Road To Rome (UCL FINAL)

The 2009 UEFA Champions League Final will be the 54th final of the UEFA Champions Leaguefootball tournament and the 17th final under the current format. The final is to be played at the 72,698-capacity Stadio Olimpico in Rome, the home of Roma and Lazio, on 27 May 2009, for the fourth time following 1977, 1984 and 1996.

The match will be contested by Barcelona and holders Manchester United, who are the first defending champions to reach the final since Juventus in 1997, and will be looking to be the first team to retain the European Cup since Milan in 1990. This is the fifth year in a row in which the final involves at least one English team.

Manchester United and Barcelona have faced each other nine times in European competitions: three times in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and six times in the UEFA Champions League. Of those nine matches, Manchester United have recorded three wins to Barcelona's two, with the remaining four matches finishing in draws. The only time that the two teams have met in a final came in 1991, when they contested the 1991 Cup Winners' Cup final. The first meeting between the two sides came in the third round of the 1983–84 Cup Winners' Cup; Barcelona won the first leg at the Camp Nou 2–0, but Manchester United won the return leg 3–0 at Old Trafford to reach the semi-finals. That result marked Manchester United's biggest win over Barcelona; Barcelona's biggest win was a 4–0 home victory in the group stage of the 1994–95 Champions League. The most recent meeting between Manchester United and Barcelona came in the semi-finals of the 2007–08 Champions League, when United held Barcelona to a 0–0 draw at the Camp Nou before beating them 1–0 back at Old Trafford.

Team news

Two Barcelona players will miss the final through suspension: right back Daniel Alves, who picked up his third yellow card of the tournament in Barcelona's semi-final second leg against Chelsea on 6 May 2009, and left back Éric Abidal, who was sent off in the same game for a professional foul on Nicolas Anelka. Defender Rafael Márquez will also miss the match after he picked up a knee injury in the first leg of the semi-final, ruling him out for the rest of the season. Carles Puyol, however, will be available for selection after he served a one-match suspension in the semi-final second leg.

Following John O'Shea's winning goal in Manchester United's semi-final first leg victory over Arsenal, United manager Alex Ferguson suggested that the Irish utility player would be guaranteed a place in the starting line-up were United to reach the final. Midfielder Park Ji-Sung has also been promised a place in the team after he missed the 2008 final. Meanwhile, midfielder Darren Fletcher will be forced to miss the final after picking up a red card in the second leg of the semi-final. Although replays suggested that Fletcher played the ball before felling Cesc Fàbregasin the penalty area, the UEFA appeals process only allows for cards to be rescinded in the case of mistaken identity. Despite this, an appeal was submitted by Manchester United on "compassionate" grounds, and the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body will meet on 11 May to discuss the case. Two players from United's starting eleven in the 2008 final – Owen Hargreaves and Wes Brown – will both miss the match because of long-term injuries that saw them play little part in the 2008–09 Champions League campaign.