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It is impossible to escape the shadow of history when it comes to FC Barcelona, Manchester United FC and Wembley, but Sir Alex Ferguson would have it no other way as he plots a fourth European title for his newly crowned English champions on Saturday night.

The Scot has already rewritten the record books with his achievements at Old Trafford, who have just overtaken Liverpool FC with a 19th domestic title, but he is not a man to forget when things go wrong either. As he reminded the assembled press at Wembley on Friday, he tends to make amends for past setbacks – such as the 4-0 loss at FC Barcelona in 1994 which set United on a learning curve concluding with their 1999 UEFA Champions League final triumph against FC Bayern München back at the Camp Nou – and he is confident this United team will avoid a repeat of their disappointment against the Azulgrana two years ago in Rome.

Recalling that 2-0 final defeat, Sir Alex said: "We were disappointed we lost the game but it isn't a matter of revenge it is about our own personal pride. We are very focused this time and our preparation has been better. I think we maybe made one or two mistakes last time but not this time."

Ferguson found various reasons for confidence, citing Wayne Rooney's "progress as a player in Europe" since 2009, the experience of his rock-solid central defensive pairing of Nemanja Vidić and Rio Ferdinand, and the "sharpness" that Antonio Valencia has brought since returning from injury. He also contemplated the potential impact of Javier Hernández, likely to start in United's attack: "He has got the temperament, the speed, the movement: all the things necessary."

For United this is a third final in four years while Barcelona are seeking a third UEFA Champions League success in six seasons – and, like United, a fourth European Champion Clubs' Cup at the place where they won their first. These two famous teams are enjoying golden eras in Europe and Sir Alex believes the stage is set for a classic.

"The success both teams have had in the last decade has been enormous," he said. ""It could be the best final of the decade – the attraction of two great teams with a great history is obvious, it is an appealing final" in terms of what could happen. There could be a lot of goals, a lot of excitement and there will be a lot of good football I'm sure. It is set up, the platform is there and let's hope it turns out that way."

His counterpart, Josep Guardiola, was equally hopeful. "When you play in the final and both teams want to win and both teams want to play, and both respect the ball and want to attack, for the rest of the world I imagine it will be a good final."

The Barcelona coach – whom Sir Alex once considered signing before he left Camp Nou for Italy – believes his team will have to play better at Wembley than they did in Rome to overcome the English champions. ""We have to do some things differently compared to 2009 in terms of intensity at different stages of the match"," he said, perhaps mindful of the opening ten minutes in 2009 when United enjoyed an early ascendancy before Samuel Eto'o's goal.

Guardiola is expected to welcome back captain Carles Puyol for the first time since the semi-final second leg against Real Madrid CF; he could feature at left-back with Javier Mascherano alongside Gerard Piqué in central defence, although Éric Abidal is also available. "They are both ready physically and mentally. I am delighted they are both back, we had one knee injury [Puyol], we had a liver tumour [Abidal] so to have them back would be a symbol of our desire to be champions again."

uefa.com

 

It was beneath Wembley's old Twin Towers that FC Barcelona and Manchester United FC both won their first European Champion Clubs' Cup but only one can claim a fourth title when these rivals meet at the new Wembley in a repeat of the 2009 UEFA Champions League final.

Previous meetings
• This is the clubs' 11th meeting and the record so far is three wins each and four draws; neither side has won consecutive games. The teams have contested two major finals, Barcelona prevailing in their last meeting in Rome in 2009 while United won their 1991 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup decider in Rotterdam.

• Samuel Eto'o (10) and Lionel Messi (70) scored when Barcelona beat United 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico on 27 May 2009.

• The full lineups were:
Barcelona: Valdés, Puyol, Touré, Piqué, Sylvinho, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta (Pedro 90), Messi, Eto'o, Henry (Keita 72).
Man United: Van der Sar, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidić, Evra, Park (Berbatov 66), Anderson (Tévez 46), Carrick, Giggs (Scholes 75), Ronaldo, Rooney.

• Sir Alex Ferguson won his first European honour at United with a 2-1 win against Barcelona in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final 20 years ago. Former Azulgrana striker Mark Hughes scored twice (67, 74) before Ronald Koeman struck (79) for a Barcelona side reduced to ten men by Nando's dismissal.

• The lineups for that final on 15 May 1991 were:
Barcelona: Busquets, Nando, Alexanco (Pinilla 72), Koeman, Ferrer, Goicoechea, Bakero, Eusebio, Beguiristain, Laudrup, Julio Salinas.
Man United: Sealey, Irwin, Bruce, Pallister, Blackmore, Phelan, Robson, Ince, Sharpe, McClair, Hughes.

• Carlos Busquets, father of Barcelona's Sergio, was in goal for the Catalan club. Brian McClair and Mike Phelan – United's academy director and assistant manager respectively – were among the opposition.

• That was the second time Sir Alex had won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup against Spanish opponents, his Aberdeen FC side having defeated Real Madrid CF 2-1 in 1983.

• Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes struck in United's 3-3 group stage draw against Barcelona at Old Trafford in September 1998. Scholes, who got the only goal of the teams' 2008 semi-final, made his UEFA Champions League debut against Barcelona in a 2-2 draw in October 1994. Giggs and Josep Guardiola also appeared in the teams' 1994/95 group stage meetings.

Match background
• Barcelona and United are both seeking a fourth European Cup, which would take them level with AFC Ajax and FC Bayern München and behind only Liverpool FC (five wins), AC Milan (seven) and Real Madrid (nine).

• Barcelona's final record is W3 L3:
1960/61 SL Benfica 2-3
1985/86 FC Steaua Bucureşti 0-0 (0-2 pens)
1991/92 UC Sampdoria 1-0 (aet)
1993/94 AC Milan 0-4
2005/06 Arsenal FC 2-1
2008/09 Manchester United FC 2-0

• United's final record is W3 L1:
1967/68 SL Benfica 4-1 (aet)
1998/99 FC Bayern München 2-1
2007/08 Chelsea FC 1-1 (6-5 pens)
2008/09 FC Barcelona 0-2

• If successful, Sir Alex would join Liverpool's Bob Paisley (1977, 1978, 1981) as the manager with most European Cup victories.

• The old Wembley staged five European Cup finals, with English teams prevailing twice:
1963 AC Milan 2-1 SL Benfica
1968 Manchester United FC 4-1 SL Benfica (aet)
1971 AFC Ajax 2-0 Panathinaikos FC
1978 Liverpool FC 1-0 Club Brugge KV
1992 FC Barcelona 1-0 Sampdoria UC (aet)

• United director Sir Bobby Charlton scored twice in the 1968 Wembley triumph with which the Old Trafford team became England's first European Cup winners.

• Like United in 1968, Barcelona needed extra time against Sampdoria in 1992 before Koeman's 112th-minute free-kick earned victory in a match featuring a 21-year-old Guardiola. Guardiola was in the Barcelona side beaten in the 1994 final by Milan.

• By steering Barcelona past United in 2009, Guardiola became the sixth man to claim the European Cup as player and coach, following Miguel Muñoz, Giovanni Trapattoni, Johan Cruyff, Carlo Ancelotti and Frank Rijkaard. The Spaniard was seven when a 36-year-old Sir Alex embarked on his first European campaign as a manager with Aberdeen in 1978/79.

• The only European Cup-winning coach older than Sir Alex is on the day of the final (69 years and 148 days) was Belgian Raymond Goethals, who was 71 years and 232 days when his Olympique de Marseille team triumphed in 1993.

• United have played nine times at the new Wembley and five of their matches have gone to penalties:
2007 FA Cup final: Chelsea FC 0-1
2007 FA Community Shield: Chelsea FC 1-1 (3-0 pens)
2008 FA Community Shield: Portsmouth FC 0-0 (3-1 pens)
2009 League Cup final: Tottenham Hotspur FC 0-0 (4-1 pens)
2009 FA Cup semi-final: Everton FC 0-0 (2-4 pens)
2009 FA Community Shield: Chelsea FC 2-2 (1-4 pens)
2010 League Cup final: Aston Villa FC 2-1
2010 FA Community Shield: Chelsea FC 3-1
2011 FA Cup semi-final: Manchester City FC 0-1

• This is the 11th European Cup final involving a team playing in their home country and seven times the 'home' team have prevailed – Real Madrid (1957), Milan (1965), Manchester United (1968), Ajax (1972), Liverpool (1978), Juventus (1996) and Borussia Dortmund (1997). Stade de Reims (1956), AS Roma (1984) and Barcelona (1986) all lost a final on home soil.

• Barcelona lost 2-1 at Arsenal on their last visit to London in February. They did beat the Gunners 4-2 at Wembley in the 1999/2000 group stage, the only previous time they have faced English opponents at the national stadium.

• Barcelona's record away to English opposition is W6 D8 L13. Their record against English clubs in London is W2 D3 L4; their overall record against English clubs is W23 D18 L16.

• Since the 2009 final United's only meetings with Spanish opposition have come this season, a 1-0 away win and 1-1 home draw with Valencia CF. United's overall record against Spanish clubs is W11 D17 L12.

• There have been 15 previous Anglo-Spanish finals in UEFA competition:
2010 UEFA Europa League: Club Atlético de Madrid 2-1 Fulham FC
2009 UEFA Champions League: FC Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United FC
2006 UEFA Champions League: FC Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal FC
2006 UEFA Cup: Sevilla FC 4-0 Middlesbrough FC
2001 UEFA Cup: Liverpool FC 5-4 Deportivo Alavés (aet)
1998 UEFA Super Cup: Real Madrid CF 1-0 Chelsea FC
1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: Real Zaragoza 2-1 Arsenal FC (aet)
1991 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: Manchester United FC 2-1 FC Barcelona
1982 UEFA Super Cup: Aston Villa FC 3-1 FC Barcelona (agg)
1981 European Cup: Liverpool FC 1-0 Real Madrid CF
1980 UEFA Super Cup: Valencia CF 2-2 Nottingham Forest FC (agg, Valencia win on away goals)
1980 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: Valencia CF 0-0 Arsenal FC (5-4 pens)
1979 UEFA Super Cup: Nottingham Forest FC 2-1 FC Barcelona (agg)
1971 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: Chelsea FC 2-1 Real Madrid CF (replay after 1-1 draw)
1963 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: Tottenham Hotspur FC 5-1 Club Atlético de Madrid

Team ties
• Gerard Piqué joined United in 2004 after seven years in Barcelona's youth ranks. He made 23 appearances, scoring twice, before rejoining Barça in 2008.

• Messi had not scored in ten UEFA Champions League games against English opponents before striking in the 2009 final.

• Edwin van der Sar is hoping for a third UEFA Champions League winners' medal on his final United appearance, 16 years after his first with Ajax in 1995. Paolo Maldini holds the record for the longest span between triumphs, in 1989 and 2007.

• Víctor Valdés and Carles Puyol started Barcelona's 2006 final win against Arsenal while Andrés Iniesta came on at half-time.

• Giggs is the only survivor of United's 1999 UEFA Champions League final-winning team.

• Patrice Evra tasted UEFA Champions League final defeat with AS Monaco FC in 2004, and Dimitar Berbatov suffered the same fate as a substitute with Bayer 04 Leverkusen against Real Madrid in 2002. Javier Mascherano was in the Liverpool team that lost to Milan in 2007.

• Berbatov scored Leverkusen's goal in a 2-1 home UEFA Champions League defeat by Barcelona on 27 November 2002.

• Michael Owen scored Real Madrid's final goal in a 4-2 home Liga win against Barcelona on 10 April 2005.

• Barcelona's shoot-out record in UEFA club competitions is:
5-4 v Lech Poznán, 1988/89 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round
0-2 v FC Steaua Bucureşti, 1985/86 European Cup final
5-4 v IFK Göteborg, 1985/86 European Cup semi-final
4-1 v RSC Anderlecht, 1978/79 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round
3-1 v Ipswich Town FC, 1977/78 UEFA Cup third round
5-4 v AZ Alkmaar, 1977/78 UEFA Cup second round

• United's record is:
6-5 v Chelsea FC, 2007/08 UEFA Champions League final
3-4 v FC Torpedo Moskva, 1992/93 UEFA Cup first round
4-5 v FC Fehérvár, 1984/85 UEFA Cup quarter-finals