Arsenal fielded a relatively young team throughout the competition; their wins against fellow league opponents Liverpool in the fifth-round and Tottenham Hotspur in the semis were acclaimed by the British press.

Midway through the second half, Chelsea captain John Terry was accidentally kicked in the face after attempting to score with a diving header; he played no further part in the match having sought medical attention.

Frank Lampard opened the scoring for Chelsea in the 32nd minute; further goals by Andriy Shevchenko, Michael Essien and Didier Drogba in the second half secured a 4–0 win.

The home team came close to scoring after the midway point of the first half; Obafemi Martins's shot towards the Chelsea goal hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced down, before the ball was cleared.

A match preview in The Guardian noted the financial gap between the two sides: "Wycombe's most expensive player, Jermaine Easter, cost £80,000; Chelsea's squad is valued at more than £300m.

Chelsea took the lead in the 36th minute when Wayne Bridge collected a pass from Kalou and chipped the ball over Ricardo Batista, the Wycombe goalkeeper.

[9] The second leg at Stamford Bridge saw Chelsea start better of the two sides and two goals apiece from Shevchenko and Lampard meant they won 4–0 on the night, 5–1 on aggregate score to progress to the final.

[13] Atkinson's decision infuriated the managers of both clubs, with Rafael Benítez commenting: "There were a lot of people looking forward to the game and it's really difficult to explain.

The day after Chelsea announced losses of £80 million for 2005–06, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger expressed concern over his opponent's conduct: "I have said many times that all the clubs should be balanced with their natural resources.

Wenger replied to Mourinho's comments by arguing that although plenty of managers have won the Champions League, most would not be considered greats – "What is important is that you look at their careers in 10, 15 or 20 years.

In order to explain his team selection, Wenger made an analogy between his youth players and hopefuls on The X Factor, a television programme he admired.

[25] He ruled out playing his more experienced players for the match: "We battled very hard to be in this final and it would be a reward for this team, which has risen up to every challenge.

"[27] He believed the final had the makings of a showpiece event as the competition was not a main target for both clubs; emotions therefore would not dictate matters.

He appeared to have damaged his ankle ligaments during the first leg of Chelsea's Champions League tie with Porto, though passed a fitness test just days after.

[32] Train delays caused by a "major signal failure" meant that on the day of the final over 2,000 spectators were late for kick-off.

[34] An accident on the M4 motorway trigged more chaos; this led to requests for the game to be delayed, but South Wales Police were confident they could get everyone seated in time.

By contrast Arsenal lined up in a 4–4–2 formation; Abou Diaby and Theo Walcott were positioned either side of central midfielders Cesc Fàbregas and Denílson and provided width.

Diverting his markers who attempted to set the offside trap, Drogba took the ball and shot it past Manuel Almunia's goal to score.

Denílson, at the midway point of the half, received the game's first yellow card for a foul on Essien; the Chelsea midfielder was later booked for a tackle on Baptista.

[38] Sticks of celery were thrown at Fàbregas before he took a corner close to stoppage time; targeting opponents with the vegetable was a Chelsea supporter's ritual going back more than two decades and originated from song.

[19] He made an immediate impact, running past the Arsenal defence in the 48th minute, but his pass failed to reach Shevchenko.

[38] Both teams continued to fashion chances – a well worked move by Arsenal finished with Fàbregas's shooting low past Čech in goal, while Chelsea's Robben from 20 yards curled the ball wide.

[38] Lassana Diarra was shown a yellow card in the 52nd minute for his challenge on Diaby; the Arsenal midfielder managed to get past Ballack and Lampard before he was "deliberately bowled over" by his opponent.

[19] After receiving medical attention Terry was immediately stretchered off and taken to the hospital; he was replaced by Mikel John Obi and Essien was moved to centre back.

[38] Arsenal made two substitutions in a three-minute spell – Armand Traoré for Emmanuel Eboué and Alexander Hleb replacing the injured Diaby.

"[47] Mourinho took time out to praise Arsenal's medical staff for attending to Terry after his concussion and absolved Diaby from any fault.

[49] Defender Ashley Cole, who left Arsenal in acrimonious terms to join Chelsea felt his decision to move was vindicated: "I'm enjoying life, the manager's good and after six or seven months here I've already won a medal.

"[52] Gilberto Silva described Arsenal's defeat as a "sad memory" and wanted to use the loss to motivate the team for their coming matches.

[51] The day after the final Arsenal and Chelsea submitted claims for wrongful dismissal of Adebayor and Mikel, respectively, to The Football Association (FA).

"[61] The Guardian correspondent Kevin McCarra opened his match report with the line "To Chelsea the trophy, to Arsenal the future," and felt the latter club deserved plaudits for the role they played in the final, and competition as a whole.