Romance will be back in vogue at Wembley

It’s the adjective that will be most used in the build up to the Champions League final after Manchester United ensured a place against Barcelona at Wembley on May 28 and provided an opportunity for football’s most famous trophy to regain some of its misplaced lustre.

After all the depressing scenes from two ugly El Clasico semi-finals between Barca and Real Madrid, the football world breathed a sigh of relief last night as Antonio Valencia, Darron Gibson and Anderson ensured the competition’s finale this season will be one of the most glittering Europe has ever seen.

Manchester United against Barcelona has everything you could ever wish for; some of the best players in the world, football’s most successful manager against his would-be successor; two clubs with fascinating, magical and colourful histories — and two teams who want to play exciting football.

The game at Wembley, of course, may not live up to that billing — you can never guarantee it — but United’s sweeping victory over Schalke means we are assured of a pre-match build-up to rival anything that has gone before; and it guarantees a final played in a spirit the famous old trophy deserves.

From the moment Pep Guardiola announced he was ‘honoured’ to reach a Champions League final at the ‘home of football’ and spoke glowingly about his admiration for Alex Ferguson you knew the bitterness of the last couple of weeks was over.

These are arguably the two biggest clubs in world football and they have played each other surprisingly few times; just 10 in fact, with both teams winning three of the games and the other four ending in draws.

The most recent have been hugely consequential, however; Barcelona beating United in the final of 2009 with goals from Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi, and United overcoming the Catalan giants on their way to winning the trophy in 2008 – Paul Scholes scoring the crucial goal at Old Trafford.

Both Scholes and Messi are likely to feature at Wembley once more and the fact the final is to be staged in London has real resonance for both clubs.

It was at the old Wembley that Manchester United famously won their first European Cup, beating Benfica in a George Best-inspired final in 1968; and it was also beneath the Twin Towers that Barca first lifted the big-eared trophy, thanks to a Ronald Koeman strike against Sampdoria in 1992

Barcelona coach Guardiola gave United a nod of respect by attending last night’s match at Old Trafford to scout on them personally, although he can have learned little from watching Ferguson’s reserves completing an impressive but rather routine victory against poor quality opponents.

United could do nothing about that, however. They simply completed the job, winning by the same score as on that famous night at Wembley in 1968.

If this year’s final is anything like as magical, romantic or thrilling as 43 years ago then we are in for a treat.

And thankfully for the Champions League, after everything it has been through in the last fortnight, it looks like glamour is back in fashion.