Chelsea won the Champions League for the first time in their history tonight as Didier Drogba scored the decisive penalty in a shoot-out victory over Bayern Munich.
Drogba dragged Chelsea back into the game with a late equaliser after Thomas Muller had given Bayern a deserved lead eight minutes from time.
Petr Cech then saved Arjen Robben's penalty in extra time to ensure the trophy would be decided by spot-kicks. And Chelsea erased the memory of their failure in Moscow five seasons ago by creating history.
Ryan Bertrand was pitched into the biggest game of his life tonight as the 22-year-old started for Chelsea in their Champions League final clash with Bayern Munich.
With four players suspended, manager Roberto Di Matteo overlooked Florent Malouda and Michael Essien and elected to play Bertrand on the left flank, in front of Ashley Cole.
Defenders David Luiz and Gary Cahill were both declared fit and started as Chelsea looked to win the competition for the first time, knowing victory would earn them a place in next season's competition at the expense of Tottenham, who finished fourth in the Premier League.
Bayern had their own defensive worries and, with Holger Badstuber suspended, elected to rely on Anatoliy Tymoshchuk to repel Didier Drogba.
Portuguese referee Pedro Proenca waved play on when Arjen Robben got flattened inside the Chelsea half but not when Ashley Cole upended Toni Kroos, though.
Robben wasted the free-kick and Bastian Schweinsteiger was booked when he halted Chelsea's attempt to break with a deliberate handball.
Bayern carved out a decent chance for themselves but Cahill managed to block Schweinsteiger's shot.
Kroos drove wide from the corner, then, at the other end, Philipp Lahm did well to prevent Juan Mata's cross reaching Didier Drogba in a very dangerous position.
Robben ballooned a shot over, then Franck Ribery curled a cross into the box which a flying Mario Gomez headed over.
Chelsea were wobbling defensively.
Frank Lampard was in the right place to clear a Thomas Muller cross after Ribery had found his team-mate with an excellent piece of skill.
From the corner, Robben's shot flew wide of Bertrand, then Jose Bosingwa fly-kicked an intended clearance behind his own goal line, although Schweinsteiger's corner was poor.
Then Robben weaved his way into the box, only to be denied by an instinctive Petr Cech save before Gomez caused panic by hooking the ball back into the box, with Lampard again snuffing out the danger.
Jerome Boateng flattened Drogba to prevent Chelsea launching a rare attack, then Muller went down under minimal contact from Luiz but got the free-kick on the edge of the box.
Ribery went down in agony under Bosingwa's challenge and was still waiting to come back on when Robben drove his volley into the ground and watched it bounce through to Cech.
Boateng then upended Cahill on the edge of the Bayern box, offering Chelsea their clearest opportunity yet.
Mata curled the free-kick over and it was not long before Ribery was threatening down the left wing once more, cutting into the area before sending his shot wide.
Bayern should have taken the lead when Ribery fed Diego Contento, whose cross dropped perfectly for Muller, only for the Germany international to volley wide.
A flowing move from Chelsea ended with Lampard pushing a pass out to Salomon Kalou, who tested Manuel Neuer from an acute angle.
Chelsea had a lucky escape when Ribery's misdirected volley flew to Muller, who was so surprised his first touch allowed Cole to step in.
Gomez touched a speculative Tymoshchuk shot wide, then brilliantly made room for a shot following good approach work from Robben and Muller, only to blaze over.
Bayern were back on the offensive straight from the re-start and it took a clearance from Luiz at full stretch to prevent Ribery's cross reaching the heart of Chelsea's penalty area.
Luiz turned Kroos' shot over the bar, then Cech came to snuff out the danger as Muller tried to create a chance for himself.
Drogba let fly with a speculative effort from 25 yards which dipped wide, leaving Neuer untroubled.
Ribery thought he had scored when he tucked home the loose ball from a Robben shot that struck Cole.
Chelsea enjoyed a brief flurry of attacks, with Drogba crossing dangerously after Tymoshchuk had gifted him possession.
The Ivorian hooked a shot towards goal after Neuer flapped at a cross but the goalkeeper recovered his ground to save.
Bertrand was replaced by Malouda and shortly afterwards Cole half-blocked Ribery's cross, with allowed Cech to push the ball over his own bar.
Muller drove wide from a decent position and then his header brought a decent save out of Cech. In between, he was brought down by Cole, a foul that earned the Chelsea man a booking.
A goal seemed to be coming and eight minutes from time it did, with questions being asked about Cech as Muller rose beyond the far post to meet Kroos' cross, his header bouncing into the ground and then against the underside of the bar, before dropping in.
Di Matteo threw Fernando Torres on for Kalou in desperation, although his side were under severe pressure and Luiz was booked for fouling Robben.
Just as it seemed the Premier League side would be condemned to defeat, Drogba rose at a rare Mata corner sent across from the right flank, and flashed a near-post header past Neuer.
More to follow...The extra half-hour was only two minutes old when Drogba barged Ribery over from behind inside the box to present Bayern with a golden opportunity to regain the lead.
Although the contact did not look much, Ribery was unable to continue.
And after a long delay, Robben eventually strode up, only for Cech to make a brilliant save to his left and smother the rebound.
Bayern remained the better team throughout extra-time.
Daniel van Buyten failed to read Ivica Olic's knock-down, otherwise he would have had a tap-in.
Cahill prevented Gomez reaching Lahm's cross in the final act of regular play before those dreaded shoot-outs.
Mata missed the first for Chelsea, but when Ivica Olic and Schweinsteiger failed, Drogba kept his nerve to win the trophy for the Blues.
Drogba dragged Chelsea back into the game with a late equaliser after Thomas Muller had given Bayern a deserved lead eight minutes from time.
Petr Cech then saved Arjen Robben's penalty in extra time to ensure the trophy would be decided by spot-kicks. And Chelsea erased the memory of their failure in Moscow five seasons ago by creating history.
Ryan Bertrand was pitched into the biggest game of his life tonight as the 22-year-old started for Chelsea in their Champions League final clash with Bayern Munich.
With four players suspended, manager Roberto Di Matteo overlooked Florent Malouda and Michael Essien and elected to play Bertrand on the left flank, in front of Ashley Cole.
Defenders David Luiz and Gary Cahill were both declared fit and started as Chelsea looked to win the competition for the first time, knowing victory would earn them a place in next season's competition at the expense of Tottenham, who finished fourth in the Premier League.
Bayern had their own defensive worries and, with Holger Badstuber suspended, elected to rely on Anatoliy Tymoshchuk to repel Didier Drogba.
Portuguese referee Pedro Proenca waved play on when Arjen Robben got flattened inside the Chelsea half but not when Ashley Cole upended Toni Kroos, though.
Robben wasted the free-kick and Bastian Schweinsteiger was booked when he halted Chelsea's attempt to break with a deliberate handball.
Bayern carved out a decent chance for themselves but Cahill managed to block Schweinsteiger's shot.
Kroos drove wide from the corner, then, at the other end, Philipp Lahm did well to prevent Juan Mata's cross reaching Didier Drogba in a very dangerous position.
Robben ballooned a shot over, then Franck Ribery curled a cross into the box which a flying Mario Gomez headed over.
Chelsea were wobbling defensively.
Frank Lampard was in the right place to clear a Thomas Muller cross after Ribery had found his team-mate with an excellent piece of skill.
From the corner, Robben's shot flew wide of Bertrand, then Jose Bosingwa fly-kicked an intended clearance behind his own goal line, although Schweinsteiger's corner was poor.
Then Robben weaved his way into the box, only to be denied by an instinctive Petr Cech save before Gomez caused panic by hooking the ball back into the box, with Lampard again snuffing out the danger.
Jerome Boateng flattened Drogba to prevent Chelsea launching a rare attack, then Muller went down under minimal contact from Luiz but got the free-kick on the edge of the box.
Ribery went down in agony under Bosingwa's challenge and was still waiting to come back on when Robben drove his volley into the ground and watched it bounce through to Cech.
Boateng then upended Cahill on the edge of the Bayern box, offering Chelsea their clearest opportunity yet.
Mata curled the free-kick over and it was not long before Ribery was threatening down the left wing once more, cutting into the area before sending his shot wide.
Bayern should have taken the lead when Ribery fed Diego Contento, whose cross dropped perfectly for Muller, only for the Germany international to volley wide.
A flowing move from Chelsea ended with Lampard pushing a pass out to Salomon Kalou, who tested Manuel Neuer from an acute angle.
Chelsea had a lucky escape when Ribery's misdirected volley flew to Muller, who was so surprised his first touch allowed Cole to step in.
Gomez touched a speculative Tymoshchuk shot wide, then brilliantly made room for a shot following good approach work from Robben and Muller, only to blaze over.
Bayern were back on the offensive straight from the re-start and it took a clearance from Luiz at full stretch to prevent Ribery's cross reaching the heart of Chelsea's penalty area.
Luiz turned Kroos' shot over the bar, then Cech came to snuff out the danger as Muller tried to create a chance for himself.
Drogba let fly with a speculative effort from 25 yards which dipped wide, leaving Neuer untroubled.
Ribery thought he had scored when he tucked home the loose ball from a Robben shot that struck Cole.
Chelsea enjoyed a brief flurry of attacks, with Drogba crossing dangerously after Tymoshchuk had gifted him possession.
The Ivorian hooked a shot towards goal after Neuer flapped at a cross but the goalkeeper recovered his ground to save.
Bertrand was replaced by Malouda and shortly afterwards Cole half-blocked Ribery's cross, with allowed Cech to push the ball over his own bar.
Muller drove wide from a decent position and then his header brought a decent save out of Cech. In between, he was brought down by Cole, a foul that earned the Chelsea man a booking.
A goal seemed to be coming and eight minutes from time it did, with questions being asked about Cech as Muller rose beyond the far post to meet Kroos' cross, his header bouncing into the ground and then against the underside of the bar, before dropping in.
Di Matteo threw Fernando Torres on for Kalou in desperation, although his side were under severe pressure and Luiz was booked for fouling Robben.
Just as it seemed the Premier League side would be condemned to defeat, Drogba rose at a rare Mata corner sent across from the right flank, and flashed a near-post header past Neuer.
More to follow...The extra half-hour was only two minutes old when Drogba barged Ribery over from behind inside the box to present Bayern with a golden opportunity to regain the lead.
Although the contact did not look much, Ribery was unable to continue.
And after a long delay, Robben eventually strode up, only for Cech to make a brilliant save to his left and smother the rebound.
Bayern remained the better team throughout extra-time.
Daniel van Buyten failed to read Ivica Olic's knock-down, otherwise he would have had a tap-in.
Cahill prevented Gomez reaching Lahm's cross in the final act of regular play before those dreaded shoot-outs.
Mata missed the first for Chelsea, but when Ivica Olic and Schweinsteiger failed, Drogba kept his nerve to win the trophy for the Blues.