On 17 May 2006 Barça claimed their second Champions League title thanks to a 2-1 victory over Premier League club Arsenal in the Stade de France in Paris. The win was the culmination of the patience, talent and style of play fostered under coach Frank Rijkaard with a squad containing the likes of Ronaldinho, Xavi, Iniesta, Deco, Puyol, Eto’o and Víctor Valdés. La Liga champions in 2005 and 2006, the team came out on to the field in the French capital feeling their time in Europe was about to arrive. 

The final did not get off to the best of starts. Arsenal, despite playing with 10 men from early on in the game thanks to the dismissal of goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, took the lead before the break with a header from defender Sol Campbell. Barça pressed for a way through but the team from London held firm until the introduction of substitutes Juliano Belletti and Henrik Larsson

Eto’o and Belletti

Striker Samuel Eto'o scored the equaliser with a shot from inside the box to ease the tension for the blaugranes. Back on level terms, the tide turned in Barça's favour and just five minutes after the equaliser, Juliano Belletti was played in by fellow substitute Henrik Larsson and beat keeper Manuel Almunia with a low shot at the near post to complete a memorable comeback and claim a second Champions League title for the Club.  

The final whistle signalled the start of the celebrations as the defeat in the 1994 final against AC Milan in Athens was finally forgotten. The team's second success in Europe's top club competition after the win at Wembley in 1992 put the blaugranes on the road to dominance on the continent in the years to come under coaches Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique. 

That night in Paris brought together Barça's style, a way of understanding the game of football that forms an inseparable part of its identity to this day. 

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THE GAME

 FC Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal FC

  • Date: 17 May 2006
  • Stadium: Stade de France, Paris. 
  • Attendance: 79500.
  • Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway). 

Teams: 

  • FC Barcelona (Entrenador: Frank Rijkaard): Víctor Valdés; Oleguer (Juliano Belletti, 71'), Carles Puyol (C), Rafael Márquez, Giovanni van Bronckhorst; Edmílson (Andrés Iniesta, 46'), Deco, Mark van Bommel (Henrik Larsson, 61'); Ludovic Giuly, Samuel Eto'o, Ronaldinho.
  • Arsenal FC (Entrenador: Arsène Wenger): Jens Lehmann; Emmanuel Eboué, Kolo Touré, Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole; Robert Pirès (Manuel Almunia, 20'), Gilberto Silva, Cesc Fàbregas (Mathieu Flamini, 74'), Aleksandr Hleb; Thierry Henry (C), Fredrik Ljungberg. 

Goals:

  • 0-1 (37') Sol Campbell 
  • 1-1 (76') Samuel Eto'o 
  • 2-1 (81') Juliano Belletti 

Incidents:

  • Red card: Jens Lehmann (Arsenal) min 18.
  • Man of the Match: Samuel Eto'o (FC Barcelona).
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