassador

Former Dutch international

Patrick Kluivert Patrick Stephan Kluivert (; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch former football player, coach and sporting director. He played as a striker, most notably for AFC Ajax, FC Barcelona and the Netherlands national team. He was part of Ajax's Golden Gen ...

, who won the

with

, was appointed as the official ambassador for the final.

Officials

On 13 May 2013, Dutch

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...

Björn Kuipers Björn Kuipers (; born 28 March 1973) is a former Dutch football referee. He has been a FIFA listed referee from 2006 to 2021 and an UEFA Elite group referee from 2009 to 2021. He was assisted during international matches by Sander van Roekel ...

was appointed to the final. He was joined by fellow Dutch officials Sander van Roekel and Erwin Zeinstra as assistant referees, Pol van Boekel and Richard Liesveld as additional assistant referees, Berry Simons as reserve assistant referee, and German official Felix Brych as fourth official.

Ticketing

The international ticket sales phase for the general public ran from 3 December 2012 to 18 January 2013. Tickets were available in four price categories:

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

135, €100, €70, and €45. Each finalist club was allocated 9,800 tickets.

Match

Team selection

Chelsea's

Eden Hazard Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Known for his creativity, dribbling, passing and vision, Hazard is considered ...

was ruled out of the final after not recovering from a hamstring injury he suffered in Chelsea's 2–1

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

victory against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park, ...

on 11 May. Chelsea captain and centre-back John Terry was also absent through injury. Three players faced their former clubs: Benfica's

Nemanja Matić Nemanja Matić ( sr-Cyrl, Немања Матић, ; born 1 August 1988) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Italian Serie A club Roma. Starting his career as an attacking midfielder, Matić shifted to a d ...

, who was transferred from Chelsea, and Chelsea's

David Luiz David Luiz Moreira Marinho (born 22 April 1987) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Flamengo. Primarily a centre back, he can also be deployed as a defensive midfielder. After starting out at Vitoria, David Luiz moved to Be ...

and

Ramires Ramires Santos do Nascimento (; born 24 March 1987), known as Ramires, is a Brazilian former professional footballer. A midfielder, he was comfortable playing in either the centre or right midfielder position. He normally played as a box-to-b ...

, who were transferred from Benfica.

Summary

Fernando Torres Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Atlético Madrid Juvenil A. Due to his consistent goalscoring rate as a young player, ...

put Chelsea ahead midway through the second half rounding the goalkeeper and clipping in after being put clean in on goal by Juan Mata.

Óscar Cardozo Óscar René Cardozo Marín (; born 20 May 1983) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Club Libertad and the Paraguay national team. Known for his powerful left-foot shot and free-kick skills, he first gained att ...

equalised with a penalty eight minutes later awarded after

Eduardo Salvio Eduardo Antonio Salvio (born 13 July 1990) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a winger for Liga MX club UNAM. Salvio started his career with Lanús in 2008. After moving to Europe in 2010, he won two UEFA Europa League, with ...

's header struck

César Azpilicueta César Azpilicueta Tanco (born 28 August 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Chelsea and the Spain national team. A youth product of Osasuna, Azpilicueta spent three seasons in La Liga before switchin ...

's hand.

Branislav Ivanović Branislav Ivanović ( sr-Cyrl, Бранислав Ивановић, ; born 22 February 1984) is a Serbian former professional footballer. A versatile defender, Ivanović played as a right back, although he can also play as a centre back. Ivano ...

scored in the final minute of stoppage time with a header into the far corner from a Mata corner from the right to clinch a 2–1 win for Chelsea and with it their first Europa League title.

Details

Statistics

References

External links

2012–13 UEFA Europa League
UEFA.com

UEFA.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Uefa Europa League Final 2013

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

2012–13 in Dutch football UEFA Europa League Final, 2013 International club association football competitions hosted by the Netherlands S.L. Benfica matches Chelsea F.C. matches 2012–13 in Portuguese football 2012–13 in English football 2010s in Amsterdam May 2013 sports events in Europe