Ronaldinho delivers for Barça

For a club of the size and fame of FC Barcelona, they have long been under-represented on the list of winners of the European Champion Clubs' Cup. Frank Rijkaard's team went a long way to redressing that balance at the Stade de France in Paris on 17 May 2006 when they defeated Arsenal FC 2-1 to claim European club football's most coveted prize for a second time.

Ronaldinho star
The thrilling attacking trident of Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o was too much for Werder Bremen, Udinese Calcio and Panathinakos FC to handle in the group stage as Barcelona completed their Group C campaign with five wins and a draw, scoring 16 times and conceding just twice in the process. Chelsea FC were first up in the knockout stages in a rematch of the 2004/05 last 16 tie between the sides. Chelsea had won then, but could not stop Barça this time as a Ronaldinho strike at the Camp Nou confirmed their place in the last eight. SL Benfica then AC Milan were then defeated as Barcelona swept into the final.

Henry dazzles
If Barcelona's final place seemed pre-ordained, no one had predicted Arsenal would join them there. The summer sale of Patrick Vieira had left the London club looking light in midfield and a succession of injuries meant Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger was reliant on youth. In the event, the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Philippe Senderos, Emmanuel Eboué and Mathieu Flamini took Europe by storm. The London side breezed through the group stage against AFC Ajax, AC Sparta Praha and FC Thun, then upset Real Madrid CF in the first knockout round. Juventus were overcome in the quarter-finals before a narrow victory against Villarreal CF, the first-leg win marking the last European match at the Gunners' historic Highbury ground, swept Arsenal to the final for the first time.

Belletti winner
Jens Lehmann's last-minute penalty save from Juan Riquelme at El Madrigal made it ten consecutive clean sheets for Arsenal who would end the competition having gone a record 995 minutes unbeaten. Lehmann himself went a competition record 763 minutes without conceding, a run not even Barcelona could break. Not that the German was counting. His luck turned when he became the first player to be dismissed in a European Cup final after bringing down Eto'o only 18 minutes into the game. Arsenal still took the lead through Sol Campbell but in his last match for Barcelona Henrik Larsson turned the tie after coming on on the hour mark, creating goals for first Eto'o then Juliano Belletti as the Catalan side fought back to win.