Triumph in blue and white: FC Porto win UEFA Champions League Final in the Arena

It was a scenario to warm the hearts of Schalke supporters everywhere. At the end of the UEFA Champions League Final between FC Porto and AS Monaco the Arena AufSchalke was awash with a sea of jubilant fans dressed in blue and white. The Portuguese champions lifted the most important trophy in club football with a surprisingly clear-cut 3-0 victory.

Afterwards Porto coach Jose Mourinho looked back on two incredibly successful years. "We won everything and made history for Portugal", he said. FC Porto are only the second team after Liverpool (1976 and 1977) to win the UEFA Cup and the European Cup in two successive years.

The 19-year-old Carlos Alberto (39), playmaker Deco (71) and substitute Dimitri Alenitchev (75) got the goals in front of a 53,040 sell-out crowd in the Arena AufSchalke. It was Porto's second triumph in the competition, having already won the 1987 final against Bayern Munich. Immediately before kick-off the Portuguese fans evoked memories of Rabah Madjer's famous back-heeled goal by unfurling a giant banner.

In an opening half in which both teams strove to go forward but were keen to avoid making a crucial mistake, Porto took the lead with their first genuine goalscoring opportunity. Monaco, for their part, were seriously affected by the early loss of captain Ludovic Giuly, who was forced to leave the field with a groin injury after 23 minutes. And when Didier Deschamps' team starting taking more risks in a bid to restore parity Porto, led by the outstanding Deco, exploited the space to fashion two more goals.

After the match the biggest topic of discussion was Jose Mourinho's future. The 41-year-old made no secret of his desire to leave, despite being tied to a valid contract. "The country where I want to work is England", said the Porto coach, who impressed onlookers by analysing the game in four different languages. "My agent has a few things in his pocket that we want to discuss with the Porto board. But tonight belongs to my team and my team alone." In a TV interview Mourinho was more specific, saying: "I would really like to accept Chelsea's invitation."

Monaco's Prince Albert, who watched his club's second appearance in a European final (Monaco lost 2-0 to Werder Bremen in the Cup-Winners Cup in 1992) in the royal box with Prince Rainier and Princess Caroline, does not want the defeat to lead to a break-up of the team and the departure of coach Didier Deschamps. "I hope we will be able to retain most of the players and the coach to ensure we play a leading role in Champions League again next year", he said.