On 27 May 2009, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Barcelona beat holders Manchester United 2-0. On 27 May 2027 it will be 18 years since the final that made Pep Guardiola a legend in his very first season on the bench. It was billed as Messi against Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Argentine came out on top.

The road to Rome

Barcelona started in the third qualifying round against Wisła Kraków. In the knockouts they beat Lyon 6-3 and crushed Bayern 4-0 at the Camp Nou.

They had topped their group ahead of Sporting, Shakhtar and Basel, with a 5-0 in Switzerland and a 5-2 in Lisbon.

The semi-final against Chelsea needed a miracle. In the third minute of stoppage time at Stamford Bridge Andrés Iniesta made it 1-1 with a shot and sent his team to the final on the away goal.

Sir Alex Ferguson's United topped their group and knocked out Inter, Porto and Arsenal. They were aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy since Milan in 1990.

Ferguson's side had already won four trophies that season, the Premier League among them. They came to Rome chasing a fifth.

A night at the opera

Before kick-off Andrea Bocelli sang the theme from "Gladiator". In the dressing room Guardiola showed his players a seven-minute film to inspire them.

Barça had serious problems in defence. Dani Alves and Eric Abidal were suspended and Rafael Márquez was injured, so Puyol played right-back and Yaya Touré centre-back. United were without the suspended Darren Fletcher.

Thierry Henry and Iniesta were doubtful with injuries, but in the end both started. The match was refereed by Switzerland's Massimo Busacca, in front of 62,467 spectators.

The match

United started strongly and Ronaldo threatened early. Valdés could only parry one of his free kicks and Piqué got to Park's follow-up, while two more shots from the Portuguese went wide. But in the 10th minute Iniesta found Samuel Eto'o, who got away from Vidić and toe-poked the ball past Van der Sar.

From then on Barcelona took control with the passing of Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets. In the 70th minute Xavi crossed and the diminutive Lionel Messi made it 2-0 with a rare header.

UEFA's technical study group named Xavi man of the match for the way he set the tempo. Fans on UEFA.com voted for Messi.

Ferguson looked for answers from the bench, sending on Tevez at half-time, then Berbatov and Scholes. But Barcelona kept the ball and were never in serious danger.

Blaugrana against white

Barcelona were the designated home team and wore their 2008-09 shirt, with blue and garnet in two halves instead of the classic stripes. On the chest was UNICEF.

Their colours clashed with both United's red and their European change kit. So the Red Devils wore their white domestic away kit, for the first time in a European Cup final.

A curious detail: both shirts were made by Nike.

United had worn blue in their first final, against Benfica in 1968, and red in 1999 and 2008. Barcelona had won in 1992 in an orange shirt and in 2006 in their classic stripes.

Why it went down in history

Barcelona won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, becoming the first Spanish club to win the treble. Guardiola became only the sixth man to lift the trophy as both player and coach.

The win brought Barcelona seven million euros, while United received four.

For United it was the end of an era. It was Ronaldo's last game before leaving for Real Madrid and Carlos Tevez's last before moving to City.

Barcelona went on to win the Super Cup and the Club World Cup as well. Guardiola himself said it was not the best team in the club's history, but it had been its best season.

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Photo: The opening ceremony of the 2009 final at the Stadio Olimpico – Paolo Camera, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0.