Thursday 14 April 2016 11:38, UK
As Barcelona become the latest team to fail to retain the Champions League, we recall the teams who came closest.
Luis Enrique's side crashed to a 3-2 aggregate defeat to La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, ending their hopes of replicating the achievements of AC Milan, who were the last team to clinch back-to-back European Cups in 1989 and 1990.
Since the competition was rebranded as the Champions League in 1992, only four sides have managed to reach the final the year after winning it - with none of them emerging triumphant. Here, we look back at their efforts.
AC Milan, 1995
Fabio Capello led AC Milan to their fifth European Cup triumph with a famous 4-0 thrashing of Johan Cruyff's Barcelona Dream Team in 1994, but their hopes of defending the trophy were dashed by Louis van Gaal's Ajax 12 months later.
Milan had already faced Ajax twice in the group stages that year - with consecutive 2-0 defeats hinting at what was to come in the final - but they qualified for the knockout stages as runners-up despite a two-point deduction for crowd trouble against Austrian side Salzburg.
Capello's men saw off Benfica 2-0 on aggregate in the quarter-finals, and a 3-0 aggregate victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals set up their third showdown with Ajax at the Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna.
Milan were the dominant force in European football and fielded a vastly experienced side containing the likes of Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini and Marcel Desailly, while Van Gaal's youthful starting XI included seven Amsterdam-born academy products, namely Edwin van der Saar, Frank Rijkaard, Michael Reiziger, Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids and the De Boer brothers.
It was a clash of philosophies, and in the end it was another Ajax youngster who stole the show, as the 18-year-old Patrick Kluivert came off the bench to score the only goal of the game in the 85th minute. For Milan, it would be another eight years until they reached the Champions League final again.
Ajax, 1996
Just a year later, Van Gaal's team of young guns made the final again. This time, however, Ajax came unstuck in the cruelest of fashions as they lost on penalties to Juventus.
Fabrizio Ravenelli put the Serie A side in front after 13 minutes in Rome, but Jari Litmanen pegged them back just before half-time.
No side could then find the winner in the second half or extra-time, before Davids and Sonny Solooy missed penalties in the shoot-out and Juventus converted all four of theirs to win it 4-2.
Ajax would make it to the semi-finals the following year, but Van Gaal left for Barcelona that summer and their team was progressively picked apart by Europe's top sides. The four-time winners haven't made it past the quarter-finals since.
Juventus, 1997
The defending champions came up just short for the third year in a row as 1996 winners Juventus became the next team to go close. Marcello Lippi's side kicked off their Champions League defence in a group containing Manchester United, Fenerbahce and Rapid Vienna.
Juventus advanced to the knockout stages with ease, securing two 1-0 wins over Sir Alex Ferguson's men and claiming 16 points from a possible 18 in total. They were drawn against unfancied Rosenborg in the quarter-finals, claiming a 3-1 aggregate win, and they booked their place in the final at the expense of Ajax, winning 6-2 over two legs with Christian Vieri and Zinedine Zidane among the scorers.
Juventus were favourites to go the distance against Ottmar Hitzfield's Borussia Dortmund in Munich, but the German side stunned the Old Lady with an outstanding performance in their homeland.
Most of the damage was done in a five-minute spell in the first half, when Karl-Heinz Riedle scored twice to give Dortmund a commanding lead. Juventus substitute Alessandro Del Piero pulled one back with a superb backheel after the break, but Dortmund re-established their two-goal advantage when substitute Lars Ricken scored a brilliant lob with his first touch.
Zidane had been unable to influence the game due to the close attentions of Dortmund's Paul Lambert in midfield, and Juventus were left to rue a missed opportunity. "We're not unbeatable," said Lippi afterwards. "We have never said we were."
Manchester United, 2009
After overcoming Chelsea in Moscow in May 2008, Manchester United embarked on another run to the final in 2008/09, where they were eventually beaten by Pep Guardiola's Barcelona.
That year, United were pitted against Villarreal, Aalborg and Celtic in the group stages. A goalless draw against the Spanish side at Old Trafford was an inauspicious start, but back-to-back 3-0 victories in their next two games put them in the driving street and they progressed as group winners despite drawing all three of their remaining fixtures.
Inter Milan were dispatched in the last-16 thanks to a 2-0 win at Old Trafford after a goalless draw in the first leg, and they overcame Porto in the quarter-finals. A 2-2 draw at home left the tie wide open against the Portuguese side, but an early goal from Cristiano Ronaldo at the Dragao gave United a 3-2 aggregate victory.
Next up were Arsenal, who were fortunate to escape Old Trafford with only a 1-0 defeat in the first leg after a dominant performance from the Red Devils. At the Emirates, an early slip from Kieran Gibbs allowed Park Ji-Sung to score the opener, and Ronaldo scored a brace as Ferguson's men eased into the final.
At the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, United were denied by a Barcelona masterclass. Samuel Eto'o put Guardiola's men in front when he scored at Edwin van der Saar's near post after just 10 minutes, and from then on United never looked like getting back into it.
United couldn't get close to Xavi and Andres Iniesta in midfield, and Lionel Messi capped a brilliant individual performance with a towering header for Barcelona's second goal in the 70th minute. It proved to be Ronaldo's last game for United, and Ferguson was magnanimous in defeat. "In fairness we were beaten by the better team," he said. "We couldn't keep the ball all night."
