Barcelona 2 - Arsenal 1

Barcelona: Víctor Valdés; Oleguer (Belletti 71'), Puyol, Márquez, Van Bronckhorst; Deco, Edmilson (Iniesta 46'), Van Bommel (Larsson 61'); Giuly, Eto'o, Ronaldinho. 4-3-3.
Arsenal: Lehmann; Eboué, Touré, Campbell, Cole; Giberto Silva, Cesc Fábregas (Flamini 74'); Ljungberg, Hleb (Reyes 85'), Pires (Almunia 20'); Henry. 4-2-3-1

Goals:
0-1. 37. Campbell. Steered header wide of Valdés from Henry's free kick.
1-1. 76. Eto'o. Ran on to shoot past Almunia after Larsson played on long pass.
2-1. 80. Belletti. Picked up Larsson reverse pass and shot in off legs of keeper.

Barcelona are European champions after coming from behind to beat ten men Arsenal 2-1! For much of the game it looked as if the European Cup was going to go to a London based side for the first time after Campbell headed the Gunners in to the lead, but late strikes from Eto'o and Belletti gave Barça the second Champions League title of their history.

Arsenal could have been ahead from as early as the third minute when Henry turned Márquez and only an advancing Valdés stopped the French star from opening the scoring. But there was major controversy in the 18th minute. Lehmann charged out to meet Eto'o at the edge of the box after through ball from Ronaldinho. Lehmann took the forward down but the ball broke to Giuly who tucked it into the empty net. It was a mystery as to why the Norwegian referee, Terje Hauge, did not play advantage. Instead he awarded Barça a free kick on the edge of the area and sent Lehmann off. That also meant the end of the match for Pires, who is expected to be on his way to Villarreal next week. The Frenchman was replaced by substitute goalkeeper Almunia.

The match which had been open suddenly became a more physical affair with Eboué booked for a high tackle on Gio. Giuly was then denied by a last ditch tackle from Cole. But 10-man Arsenal stunned Barça after 37 minutes when Henry's free kick from the right was headed home by Campbell. It looked as if it may not be Barça's night when Eto'o superbly turned Campbell in the box and Almunia did enough to turn the strike onto his right hand post.

Iniesta appeared in place of Edmilson at the start of the second half. The Catalan added both composure and drive to the midfield. Iniesta soon tested Almunia with a run and shot from twenty yards. Almunia was having a fine match and showed his confidence again by coming to take a cross from the right.

Frank Rijkaard's surprise decision to play Van Bommel from the start had failed to pay off and he was taken off. His replacement, Henrik Larsson would soon turn the match around. But before that Arsenal had several chances to kill the game. Hleb sent a left foot shot wide after an Arsenal counter. There was a fine Henry run on the left which Valdés had to cut out. The Barça keeper then had to claw away a strike from the strong running Ljungberg. The best chance of all came on 70 minutes when Henry was sent clear by the stylish Hleb. However, the Frenchman's finish wasn't up to his usual standard and Valdés made the save.

Rijkaard then made his final substitution - Belletti for Oleguer. The substitutes then set about transforming the match. Larsson slipped a ball through to Eto'o who composed himself before sidefooting the ball past Aluminia at his near post with only 14 minutes remaining.

The equalizer revitalized Barça and deflated Arsenal, and Larsson was again the provider for the goal that brought the European Cup back to Barcelona. What a swansong it was for the Swede as he set up fellow sub Belletti. The Brazilian wing back took a touch before unleashing a low shot from the edge of the six yard box which Aluminia could only deflect high into the net. There was no way back now for Arsenal who had put so much into defending their earlier advantage.