Barcelona will play Juventus on Saturday in what will be their fourth Champions League Final in ten years. Their last final before their European domination was way back in 1992 with their 1-0 victory over Sampdoria at Wembley being their first European title.
They began their dominance back in the 05-06 season when they reached their first European final in 12 years against Arsenal who were in their first European final in their history and were also the first London club to reach that stage of the competition.
Both of these teams were dominant throughout their journey to the Stade De France, both of them topped and remained undefeated throughout the group stage.
Barca’s 0-0 draw with Panathinaikos were the only points that they dropped throughout the whole of group C, aswell as that they only conceded two goals in the six games against the other clubs in the group, Udinese and Werder Bremen.
Arsenal followed a similar route with their only lost points coming in the final group game in a 0-0 draw with Ajax. The two goals against in their first two matches against Thun and in the away fixture to Ajax would prove to be the final goals that they would concede until the final stage. Both sides faced tough opponents in the last 16 stage with Barcelona looking to get revenge on Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and Arsenal coming up against nine-time European Cup winners Real Madrid.
Both Barca and Chelsea met at this stage of the competition last season with the London side narrowly progressing. Frank Rijkaard’s squad didn’t make the same mistake this time around securing a crucial 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge in the first leg before a 1-1 draw in the Nou Camp secured their progress.
Arsenal faced a tough task in their last 16 tie with Real Madrid but managed to breeze through to the quarter-finals thanks to Thierry Henry’s spectacular solo effort in the first leg at the Bernabeu which gave them a narrow 1-0 victory. They showed a stern defensive performance in the 0-0 draw at Highbury to set up a tie with another big European giant in Juventus.
Barcelona had an easier quarter-final tie when they were put up against Benfica. They were given a frustrating time in the first leg when they were held to a no goal stalemate at the Estadio Da Luz. Goals from Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o at the Nou Camp took them one step closer to the final.
Arsene Wenger’s side next opponent was in the form of the two-time champions Juventus. They took a major step towards the semis with goals from Cesc Fabregas and another from Henry gave them a 2-0 win at Highbury and then another goalless second leg was enough to see them through.
Barca faced another European gargantuan in AC Milan in the semi-final stages. The then six time winners of the European Cup were looking to make up the previous year’s heartache at the hand of Liverpool’s miraculous comeback in Istanbul. They suffered yet more heartache when a single goal from Ludovic Giuly was enough to send Barca to the Stade De France final.
The other semi-final tie saw two of the surprise packages of the year’s competition with Arsenal pitted up against Villarreal who were no pushover having defeated Inter Milan in the previous round. Arsenal again used Highbury to their advantage with a Kolo Toure effort giving them a slim advantage going into the tough second-leg in Spain, they produced yet another excellent defensive display which included a 89th minute penalty save from Jens Lehmann from Juan Roman Riquelme’s kick to set up the tie with the Catalan’s.
The 17th of May was date set for either side to write themselves into history, both had remained undefeated up until that point with Arsenal even going 10 consecutive matches without conceding and as both sides stepped onto the pitch it was difficult to pick a winner.
Disaster struck for Arsenal only 18 minutes in as Lehmann became the first player to be sent off in a European Cup final after he brought down striker Eto’o. Rijkaard’s side began to turn on the pressure and despite the numerical advantage they saw themselves behind with eight first-half minutes to play. Carlos Puyol was believed to have fouled Emmanuel Eboue and from the subsequent free-kick Sol Campbell headed home, they managed to hold onto to their lead going into the break even with Eto’o clattering the post.
The second-half told a story of frustration and ecstasy, prolific striker Henrik Larsson was brought on in the second period and many see him as the catalyst for Barca’s eventual victory. His opposite forward Henry was having quite the opposite effect despite his many chances the Frenchman could find his way past keeper Victor Valdes.
Times were getting desperate for Barca with fifteen minutes to play but sub Larsson started to work his magic and was pivotal in his side’s equaliser. Fellow substitute Andre Iniesta played it to Swede down the left flank who then played into the strike partner Eto’o who slotted the opportunity home.
In the 81st minute Barca got their winner, it was Larsson again who was at the heart of proceedings as his cross was met by another sub Juliano Belletti whose shot found its way through the legs of Almunia and into the net.
Arsenal gave everything they had to stage a fight back but it just wasn’t enough to prevent Barcelona from winning their second European title their first in 14 years. Some will argue that this was the final good season in the Rijkaard era however I believe that it was the foundation for what has happened since then. Since that victory in Paris, two more European titles have followed and with a possible fifth coming this weekend, I feel some thanks has to go to the class of 05/06.