FC Barcelona - Manchester United FC MATCH PRESS KIT Stadio Olimpico, Rome Wednesday 27 May 2009 - 20.45CET Matchday 13 - Final Contents 1 - Match background 7 - UEFA information 2 - Match facts 8 - Match-by-match lineups 3 - Squad list 9 - Competition facts 4 - Head coach 10 - Team facts 5 - Match officials 11 - Legend 6 - Domestic information This press kit includes information relating to this UEFA Champions League match. For more detailed factual information, and in-depth competition statistics, please refer to the matchweek press kit, which can be downloaded at: http://www.uefa.com/uefa/mediaservices/presskits/index.html Match background FC Barcelona and Manchester United FC will descend on Rome's Stadio Olimpico for the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League final each seeking to write another chapter in their long and rich history. In a city resonant with ancient glories, these two modern-day superpowers have their eyes on European club football's greatest prize. • For Barcelona, victory would bring their third European crown – and earn coach Josep Guardiola a place on the privileged list of men who have won the trophy as both player and coach. • Holders United are on a record-breaking 25-match unbeaten run in the competition and are aiming to capture their fourth European Champion Clubs' Cup – and, with it, become the first team to retain the trophy in the UEFA Champions League era. • If successful, their manager Sir Alex Ferguson would take his place alongside Liverpool FC's Bob Paisley in the record books as the manager with the most European Cup wins following his previous successes with United in 1999 and 2008. • A final deep in subplots also brings the neutral the opportunity to observe in direct competition two of the world's most celebrated attackers in United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi of Barcelona – first and second in the FIFA World Player of the Year vote for 2008, and leading scorers in the UEFA Champions League last year and this year respectively. • Barcelona are seeking a third European Cup triumph in what is their sixth final. Their previous appearances were: 1960/61 SL Benfica 2-3 lost 1985/86 FC Steaua Bucureşti 0-0 (0-2 pens) lost 1991/92 UC Sampdoria 1-0 won 1993/94 AC Milan 0-4 lost 2005/06 Arsenal FC 2-1 won • The Catalan club advanced to Rome after Andrés Iniesta's strike three minutes into added time at Stamford Bridge earned them a 1-1 draw at semi-final opponents Chelsea FC and progress on away goals following a first-leg stalemate. Prior to that they had recorded emphatic aggregate victories against FC Bayern München (4-0 home, 1-1 away) and Olympique Lyonnais (1-1 away, 5-2 home) having topped Group C with a record of W4 D1 L1. • Barcelona have hit 30 goals in 12 fixtures from the group stage onwards – a scoring rate of 2.5 per game. It is the most prolific goal output by any team en route to the final since United hit 27 in ten matches in 1998/99, a rate of 2.7 per match. Last updated 26.05.2009 13:30:44CET www.uefa.com Match background 1 FC Barcelona - Manchester United FC Wednesday 27 May 2009 - 20.45CET MATCH PRESS KIT Stadio Olimpico, Rome • Barcelona will hope the parallels with 1999 do not end there. Having already lifted the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Liga title, Guardiola's team can become the first Spanish treble winners with victory in Rome – a feat United achieved in 1999 after winning that year's UEFA Champions League final at Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium. • Guardiola was a member of the first Barcelona team to win the European Cup with a 1-0 victory against Sampdoria at Wembley in 1992. He appeared in the final again two years later but finished on the losing side against Milan in Athens. • If he leads Barcelona to the trophy, Guardiola will become the sixth man to have experienced European Cup success first on the pitch and then in the dugout. The five members of that exclusive club include the coaches of Barcelona's two previous winning teams: Miguel Muñoz, player with Real Madrid CF 1956,1957; coach with Madrid 1960, 1966. Giovanni Trapattoni, with Milan 1963, 1969; with Juventus 1985. Johan Cruyff, with AFC Ajax 1971, 1972, 1973; with Barcelona 1992. Carlo Ancelotti, with Milan 1989, 1990; with Milan 2003. Frank Rijkaard, with Milan 1989, 1990, with Ajax 1995; with Barcelona 2006. • United travel to Rome in pursuit of a fourth European Cup and hope to maintain their 100 per cent winning record in finals: 1967/68 Benfica 4-1 won 1998/99 Bayern 2-1 won 2007/08 Chelsea 1-1 (6-5 pens) won • The English titleholders reached the final with a comprehensive 4-1 aggregate victory against Premier League rivals Arsenal FC (1-0 home, 3-1 away). They had previously disposed of FC Porto (2-2 home, 1-0 away) and FC Internazionale Milano (0-0 away, 2-0 home) after finishing top of Group E with a record of W2 D4 L0. • United are looking to become the first side to win back-to-back European Cups since Milan, winners in 1989 and 1990. • Besides Milan, seven other teams have recorded successive triumphs, starting with the great Real Madrid side of the late 1950s: 1956/60 Real Madrid 1961/62 Benfica 1964/65 Inter 1971/73 Ajax 1974/76 Bayern 1977/78 Liverpool 1979/80 Nottingham Forest FC • United are the first team since 1997 and only the fourth since the inception of the UEFA Champions League to have reached the final again 12 months after lifting the trophy. On each occasion the holders fell at the final hurdle: Milan Winners 1994, runners-up 1995 Ajax Winners 1995, runners-up 1996 Juventus Winners 1996, runners-up 1997 • In previous years, Benfica (1963) and Liverpool (1985) also reached the final as defending champions but lost. • A United victory would make Sir Alex the tenth coach to have retained the trophy, following in the footsteps of: José Villalonga (1956, 1957), Luis Antonio Carniglia (1958, 1959), Béla Guttman (1961, 1962), Helenio Herrera (1964, 1965), Stefan Kovács (1972, 1973), Dettmar Cramer (1975, 1976), Bob Paisley (1977, 1978), Brian Clough (1979, 1980) and Arrigo Sacchi (1989, 1990). • Moreover, it would give the Scot this third European Cup – equalling the three that Paisley won with Liverpool in 1977, 1978 and 1981. • If United emerge victorious it will be the third time they have won the European Cup without losing a match – having managed the feat previously in 1998/99 and 2007/08. Like United, Ajax (1971/72 and 1994/95), Liverpool (1980/81 and 1983/84), and Milan (1988/89 and 1993/94) have been unbeaten champions twice previously. Last updated 26.05.2009 13:30:44CET www.uefa.com Match facts 2 FC Barcelona - Manchester United FC Wednesday 27 May 2009 - 20.45CET MATCH PRESS KIT Stadio Olimpico, Rome • There is a considerable gulf between the respective coaches when it comes to age and experience. The 67-year-old Sir Alex embarked on his first European campaign as a manager with Aberdeen FC in 1978/79 when Guardiola was just seven years old. Three decades on, Guardiola, now 38, is in his first season as a coach in Europe. • The only winning coach in European Cup history older than Sir Alex is now was Belgian Raymond Goethals who was 71 years 232 days old when his Olympique de Marseille side defeated Milan in 1993. • This is the second major final between these clubs, following their duel for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in Rotterdam in 1991. • United ran out 2-1 winners in that contest to give Alex Ferguson, as he was then, his first European trophy while in charge at Old Trafford. Former Barça striker Mark Hughes was the United hero with two second-half goals before Ronald Koeman halved the deficit for a Barcelona side reduced to ten men by defender Nando's late dismissal. • It was the second time Sir Alex had claimed silverware at the expense of Spanish opponents after his Aberdeen side defeated Real Madrid 2-1 to capture the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in Gothenburg in 1983. • Carlos Busquets, father of Barcelona midfielder Sergio, was in goal for the Catalan outfit that night while Aitor 'Txiki' Beguiristain, Barcelona's technical director, featured in their midfield. Brian McClair and Mike Phelan – now both coaches at Old Trafford – were among United's starting lineup. • The full lineups for that final on 15 May 1991 were: Barcelona: Carlos Busquets, Nando, José Alexanco (Antonio Pinilla 72), Ronald Koeman, Albert Ferrer, Juan Goicoechea, José Maria Bakero, Eusebio Sacristán, Aitor Beguiristain, Michael Laudrup, Julio Salinas. Manchester United: Les Sealey, Denis Irwin, Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Clayton Blackmore, Mike Phelan, Bryan Robson, Paul Ince, Lee Sharpe, Brian McClair, Mark Hughes. • This is the tenth meeting between the sides and the record so far is two wins for Barcelona, three for United and four draws. • The rundown of previous encounters is: 1983/84 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United (Hogg og 35, Rojo 90) Manchester United 3-0 Barcelona (Robson 21 50, Stapleton 51) United won 3-2 on aggregate 1990/91 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final Barcelona 1-2 Manchester United (Koeman 79; Hughes 67 74) 1994/95 UEFA Champions League group stage Manchester United 2-2 Barcelona (Hughes 19, Sharpe 79; Romário 33, Bakero 49) Barcelona 4-0 Manchester United (Stoitchov 2 59, Romário 45, Ferrer 88) Barcelona advance, United eliminated 1998/99 UEFA Champions League group stage Manchester United 3-3 Barcelona (Giggs 16, Scholes 24, Beckham 63; Anderson 47, Giovanni 59pen, Luis Enrique 70pen) Barcelona 3-3 Manchester United (Anderson 1, Rivaldo 57 73; Yorke 25 68, Cole 53) United advance, Barcelona eliminated 2007/08 UEFA Champions League semi-final Barcelona 0-0 Manchester United Manchester United 1-0 Barcelona (Scholes 14) United won 1-0 on aggregate • United became the third English team in four seasons to eliminate Barcelona from the UEFA Champions League when they defeated them 1-0 on aggregate in last season's semi-finals.