It seems only fitting for Manchester United FC that their hoped-for final stop en route to the UEFA Champions League final should be Barcelona. It was on their last visit to Camp Nou, after all, that United captured their second European crown on an unforgettable May night in 1999, when late, late goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær brought them back from the dead against FC Bayern München.
Defining matches
You could go further and say the European adventures of Sir Alex Ferguson's team in the 90s were defined by matches against the flagship team of the Catalan capital. The United manager himself said as much when looking ahead to facing Frank Rijkaard's FC Barcelona after the Premier League leaders had concluded a 3-0 aggregate victory over AS Roma on Wednesday night.
'Early education'
"We probably got a lot of our early education against them," said the Scot, recalling the teams' group-stage meetings in 1994/95, which brought a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford followed by a humbling 4-0 reverse at Camp Nou "at a time when we could only play three foreign players". Then there were two thrilling 3-3 draws in the 1998/99 group stage, games which underlined that United had learned to compete with the continent's best, in addition, Sir Alex said, to "representing the way the game should be played".
'Early education'
"We probably got a lot of our early education against them," said the Scot, recalling the teams' group-stage meetings in 1994/95, which brought a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford followed by a humbling 4-0 reverse at Camp Nou "at a time when we could only play three foreign players". Then there were two thrilling 3-3 draws in the 1998/99 group stage, games which underlined that United had learned to compete with the continent's best, in addition, Sir Alex said, to "representing the way the game should be played".
Strength in depth
When United spent over €60m on Anderson, Owen Hargreaves, Nani and Carlos Tévez in the summer, the purpose was to ensure no repeat of last season's semi-final against AC Milan where a jaded-looking team were swept away 3-0 in the second leg in Italy. United's expensively acquired strength in depth was only too evident against Roma where Sir Alex was able to leave Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney – his best two attackers and scorers in the 2-0 first-leg win – on the bench, yet still win comfortably against Serie A's second-best team. "Last year maybe we weren't quite ready but this year there's a determination to go all the way," said Gary Neville, who came on as a late substitute for his first appearance after a 13-month injury lay-off.
Dynamic duo
Arguably their best players against the Giallorossi were Tévez and Hargreaves. Besides combining for the Argentinian's winning goal, their dynamic displays spoke clearly of the benefit of a large squad: Tévez was making his third start in this season's campaign, the perpetual-motion Hargreaves only his second. Meanwhile, it is hard to think of another manager in Europe who has the luxury of choosing between two midfield players of the passing skills of Paul Scholes, rested on Wednesday, and Anderson. Contrast that with Premier League title rivals Arsenal, whose smaller squad has been strained to breaking point by twin challenges at home and in Europe.
March on Moscow
Then there is the Ronaldo factor. Roy Keane once suggested that Eric Cantona, who was in the stands to see Roma conquered, failed to make the necessary impact in Europe; the same accusation was made of Ronaldo, the modern-day king of Old Trafford, after an anonymous showing in last season's semi-final defeat at San Siro. Yet Ronaldo – whose flexibility Sir Alex lauded this week as "one of our great tactical strengths" – looks in the mood to make the difference this time, standing top of the tournament's scoring chart. United are the only team to have scored in every game in the competition so far this season and amid doubts over Lionel Messi's fitness for Barcelona, Ronaldo could prove the man to lead the march on Moscow.