In November 1994, Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United were dealt a harsh lesson in performing away from home in European competitions when they slumped to a 4-0 defeat to a Hristo Stoichkov-inspired Barcelona side.
Five years later and on this very day the Red Devils returned to Camp Nou, having played out a 3-3 draw with the Catalan giants earlier in the qualifying phase at Old Trafford.
Aside from that, United had collected seven points from a possible nine from two matches against Danish side Brondby and one against Bayern Munich. It meant that Ferguson's men went into the contest in control of the group, while hosting Barca needed to win to stand any realistic chance of reaching the knockout stages of the tournament.
The match could not have started much worse for United, who fell behind with just 45 seconds on the clock when Sonny Anderson fired beyond Peter Schmeichel from close range.
However, the English outfit's response was positive and in the 25th minute they drew themselves level. Jesper Blomqvist collected possession on the left wing, from where he picked out Dwight Yorke. The summer signing took one touch, before drilling the ball inside the near post from the edge of the penalty area.
As the half drew to a close, not for the last time that night Schmeichel pulled off a spectacular save to first deny Luis Figo and when Rivaldo slid in for the rebound, United's Danish goalkeeper reacted first to palm clear the danger.
Then eight minutes into the second half, Andy Cole and Yorke showed just how strong the understanding that they shared was. The latter stepped over a pass from Roy Keane and when Cole played the ball into his path, Yorke returned the favour. It was a move that bamboozled the home defence and Cole capitalised to restore United's lead.
Their advantage would last just four minutes, though, as Schmeichel was caught out by Rivaldo's free kick from 25 yards out which evaded both the United wall and the keeper.
Back came United in what had become an end-to-end encounter and in the 68th minute they went back in front as Yorke scored his fifth Champions League goal in as many outings. David Beckham was the creator, crossing from the right for the center-forward to head in.
The home side were not done, however, and Rivaldo drew them level again when he controlled Sergi's cross on his chest, before sending an acrobatic overhead kick past Schmeichel.
The same player then struck the crossbar from distance, while Schmeichel had to rush off his line in the closing stages to deny Giovanni to ensure that the spoils would be shared.
It was a result that all but secured United's place in the quarter-finals, while omitting Barca at the same time. Six months later United would return to the scene to lift the trophy in dramatic fashion at the expense of Bayern.
Liam Apicella
