Barça seek to join exclusive club

Success against Arsenal FC in the UEFA Champions League final could see FC Barcelona take Europe's biggest prize and defend their domestic title in the same season for the second time in their history.

Successful sides
In the 50 years of the competition, 13 teams have managed to lift the European Champion Clubs' Cup and retain their domestic crown in the same campaign - and it would have been 14 had Olympique de Marseille not been stripped of their French championship in 1992/93 following a match-rigging scandal.

Exclusive club
However, only three of those sides have won this particular double on more than one occasion - AFC Ajax, Liverpool FC and FC Bayern München - and Barça would join this exclusive club by overcoming Arsenal, having previously landed the European Cup as defending Spanish champions in 1991/92.

Madrid pioneers
As with so many European records, Real Madrid CF were pioneers in this department, although it was not until their third European Cup success of 1957/58 that they were able to combine a continental triumph with back-to-back Spanish titles as they ousted AC Milan 3-2 in the final.

The 1960s
SL Benfica achieved a similar feat in 1960/61 before Celtic FC combined glory against FC Internazionale Milano in Lisbon with regaining the Scottish crown in 1966/67. And with two teams having completed this double in the 1960s, three were to do so in the 1970s.

Ajax's first
Ajax's 1972/73 European Cup coronation coincided with a second consecutive Dutch title, while Bayern's 1973/74 success came in a season when they secured their third straight German championship. Liverpool then lifted the 1976/77 European Cup having sealed the 1975/76 and 1976/77 titles in England.

Steaua on a roll
Liverpool attained this unusual double for a second time in 1983/84 in the campaign after Hamburger SV's only European Cup to date coincided with their sole successful defence of the Bundesliga bauble. FC Steaua Bucuresti's solitary continental championship of 1985/86 came with a run of five Romanian titles.

PSV progress
PSV Eindhoven then became the fourth and final side to combine a European Cup with a retained domestic crown as their victory against Benfica on penalties in the 1987/88 showpiece coincided with the third in a series of four consecutive Dutch titles.

Peak period
The 1990s proved to be an even more glorious decade for European Cup-winning domestic title defenders as four different clubs completed the double in the space of five seasons: FK Crvena Zvezda in 1990/91, Barcelona in 1991/92, Milan in 1993/94 and Ajax in 1994/95.

Marseille break
That would have been five in a row had Marseille not been deprived of their 1992/93 French title, but despite the larger squads and bigger budgets of the burgeoning UEFA Champions League, Europe's top teams have struggled to match that kind of consistency since.

Two in two
Just two sides have won the UEFA Champions League and regained national supremacy since Ajax in 1994/95: Bayern in 2000/01 and FC Porto in 2003/04. Now, Barça could follow in their footsteps and become the first to boast two European Cup triumphs combined with successful title defences in two attempts.