First qualifying round draw the race to Madrid

The 36 European titlewinners involved have discovered what awaits them in the first and second qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League following today's first draws at UEFA Headquarters.



2009/10 UEFA Champions League
First qualifying round draw
First leg: 30 June/1 July
Second leg: 07/08 July
Match Fixture
1 UE Sant Julià (AND) v SP Tre Fiori (SNM)
2 Hibernians FC (MLT) v FK Mogren (MNE)

2009/10 UEFA Champions League
Second qualifying round draw
First leg: 14/15 July
Second leg: 21/22 July
Match Fixture
1 KF Tirana (ALB) v Stabæk IF(NOR)
2 FC WIT Georgia (GEO) v NK Maribor (SVN)
3 EB/Streymur (FRO) v APOEL FC (CYP)
4 FC København (DEN) v Winner Match 2

5 Debreceni VSC (HUN) v Kalmar FF (SWE)
6 FK Makedonija GP Skopje (MKD) v FC BATE Borisov (BLR)
7 FH Hafnarfjördur (ISL) v FK Aktobe (KAZ)
8 FC Pyunik (ARM) v NK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
9 FK Ventspils (LVA) v F91 Dudelange (LUX)
10 FK Ekranas (LTU) v FK Bakı (AZE)
11 FC Salzburg (AUT) v Bohemian FC (IRL)
12 NK Zrinjski (BIH) v ŠK Slovan Bratislava (SVK)
13 FC International Turku (FIN) v FC Sheriff (MDA)
14 Rhyl FC (WAL) v FK Partizan (SRB)
15 Wisla Kraków (POL) v FC Levadia Tallinn (EST)
16 PFC Levski Sofia (BUL) v Winner Match 1
17 Maccabi Haifa FC (ISR) v Glentoran FC (NIR)



The draw for the third qualifying round takes place in Nyon on 17 July at 12.00CET. The final of this season's competition will be held at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid on Saturday 22 May 2010.

Barcelona v Manchester United 2-0 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL 2008/2009

FC Barcelona were crowned European champions for a third time – and the second in four seasons – as a vibrant display of pass and move, capped by goals in either half from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi, defeated Manchester United FC in Rome.

Holders toppled
United, bidding to become the first team to successfully defend the trophy in the UEFA Champions League era, began an open contest at breakneck speed as Cristiano Ronaldo threatened three times. After ten minutes, however, Eto'o put the Spanish champions ahead and they never looked back. Xavi Hernández struck a post early in the second period and, though the clinching second goal did not arrive until the 70th minute – via, unusually, the head of Messi – Josep Guardiola's side were worthy winners. The 38-year-old becomes the sixth man to lift the European Champion Clubs' Cup as player and coach; United are the sixth club to lose the final as holders.

10' 1-0 Samuel Eto'o [Barcelona]

70' 2-0 Lionel Messi [Barcelona]

Manchester United FC against FC Barselona at the Stadio Olimpico on 27 May.

The old adage goes that all roads lead to Rome, and in the case of Manchester United FC and FC Barcelona they come to a potentially glorious halt at the Stadio Olimpico on 27 May.

Twists and turns
For Barcelona perhaps, the journey has been freighted with greater tension given the semi-final that Josep Guardiola's team played out against Chelsea FC – sealed with the twist of Andrés Iniesta's stoppage time away-goals winner. The Spanish champions-elect have suffered two defeats en route to the Italian capital, losing to Wisła Kraków in the second leg of their third qualifying round tie and going down at home to FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the group stage – but in both cases after progress had been assured. A more telling statistic is that in 12 games from the group stage onwards they have recorded 30 goals, at a rate of of 2.5 per match.

Strolling along
By contrast, Manchester United, the titleholders, are unbeaten in the UEFA Champions League since their semi-final in 2006/07, when after a 3-2 home success over AC Milan they were defeated by three unanswered goals at San Siro. Since then the English league leaders have been unbreakable over a record 25 matches in the competition, with their defence breached only six times in 12 games this season. Their ultimately comfortable semi-final scalp of Arsenal FC just underlined the nature of the challenge facing Barcelona in three weeks' time.


Roads to Rome

FC Barcelona

Third qualifying round
Wisła Kraków (h) 4-0
Wisła Kraków (a) 0-1

Group stage (Group C winners)
Sporting Clube de Portugal (h) 3-1
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (a) 2-1
FC Basel 1893 (a) 5-0
FC Basel 1893 (h) 1-1
Sporting Clube de Portugal (a) 5-2
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (h) 2-3

First knockout round
Olympique Lyonnais (a) 1-1
Olympique Lyonnais (h) 5-2

Quarter-finals
FC Bayern München (h) 4-0
FC Bayern München (a) 1-1

Semi-final
Chelsea FC (h) 0-0
Chelsea FC (a) 1-1


Manchester United FC

Group stage (Group E winners)
Villarreal CF (h) 0-0
Aalborg BK (a) 3-0
Celtic FC (h) 3-0
Celtic FC (a) 1-1
Villarreal CF (a) 0-0
Aalborg BK (h) 2-2

First knockout round
FC Internazionale Milano (a) 0-0
FC Internazionale Milano (h) 2-0

Quarter-finals
FC Porto (h) 2-2
FC Porto (a) 1-0

Semi-finals
Arsenal FC (h) 1-0
Arsenal FC (a) 3-1


source:uefa

Chelsea v Barcelona 1-1 2nd leg semifinal

FC Barcelona stole a remarkable UEFA Champions League semi-final win through Andrés Iniesta's goal three minutes into added time to earn a showdown with Manchester United FC in Rome on 27 May.




Drama
Chelsea FC thought they had done enough to earn a repeat of last season's final as they defended Michael Essien's breathtaking ninth-minute strike with great resilience only for Essien to then err in failing to clear his lines in the dying moments. Lionel Messi squared to Iniesta and he cut his shot skilfully away from Petr Čech to give the 2006 champions – playing with ten men after Eric Abidal's second-half dismissal – victory on away goals and the chance to reclaim their crown, although they will have to do it without the suspended Abidal and Daniel Alves

Preview Trailer - Chelsea vs Barcelona

Chelsea vs Barcelona (Champions League ) - Trailer
by livesportschannels

WATCH LIVE THE GREAT SEMI FINAL

Arsenal V Manchester United 1-3

Manchester United FC are just one step away from becoming the first club to retain the trophy in the UEFA Champions League era after inflicting a crushing 3-1 defeat on Arsenal FC to book their passage to the final.



No way back
Arsenal's hopes effectively vanished inside the opening eleven minutes after first Ji-Sung Park, capitalising on a slip by Kieran Gibbs, and then Cristiano Ronaldo, catching Manuel Almunia out with a free-kick, struck for United. Trailing 3-0 on aggregate there was no way back for the demoralised home side and Ronaldo salted their wounds with the evening's third goal just after the hour. The only downside for Sir Alex Ferguson's team was the dismissal of Darren Fletcher, who will now miss the final, for fouling Cesc Fàbregas to concede the penalty from which Robin van Persie struck Arsenal's futile late reply.