2013 UEFA Champions League Final

The two-time Champions League winner and ex-England international Steve McManaman was appointed as the official ambassador for the final.[26]

The 2013 Champions League Final opening ceremony.

The opening ceremony was directed by Kevin Spacey's executive assistant and The Prince's Trust ambassador Hamish Jenkinson and his business partner Jonny Grant, who had previously directed the 2011 opening ceremony, also at Wembley. The ceremony, also titled "Battle of Kings", was produced by Films United. It was directed and produced by Grigorij Richters and his producing partner Alex Souabni. Both were the former filmmakers-in-residence of Kevin Spacey and Jenkinson at The Old Vic Theatre in London. The film focused around the story of activist and fundraiser Stephen Sutton, who was part of the group of performers.[27][28]

The match ball for the final was the Adidas Finale Wembley, which featured the same "Starball" panel configuration as the last three finals. The ball was predominantly white, with each star in blue with yellow patterning and a purple border. Six of the 12 stars featured designs recalling the six previous times that the European Cup final had been held at Wembley Stadium. The ball was unveiled on 30 January 2013 and was used for all knockout stage matches in the 2012–13 competition.[29]

Borussia Dortmund fans in Wembley before kick-off

The international ticket sales phase for the general public ran from 11 February to 15 March 2013.[30] Tickets were available in four price categories: £330, £230, £140, and £60. Due to the high demand for tickets, allocation was determined by a lottery.[31]

The two finalist clubs were allocated 25,000 tickets each. Borussia Dortmund received 502,567 requests for tickets,[32] while there were approximately 250,000 orders for tickets from members of Bayern Munich.[33] Both clubs used draws as a means of awarding tickets.[32][33]

As is the annual custom, the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Women's Champions League trophies were presented to the host city at a special ceremony at Banqueting House, Whitehall, on 19 April 2013. Receiving the trophies from UEFA President Michel Platini were the Minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson and the Mayor of London's commissioner for sport, Kate Hoey. Representing the previous season's competition winners were John Terry, Frank Lampard, Petr Čech, Fernando Torres and Branislav Ivanović of Chelsea, and Lotta Schelin of the Lyon ladies' team. Also in attendance were final ambassadors Graeme Le Saux and Faye White, who had escorted the trophies from Stamford Bridge to Banqueting House via London's public transport system, and David Bernstein, the chairman of The Football Association.[34]

The UEFA Champions Festival was held at the International Quarter, Stratford City, next to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, from 23 to 26 May 2013.[35]

The 2013 UEFA Women's Champions League Final was held at Stamford Bridge on 23 May 2013 between Wolfsburg and Lyon. Wolfsburg won the game, with Martina Müller scoring the only goal. This ensured that for the first time ever the same nation won both the men's and women's European club titles in the same year.[36]

Borussia Dortmund's Mario Götze, who would join Bayern Munich in the summer, missed the match with a hamstring injury that had kept him out since the semi-final second leg against Real Madrid. Right-back Łukasz Piszczek did play, however, despite being due for hip surgery, while centre-back Mats Hummels recovered from a sprained ankle in time to play.[37] Bayern Munich were without defender Holger Badstuber, who was expected to be out for 10 months with a knee injury,[38] and Toni Kroos, who had yet to recover from an injury sustained in the quarter-final.[39]

Dortmund were the dominant team in the first half-hour of the match, pressing Bayern intensely. Manuel Neuer made five important saves in the first 35 minutes, including two from shots by Robert Lewandowski and one from Marco Reus. Despite this dominance, Dortmund failed to generate many dangerous attacks, as Neuer's only difficult save came when Jakub Błaszczykowski volleyed a cross toward Neuer's near post, which the Bayern keeper deflected out for a corner. A Mario Mandžukić header forced a save from Roman Weidenfeller and Javi Martínez put a header from the ensuing corner just over the bar. The first half was an open affair; while Dortmund dominated the early stages, Bayern were still able to generate several chances through Arjen Robben, who forced Weidenfeller into three saves in the first half. Dortmund were able to generate many of their chances due to uncharacteristically poor play from Philipp Lahm, who gave the ball back to Dortmund in his own half on two occasions.[40]

Bayern later took the initiative and scored the first goal in the 60th minute, when Robben and Franck Ribéry combined to set up Mandžukić for a left-footed finish, the ball going past Marcel Schmelzer on the goal line from three yards out.[40] Shortly after, Dante raised his foot in the penalty area and caught Reus in the stomach; İlkay Gündoğan scored the resulting penalty, shooting low into the left corner and sending Neuer the wrong way. Bayern had a chance to re-take the lead several moments later, when Thomas Müller rounded Weidenfeller and attempted to find Robben, with the ball rolling towards the open goal, only for Neven Subotić to make a last ditch clearance off the line, preventing a tap-in from Robben.[40] Late in the match, Bayern seemed the more likely to score, as David Alaba forced Weidenfeller into a save with a shot from long range. Moments later, a through-ball from Robben caught the Dortmund defence cold, resulting in Bayern having Müller and Mandžukić in a two-on-one with Weidenfeller. Subotić again came to Dortmund's rescue, as he was able to catch up and pressure Müller into playing a poor pass, which left Mandžukić with a tight angle, and the Croatian blasted into the side netting. With a minute left in normal time, Ribéry played in Robben with a back-heeled pass; the Dutch forward burst past the defence and scuffed a weak, low shot past the onrushing Weidenfeller with his left foot from eight yards out for the winning goal.[40]