B is for...

As uefa.com Action's A to Z countdown to the UEFA Champions League final on 25 May continues, uefa.com celebrates the wonders of the letter B.

B is for Werder Bremen, the reigning German champions who returned to the Champions League this season for the first time since the 1993/94 season, when they famously came back from being three goals down to win 5-3 against RSC Anderlecht.

Bremen exceeded many experts' expectations by reaching the first knockout round this time around. Drawn in a tough Group G alongside FC Internazionale Milano, Valencia CF and RSC Anderlecht, Thomas Schaaf's troops bounced back from their Matchday 1 defeat at the hands of Inter to claim four victories and a draw from their remaining five group matches.

With Ivan Klasnic, Miroslav Klose and Johan Micoud in impressive form, a comfortable 5-1 home victory against Anderlecht was followed by arguably their finest hour, a 2-0 win away in Valencia's Mestalla - with substitute Nelson Valdéz scoring both goals. Despite losing 10-2 against Lyon over two legs in their last 16, Bremen emerged with their heads held high, having lit up this season's competition.

B is also for bouncebackability - a word which is on the verge of entering the Oxford English Dictionary defined as: "the ability to recover from a setback, especially in football." When it comes to teams bouncing back in the Champions League, there can be few who have forgotten Manchester United FC's late, late 2-1 victory against FC Bayern München in the 1998/99 final. Trailing to Mario Basler's free-kick, United's hope were fading into the mist in Barcelona, before substitutes Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær scored in injury time to propel the Red Devils to the trophy.

Another miraculous recovery was RC Deportivo La Coruña's comeback from 3-0 down to win 4-3 against Paris Saint Germain FC in March 2001, with substitute Walter Pandiani scoring a remarkable hat-trick of headers. Last season's beaten finalists, AS Monaco FC, also proved their bouncebackability on route to the final with an amazing 3-1 second leg win in their quarter-final against Real Madrid CF. Trailing 4-2 from the first match, Ludovic Giuly scored with the cheekiest of finishes to make it 5-5 on aggregate and send Monaco through.

Other notable comebacks include Deportivo's 5-4 aggregate win against Milan last season, having lost the first leg 4-1, United's recovery from two down against Juventus FC to seize the initiative in Group B in October 1997, and of course Bremen's five unanswered second-half strikes to beat Anderlecht 5-3 during the 1993/94 campaign.

Another famous Champions League B is David Beckham, the former United No7 who is enjoying life as No23 at Madrid. Arguably the most famous footballer, if not the most famous human, on the face of the planet, Beckham's trademark free-kicks and eye for a deadly pass have long been savoured in Europe since he first struck in the Champions League against Galatasaray SK in 1994.

A European Champion Clubs' Cup winner with United in 1999, Beckham has over 80 caps at international level. Renowned for his pin-point accurate crossing from the right, and seemingly limitless reserves of energy, Beckham's efforts in United's treble-winning team of 1998/99 won him second place behind Rivaldo in the voting for FIFA World Player of the Year and European Player of the Year.

Now in his second season with Madrid, whom he joined for €35m, he has yet to win a trophy with the club that saw their Champions League dreams ended by Juventus in this season's first knockout round.