The top five Champions League clashes

1993-94 final – Milan 4-0 Barcelona

Milan lost 1-0 in the final of the inaugural Champions League competition to Marseille – a victory sullied by revelations of financial impropriety at the French club. Undeterred, the Rossoneri went on to reach the following season's final, where they faced Johan Cruyff's Barcelona. Prior to the match the Spanish side were the overwhelming favourites due to Milan being without a number of key players – including Franco Baresi - through ineligibility and suspension. However, over 90 minutes the Italian side were utterly dominant, smashing in four goals in one of the most one-sided finals of all time. Daniele Massaro scored twice, before Dejan Savicevic chipped in a sublime third and Marcel Desailly beat the offside trap to grab a fourth.

1997-98 group stage - Newcastle 3-2 Barcelona

Kevin Keegan's sudden departure from Newcastle, in January 1997, may have signalled the end of the Geordie revolution but under his successor, Kenny Dalglish, they were at least allowed one last hurrah. Dalglish managed to guide Newcastle to second place in the Premiership, thus ensuring the club's first foray into Champions League football where (having successfully made it through the second qualifying round) they met Spanish giants Barcelona in the opening match of the group stage. On the night Louis van Gaal's team were undone by a Faustino Asprilla hat-trick, but, truth be told, their chief tormentor was Keith Gillespie who twice tore down the right flank to deliver pinpoint crosses for the Colombian to head in. As one North East newspaper reported, it "was the night one of the greatest sides in the world left St James's with their tails between their legs."

1998-99 semi-final second leg Juventus 2-3 Man Utd

In 1999 Manchester United's late good fortune didn't just extend to the two injury-time goals that saw them lift the cup; it covered them for their semi-final clash against Juventus as well. In the first leg they were trailing 1-0, until Ryan Giggs popped up with an equaliser deep into added-on time - still they were left with a mountain to climb. Things got even worse at the start of the second leg when Filippo Inzaghi knocked in an early brace. United now had to find two goals of their own in order to progress to the final. Their saviour on the night came in the form of Roy Keane, who singlehandedly guided United to the Camp Nou with a display of bloody-minded intensity. He scored the first before Dwight Yorke grabbed the precious second and Andy Cole sealed the result with a late third. The result was a remarkable turnaround, which has largely been overshadowed by what happened just over a month later.

2000-01 group stage - Milan 1-1 Leeds United

When writing about Leeds United it has become a favourite device of sports writers to reference just how well they were doing in the early naughties. Of course we now know that Peter Ridsdale had built his house on the crumbliest sand imaginable, and after failing to kick on after their success in 2001 the club rapidly fell apart. Nevertheless Leeds' achievement in reaching the last four shouldn't be overlooked. Going into the final game of the first group stage they knew that a draw would be good enough to send them through – the catch being that the match was taking place at the San Siro against AC Milan. Yet somehow they managed it. Dominic Matteo headed them into an early lead and despite Serginho's equaliser they managed to hold on for the draw. Unlike the other games on the list, it wasn't a great spectacle, but its inclusion is merited because of the sheer guts shown by a young Leeds team. The likes of Alan Smith, Mark Viduka and Olivier Dacourt may be long gone, but the part they played in Leeds' European adventure should not be forgotten.

2004-05 final - Milan 3-3 Liverpool

AC Milan's spectacular collapse in the 2005 Champions League final is one of the great sporting disintegrations. Three goals up and cruising, the Italians somehow succumbed to six minutes of utter madness to offer Liverpool a way back into the match. First Steven Gerrard was allowed to head in unmarked, before a low shot by Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alonso's rebound from his own penalty completed the comeback. After equalising Liverpool hung on for dear life, somehow repelling wave after wave of Milan attacks. Jerzy Dudek performance was particularly inspired and included a double save from Andriy Shevchenko, which still defies belief. When the game went to penalties you knew there was going to be only one winner. Milan looked mentally shattered and missed three of their five spot kicks, effectively handing Liverpool the trophy.