On this Day (28th May) – Man United humbled by brilliant Barca

Today marks the 4 year anniversary of Manchester United’s disappointing 3-1 defeat to Barcelona at Wembley Stadium.

After finishing top of their group, United beat Marseille, Chelsea and Schalke 04 on their way to the final, looking to avenge their defeat to Barca 2 years previously.

After chances for both sides in the opening exchanges, Pedro gave the Catalan’s the lead on 27 minutes before Wayne Rooney equalised with a calmly placed effort from just inside the box.

In the second half 2 wonderful strikes from Lionel Messi and then David Villa won Barcelona their 4th Champions League title.

Juventus play in their first Champions League final next week since their defeat on penalties to AC Milan on this day 12 years ago.

0-0 after extra time, the game went to penalties for only the 3rd time in Champions League history. Juve had won the first, 4-2 over Ajax in 1996.

Trezeguet, Birindelli, Seedorf and Kaladze all had penalties saved by Dida and Buffon to make it 1-1 after 6 spot kicks. But it was Dida who made the key save from Paolo Montero, before Andriy Shevchenko gave Milan a 3-2 win. The hero this time, but Shevchenko, ofcourse, would go on to miss the key penalty against Liverpool in the miracle of Istanbul in 2005.

Birthdays

Charles N’Zogbia – 1989 (29 today), Kyle Walker – 1990 (25 today), Alexandre Lacazette – 1991 (24 today), John Stones – 1994 (21 today)