The match took place on Saturday, 25 May 2013, at Wembley Stadium in London, England,[6] between German Bundesliga clubs Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.

[19] The press has used terms like 'power shift' and 'changing of the guard' after Dortmund and Bayern eliminated Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively, in the Champions League semi-finals.

The 1968 and 1978 finals were both won by English sides: Manchester United beat Benfica 4–1 in 1968 and Liverpool defeated Club Brugge 1–0 in 1978.

Benfica also lost in the 1963 final, beaten 2–1 by A.C. Milan, while Ajax won the first of three consecutive European Cups at Wembley in 1971, beating Panathinaikos 2–0.

That year, it hosted its first FA Cup Final, when almost 200,000 spectators attempted to watch the match between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United.

Wembley played host to all of England's matches at the 1966 FIFA World Cup, including the 4–2 victory over West Germany in the final, and at UEFA Euro 1996.

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

Six of the 12 stars featured designs recalling the six previous times that the European Cup final had been held at Wembley Stadium.

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.

[35] 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.

[37] 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.

[41] 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.

[44] Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels said the game was really close and very disappointing, and that they were the better team in the first 25 minutes but missed the goal that was needed.