Man. United's win elevates English clubs to the top

The all-English Champions League final, between Manchester United and Chelsea, was full of drama and will go down as one of the greats in the history of the competition.

It was a thrilling game with passages of play of the highest calibre, leading to a nerve-wrecking finale with shots from the deadly spot.

United's 6-5 win in the shoot-out lifted English clubs back to the top of the all-time classification of winners with 29 honours, sharing the summit with Spain.

The honours for the English clubs came following 11 victories in the European Cup, eight Cup Winners' Cup successes and 10 in the UEFA Cup.

The four representatives of the English Premiership, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, were untouchable against foreign sides in last season's Champions League.

This was the year when English clubs were engaged in decisive KO duels since other crack sides in Europe fell by the wayside. Not a single foreign club succeeded in ousting one English side throughout the tournament − Arsenal lost to Liverpool who were eliminated by Chelsea. The latter lost to Manchester United in the final.

Since the start of the competition, including qualifying rounds, English clubs have encountered 42 foreign opponents and lost four times.

Yet, even in these rare defeats, the English turned the tables upon their opponents and won the tie on aggregate score. Indeed, a no mean feat.

The entire record reads: Played 42, Won 28, Drawn 10, Lost 4, Goals for 81, Against 18.

United boss Alex Ferguson made his league debut as a forward for Scottish Second Division side Stranraer in 1957. His other stops as a player were at St Johnsone, Dunfermline, Rangers, Falkirk and Ayr United.

As an amateur he played for Queens Park. Sir Alex's coaching duties started at Falkirk and his career saw him collect a total of 30 'major' honours to take his place among the best in the world.

The following list includes Ferguson's titles in his coaching career:

Manchester United
2007-08: Champions League, Premier League.
2006-07: Premier League.
2005-06: League Cup.
2003-04: FA Cup.
2002-03: Premier League.
2000-01: Premier League.
1999-00: Premier League.
1998-99: Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup.
1996-97: Premier League.
1995-96: Premier League, FA Cup.
1993-94: Premier League, FA Cup.
1992-93: Premier League.
1991-92: League Cup.
1990-91: Cup Winners' Cup.
1989-90: FA Cup.

Aberdeen
1885-86: Scottish Cup, League Cup.
1884-85: Premier League.
1983-84: Premier League, Scottish Cup.
1982-83: Cup Winners' Cup, Scottish Cup.
1981-82: Scottish Cup.
1979-80: Premier League.

St Mirren
1976-77: First Division championship.

Factbox - Performance in Europe

England: 11 European Cup; 8 Cup Winners' Cup; 10 UEFA Cup. Total - 29. (EC - Liverpool 5, Man. United 3, N. Forest 2, Aston Villa; CWC - Chelsea 2, Man. United, Tottenham, West Ham, Man. City, Everton, Arsenal; UC - Liverpool 3, Tottenham 2, Leeds 2, Arsenal, Newcastle, Ipswich).

Spain: 11 European Cup; 7 Cup Winners' Cup; 11 UEFA Cup. Total - 29. (EC - Real Madrid 9, Barcelona 2; CWC - Barcelona 4, Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Real Zaragoza; UC - Barcelona 3, Real Madrid 2, Valencia 3, Real Zaragoza, Sevilla 2).

Italy: 11 European Cup; 7 Cup Winners' Cup; 10 UEFA Cup. Total - 28. (EC - Milan 7, Inter 2, Juventus 2; CWC - Milan 2, Juventus, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Parma, Lazio; UC - Inter 3, Juventus 3, Parma 2, Roma, Napoli).

Germany: 6 European Cup; 4 Cup Winners' Cup; 6 UEFA Cup. Total - 16. (EC - Bayern Munich 4, Hamburg, Borussia Dortmund; CWC - Bayern Munich, Hamburg, Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen; UC - B. Moenchengladbach 2, Bayern Munich, Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen, Schalke).

Netherlands: 6 European Cup; 1 Cup Winners' Cup; 4 UEFA Cup. Total - 11. (EC - Ajax Amsterdam 4, Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven; CWC - Ajax Amsterdam; UC - Ajax Amsterdam, Feyenoord 2, PSV Eindhoven).

Portugal: 4 European Cup; 1 Cup Winners'; Cup; 1 UEFA Cup. Total - 6. (EC - Benfica 2, Porto 2; CWC - Sporting Lisbon; UC - Porto).

Russia: 3 Cup Winners' Cup; 2 UEFA Cup. Total - 5. (CWC - Dynamo Kiev 2, Dynamo Tbilisi; UC - CSKA Moscow, Zenit St Petersburg).

Belgium: 3 Cup Winners' Cup; 1 UEFA Cup. Total - 4. (CWC - Anderlecht 2, Mechelen; UC - Anderlecht).

Scotland: 1 European Cup; 2 Cup Winners' Cup. Total - 3. (EC - Celtic; CWC - Rangers, Aberdeen).

Yugoslavia: 1 European Cup; 1 UEFA Cup. Total - 2. (EC - Red Star Belgrade; UC - Dynamo Zagreb).

Sweden: 2 UEFA Cup. Total - 2. (IFK Gothenburg 2).

Romania: 1 European Cup. Total - 1. (Steaua Bucharest).

France: 1 Cup Winners' Cup. Total - 1. (Paris St Germain).

East Germany: 1 Cup Winners' Cup. Total - 1. (Magdeburg).

Czechoslovakia: 1 Cup Winners' Cup. Total - 1. (Slovan Bratislava).

Hungary: 1 UEFA Cup. Total - 1. (Ferencvaros).

Turkey: 1 UEFA Cup. Total - 1. (Galatasaray).

Notes

English clubs served a five-year ban in Europe for the UEFA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup and six seasons for European Cup participation after the Heysel Stadium tragedy.

Marseille were stripped of the European Cup in 1993.