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The UEFA Champions League is one of the most coveted trophies in the club football history. Every year, the best teams in Europe vie for the prestigious title and even in the current 2009 edition we have witnessed some intense and classic action on the way to the final.

But it’s been defending Champions Manchester United and 2005-06 winners Barcelona who have made it into the final of the tournament.

Both United and Barca are currently the best clubs in Europe and their dominance in their respective home Leagues justify their reputation. The duo will battle each other to be the Kings on Europe on 27th May at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome but before that, let’s recap their route to the finals.

We will start first with Manchester United:

Being the defending champions of Europe and England, the Red Devils were given the top seed and were drawn in Group E with familiar oppositions like Celtic, Villarreal and a new face Aalborg BK.

An away and home victory against Aalborg and Celtic respectively, combined with four drawn games helped United stroll through to the knock-out stage as the Group Winners. Hence, they avoided tough competition of Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid but got pitted against Italian Champions Inter Milan.

The first knock-out round revived the ruthless rivalry between Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho. The English and Italian giants played a stalemate goalless draw at San Siro in the first leg. With the pressure of not conceding a goal at home in the second leg, the Devils scored quickly through a Vidic header to go front. Talisman Ronaldo then doubled his team’s lead in the second half and cleared the path for an entry into the final eight.

In the Quarter-finals, the Reds of Manchester faced Portuguese club FC Porto. With a strong squad, Ferguson and his men were looking to exert some revenge against the team that knocked them out of the tournament in 2003-04. The ‘Dragons’ immediately had the Champions under pressure with couple of away goals at Old Trafford in a 2-2 draw. In the return leg, it took a thunderous 40-yard strike from Ronaldo to give United the lead to advance into the semis and become the first English team to win in Porto.

The semi-final clash witnessed Manchester United taking on old English foes Arsenal with the first leg being played at home. The Devils defended their fort well by not conceding a home goal and got a bonus going into the second leg with a John O’Shea strike at Old Trafford. At the Emirates Stadium, the Men in Red put on show one the most classical demolition act when they drubbed a sorry Gunners team 3-1, courtesy of a brace from Ronaldo. The 4-1 aggregate victory over their London rivals ensured Manchester a comfortable spot in the final for the second year in a row.

Vital Stats:

1) Manchester United are unbeaten in the UEFA Champions League since their semi-final loss to AC Milan in 2006/07. The Devils have not lost over a record 25 matches in the competition.

2) Manchester United’s defence has been breached only six times in 12 games this season.

3) The draw in the first leg against Inter was also United's 20th match since their last defeat in the UEFA Champions League, breaking Ajax's 19-match record that had stood for 13 years.

4) Berbatov, Rooney and Ronaldo have been the top-scorers so far for Manchester United in the 2008-09 season with four goals each.