Kanu and Finidi vs Mikel - Which was Nigeria's finest hour in the Champions League?

Goal readers have chosen Finidi George and Nwankwo Kanu’s 1995 Ajax side as Nigeria’s finest hour in the Champions League ahead of John Obi Mikel’s Chelsea in 2012.

Finidi featured prominently in the final of the European competition for the Dutch side starting the encounter against AC Milan.

Kanu, meanwhile, was brought on as a second-half substitute in the encounter and made his contribution.

The game started with both sides aiming to outwit each other but the water-tight defence of the sides did not pave way for an early goal.

With the match looking to go into penalties, Patrick Kluivert did the magic for the Sons of Gods, scoring an 85th minute effort to ensure his side won the title for the fourth time in their history.

Nigerians will not forget the competition in a hurry that year with Kanu and Finidi making the country proud in Europe.

Mikel also won the trophy with Chelsea in 2012 after defeating Bayern Munich 4-3 on penalties in the final after the regulation time ended 1-1.

The former Super Eagles captain featured for the entirety of the game to help the Blues clinch the trophy for the first time in their history.

It was a tense encounter and not until the 83rd minute was the deadlock broken when Thomas Muller put Bayern in front.

The celebration was, however, short-lived as the Ivory Coast international scored a late-minute effort for Chelsea to send the game into penalties.

The Blues managed to edge the German side to make history which remains Mikel’s only trophy in the European competition.

In a poll set up by Goal, 173 votes were recorded and 50.9 percent chose Finidi and Kanu’s Ajax as Nigeria’s finest hour edging Mikel’s 2012 achievement.

On Saturday, Chelsea will take on Manchester City in the 2021 Champions League final without any Nigerian stars.

The Blues will, however,  be expected to parade Morocco international Hakim Ziyech and Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy in the encounter while Algeria star Riyad Mahrez will look forward to playing a part for City.