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The Symbolism of This All-English Champions League Final

In 1986, Manchester City scored three times in the final five minutes but still lost the Full Members’ Cup final 5-4 to Chelsea, an occasion that, if nothing else, suggests just how much football has changed in the 35 years between that and the clubs' meeting in the Champions League final at the end of the month.

To begin with, there is the status of English football. The Full Members’ Cup was only inaugurated to provide the clubs with extra income, filling the gap in the schedule left when English clubs were banned from European football in the aftermath of the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985.