United had previously defeated Chelsea three years prior, Bayern Munich in 1999, and Benfica in 1968. Barcelona had won their first title against Sampdoria at Wembley Stadium 19 years before. They won their second championship in 2006, defeating Arsenal 2-1 in Paris. Their most recent victory came in 2008, when they beat Gamba Osaka 5-3 on penalties after the match ended 1-1 after extra time.
Since then, nobody has been able to beat Barca at home or in Europe. They have lost only one European match since 2008 - a 4-0 defeat by Dortmund in the 2013 final. However, that loss was later corrected when Dortmund were disqualified for financial irregularities during the 2014-15 season.
Barca have also failed to win any silverware since 2008, with the exception of the 2012 Spanish Cup. Meanwhile, United have won every trophy available to them over this period. In fact, they have not finished below fourth place in the league since 1996-97, when Alex Ferguson's side were beaten by Chelsea in the FA Cup final. Since then, they have qualified for the UEFA Champions League every year.
Barca's only chance of winning back-to-back titles would be if they could somehow knock United out of this year's Champions League. However, given that record it is hard to see how they could accomplish this feat.
The current season, format, and branding of the UEFA Champions League were only launched in 1992. It took the place of the former European Champion Clubs' Cup (European Cup), which had been held every year since 1955.
Aside from that, United reached two European Cup finals between 2009 and 2011, both of which they lost to Barcelona; first in the 2009 Final in Rome, and then in the 2011 Final at the new Wembley Stadium in London. How many times has Manchester United reached the UEFA Champions League final?
In memory of those who perished, UEFA gave United a place in the 1958-59 European Cup, drawing them against BSC Young Boys in the preliminary round, but the Football League refused United admittance since they had not won the Football League the previous season due to the catastrophe.
Manchester United completed a treble in 1999, winning the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup (from left to right); the English team also won the Intercontinental Cup in 1999.
Barcelona and Manchester United have previously met in European tournaments nine times: three times in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and six times in the UEFA Champions League. United won four matches, drew one and lost four out of these nine matches.
Barca are the most successful club in Europe's premier club competition, having won the trophy five times - twice more than any other team. United lie second with four trophies.
The clubs first met in the 1956-57 European Cup, the forerunner to today's UEFA Champions League. The first leg was held at Old Trafford, with Barca winning 1-0 thanks to a goal from captain Juan Manuel Fangio. The return match two weeks later at Camp Nou saw United win 2-1 with two goals from Bobby Charlton and one from Vicente Matredor. That was enough for Sir Alex Ferguson's men to claim their first ever European title.
Two years later, in 1958-59, the pair met again in the European Cup semi-finals. This time it was Barca who were victorious after scoring three goals in the last 10 minutes of the game through players including Fernández, Pelé and Faustino Asprilla.
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