Final repeat offers hope to United

FC Barcelona and Manchester United FC will become the sixth pair of teams to meet twice in a European Champion Clubs' Cup final when they walk out at Wembley Stadium – with the last three of those rematches having been won by the side that lost the first encounter.

Real Madrid CF faced Stade de Reims Champagne in the first European Cup final at the Parc des Princes in Paris in 1956, the Spanish team achieving the first of their five successive triumphs in the competition with a thrilling 4-3 victory in front of 38,239 spectators.

Three years later the sides came together again and, though the venue had changed to Stuttgart and the crowd more than doubled, the end result remained the same as Enrique Mateos and Alfredo Di Stéfano scored in another Madrid win.

That pattern of repeat victories continued in the next sequence: AC Milan defeating SL Benfica 2-1 in the 1962/63 showpiece – the first European Cup final played at Wembley – and overcoming the Portuguese club for a second time in 1990, Frank Rijkaard scoring the only goal in Vienna.

Ominously for Barcelona, 2-0 victors over Manchester United in Rome two years ago, since then the result has been reversed whenever teams have met for a second time in a Champions' Cup final. Milan had triumphed 4-1 against AFC Ajax at the Santiago Bernabéu in 1969, yet 26 years later Patrick Kluivert's late strike gave the Dutch outfit belated revenge in Vienna.

Ajax got a taste of their own medicine 12 months later in Rome, succumbing 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw with Juventus – the same club they had beaten 1-0 in Belgrade in 1973.

More recently, Liverpool FC mounted a remarkable comeback to overcome Milan 3-2 on penalties following a 3-3 draw in Istanbul – but it was a different story in the sequel two years later, Filippo Inzaghi notching both goals in the Rossoneri's 2-1 success in Athens.

Teams meeting in two European Champion Clubs' Cup finals
Real Madrid CF 4-3 Stade de Reims Champagne, 1955/56
Real Madrid CF 2-0 Stade de Reims Champagne, 1958/59

AC Milan 2-1 SL Benfica, 1962/63
AC Milan 1-0 SL Benfica, 1989/90

AC Milan 4-1 AFC Ajax, 1968/69
AC Milan 0-1 AFC Ajax, 1994/95

AFC Ajax 1-0 Juventus, 1972/73
AFC Ajax 1-1 Juventus, 1995/96 (aet, Juventus win 4-2 on penalties)

Liverpool FC 3-3 AC Milan, 2004/05 (aet, Liverpool win 3-2 on penalties)
Liverpool FC 1-2 AC Milan, 2006/07

FC Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United FC, 2008/09
FC Barcelona v Manchester United FC, 2010/11