Barcelona begin their Champions League campaign with a Group C match against Portuguese club Sporting and enjoy a comfortable 3-1 win with Xavi getting on the scoresheet
Having been held to a 0-0 draw by Villarreal at Old Trafford in their opening game, Manchester United travel to Aalborg where Dimitar Berbatov scores twice in a 3-0 victory
Next up for the Catalans are Shakhtar Donetsk who find themselves on the verge of a shock victory when Ilsinho puts them ahead but a brace of goals from Lionel Messi in the closing minutes saves Barca's blushes
Back in Manchester, the in-form Berbatov scores another two as the English champions see off Scottish giants Celtic by another three-goal margin in October
Pep Guardiola's side enjoy a far more comfortable evening on their visit to Switzerland where Basle offer little resistance and go down 5-0
However, two weeks later, Christian Gross's team give a much-improved performance and pick up an unexpected point after drawing 1-1 at the Nou Camp
Manchester United's second meeting with Celtic is a far closer affair too with an 84th-minute strike from Ryan Giggs salvaging a draw for the visitors
Youngster Bojan Krkic applies the finishing touch to the final goal of the night as the Catalans net another five on their travels, this time at Sporting
With qualification for the knock-out stages assured, Guardiola rests several players for the visit of Shakhtar who take full advantage and register a 3-2 win courtesy of Fernandinho's second-half winner
Draws against Villarreal and Aalborg see Sir Alex Ferguson's charges stutter through their remaining games but they still finish top of Group E
Man Utd draw Italian champions Inter Milan in the first knockout round and after a goalless draw at the San Siro they pick up a tidy 2-0 win in the second leg
French side Lyon provide the opposition for Barcelona in the last 16 and after scoring to secure a 1-1 draw at the Stade Gerland, Thierry Henry nets two more in a decisive 5-2 win back in Spain
Despite winning the competition in 2004, Porto are regarded as outsiders when they visit Old Trafford in the quarter-finals but they stun the crowd with a battling display to earn a well deserved 2-2 draw
At the Nou Camp, Jurgen Klinsmann's Bayern Munich have their hopes of progress dashed very quickly as two goals from Messi and further strikes from Samuel Eto'o and Henry put them 4-0 down before half-time
In the return leg, Germany's biggest club briefly threaten a fightback when Franck Ribery reduces the deficit but an equaliser from Seydou Keita ensures a 5-1 aggregate win
With the crowd at Porto's Dragao sensing an upset, United rise to the challenge and become the first English club to win a European match there when a sensational 40-yard shot from Cristiano Ronaldo sends them through
A thrilling 7-5 aggregate win over Liverpool sends last year's beaten finalists Chelsea to Spain where a fine performance by goalkeeper Petr Cech ensures the first leg of the semi-final ends goalless
The other semi-final pits Man Utd against fellow English club Arsenal and it is the hosts who draw first blood when John O'Shea fires home the only goal of the game from close range midway through the first half
An unfortunate slip by young defender Kieran Gibbs in the opening minutes of the second leg allows Ji-Sung Park to score and Arsenal never recover as the Mancunians win 3-1 (4-1 agg) to book their place in the final
Chelsea look all set to join them thanks to Michael Essien's first half blockbuster but with the game deep into injury time, Andres Iniesta scores the vital away goal that sends Barcelona to Rome instead
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