Chelsea’s first UEFA Champions League winning team - Where are they now?

Petr Čech

Čech was arguably the best goalkeeper in the world at this point. A point emphasised by his performance in this game.

He was eventually replaced by the younger Thibaut Courtois at Chelsea in 2014, forcing him to move to London rivals Arsenal in the summer of 2015.

After 11 years at Chelsea, Cech would then stay at Arsenal before retiring at the end of the 2018/19 season.

Nowadays, he's an ice hockey player for Oxford City Stars.

Ashley Cole

Cole is now remembered as arguably the games best ever left-back for the consistency of his performances, particularly at Chelsea.

Two years after this final, he went off to play for Roma in Italy, before a switch to America in LA Galaxy.

Cole ended his career in 2019 at EFL Championship side Derby County.

Gary Cahill

Cahill won the Champions League at the end of his first season in London, after making the switch from Bolton Wanderers at the end of the 2010/11 season.

The defender would go on to stay at Chelsea until 2019, winning the UEFA Europa League as his final act for the Blues.

Cahill then played for Crystal Palace until 2021, when he signed for Bournemotuh, where he retired in 2022.

David Luiz

Luiz had a complicated career in England. In 2014, the Brazilian chose a move to PSG for two seasons, before returning to Chelsea, and winning the Premier League title in 2017.

Arsenal were then short of a defender heading into Unai Emery's first season in charge, so Luiz was snapped up by the North London side on summer deadline day 2019.

Luiz would go on to have some good and bad moments with the Reds. He left for Flamengo in 2021, and is still there now.

José Bosingwa

This was Bosingwa's last competitive match for Chelsea, and was sold to Queen's Park Rangers in the August of this year, where he'd spend just one season.

At QPR, Bosingwa was once fined two weeks wages for refusing to sit on the bench for a Premier League game. At the end of the season, he aggravated player Joey Barton and fans when seen walking off the pitch smiling as the club got relegated from the English top-flight. His contract was then terminated.

Bosingwa then joined Turkish side Trabzonspor, where he retired in 2016.

Mikel John Obi

Mikel signed from Norwegian club Lyn in 2006, and would go on to spend the next 11 years with Chelsea. Maturing into one of their best ever players.

In January 2017, Mikel was one of the first players to jump on the Chinese Super League train, only to come back to England at the end of 2018.

He then had a stint at Middlesborough, went to Trabzonspor in Turkey, back to Stoke City, and in 2022, a year after his contract with Kuwait SC was terminated.

🗓️ 19.05.2012: Chelsea make history in Munich 🥳🏆#UCL pic.twitter.com/qtCrR4RS1m

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 19, 2023

Frank Lampard

It's strange to think that just two seasons after this final, Lampard was playing for Premier League rivals Manchester City.

After some controversy between himself and New York FC, Lampard retired in the Big Apple in 2016.

Now a football manager out of a job, Lampard has managed Derby County, Chelsea and Everton.

Ryan Bertrand

Bertrand made his European debut in this final.

After being loaned out on nine occasions from Chelsea, he left them in 2015 to play for Southampton. He'd spend the next six years on the south coast, only to then join Leicester City.

As of the end of the 2022/23 season, Bertrand has been without a club.

Juan Mata

Much like Lampard, by the time it was 2014, Mata was also playing in Manchester. The Spanish midfielder was supposed to be the man that saved United's season under David Moyes. But that didn't quite go to plan.

He did stay with Manchester United until 2022 though, before a stint with Turkish side Galatasaray. He then played for Japanese club Vissel Kobe, before leaving them in the January of 2024. He's currently without a club at 35.

Salomon Kalou

Kalou played over 150 times for Chelsea, but this was his final game for the club. His contract expired in the summer of 2012, and he signed for French side Lille for the next two years.

In 2014, he made the switch to German club Hertha Berlin, where he stayed until 2022. In 2020 he signed for Botafogo, and now plays for Arta/Solar7 in the Djibouti Premier League.

Didier Drogba

Drogba was 34 when he won the Champions League with Chelsea. An achievement he'd worked so hard for ever since joining the club in 2004. He of course scored the leveller in this game, and the winning penalty.

Droba's contract also expired in the summer of 2012, and he left to Chelsea to play for Shanghai Shenhua, only to join Galatasaray in the January of 2013.

But for the start of the 2014/15 season, Drogba made a return to Chelsea for a season, winning the Premier League once again under Jose Mourinho.

In 2015, Drogba signed for MLS club Montreal Impact, only to end his professional footballing career with Phoenix Rising in 2018.