UEFA has nominated Lasse Schöne’s free kick against Real Madrid for the most beautiful free kick in Champions League history. The European Football Association has nominated a total of six free kicks, of which two ultimately advance to a so-called knockout phase. The winner has a chance to be declared the most beautiful moment in the history of the billion-dollar ball.
Schöne’s goal has been nominated by UEFA for the best free kick ever in Champions League history. Other nominees include Cristiano Ronaldo and Juninho. In the 2008/09 season, the Portuguese shot hard from a great distance on behalf of Manchester United to visit Arsenal. Juninho did that in 2003/04 on behalf of Olympique Lyon against Bayern Munich. Lionel Messi has also been nominated. His free kick against Liverpool from the 2018-19 season has been pushed through to the last six contenders.
Lasse Schöne’s wonderful goal fell in the legendary 2018/19 season. Ajax won 1-4 on a visit to Real Madrid, with the last goal being scored by the Danish midfielder. Schöne suddenly decided to try from an almost impossible angle and beat goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. In addition to the goal, Sierd de Vos’s comments were also massively highlighted. “Now Real must make a hundred!” shouted the commentator from Ziggo Sports. Shortly after his goal, Schöne was taken to the side by trainer Erik ten Hag.
“The trainer asked how I was doing in the seventieth minute”, Schöne looked at in 2019 AjaxTV back to the memorable moment. “I said: ‘Give me ten more minutes to go full throttle.’ Then a free kick came and I was allowed to take it. That was a beautiful moment, a beautiful evening. If you can win there with such figures and convincing play , that’s fantastic.” Ajax reached the semi-finals that season, in which it was eliminated by Tottenham Hotspur. After that season, Schöne would leave for Genoa for two years, but that was not a success.
The nominees:
Cristiano Ronaldo (2008/09 on behalf of Manchester United against Arsenal)
Juninho (2003/04 on behalf of Olympique Lyon against Bayern Munich)
Roberto Carlos (2000/01 on behalf of Real Madrid against Sporting Portugal)
Hugo Almeida (2005/06 on behalf of FC Porto against Internazionale)
Lionel Messi (2018/19 on behalf of Barcelona against Liverpool)
Lasse Schöne (2018/19 on behalf of Ajax against Real Madrid)