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Manchester United through to face Barcelona in final

Darron Gibson (right) celebrates his goal as Manchester United secured their place in the Champions League final.
Darron Gibson (right) celebrates his goal as Manchester United secured their place in the Champions League final.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Manchester United will face Barcelona in the Champions League final at Wembley
  • The English side defeat Schalke 4-1 on the night to complete a 6-1 win on aggregate
  • The final is a repeat of the 2009 final, when the Spanish side ran out 2-0 winners

(CNN) -- Manchester United will face Barcelona in the Champions League final after the English Premier League side thrashed Schalke 4-1 at Old Trafford on Wednesday for a comfortable 6-1 aggregate win.

Leading 2-0 from the first leg in Gelsenkirchen last week, Alex Ferguson's side were always in control against their German Bundesliga opponents and will now take on tournament favorites Barca at Wembley on May 28 in a repeat of the 2009 final in Rome -- when the Spanish giants ran out 2-0 winners.

United opened the scoring in the 26th minute when Darron Gibson's defence-splitting pass found Antonio Valencia free on the right, and the winger slotted the ball past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

Barcelona held but go through to final

And the same two players combined for the second goal six minutes later, this time Valencia laid the ball on for Irishman Gibson, whose shot went in off the post following a fumble by the highly-rated Neuer.

Schalke pulled a goal back before half-time when Jose Manuel Jurado fired home a fine strike from the edge of the penalty area.

The players I brought in did me and the club proud, it is fantastic to reach the final again
--Alex Ferguson
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That meant Schalke needed three second-half goals to progress, but they never looked like troubling United and a quickfire double from midfielder Anderson saw the home side complete the job in style.

First the Brazilian turned in the area to finish off Nani's pass from the right in the 72nd minute.

Then, just four minutes later, Anderson added his second when he was left unmarked in the area to convert Dimitar Berbatov's cross from the right.

The result vindicated Ferguson's decision to make nine changes to his side, with one eye on Sunday's crucial match at home to Chelsea, where a victory will virtually clinch the Premier League title.

Ferguson told ITV Sport: "The players I brought in did me and the club proud, it is fantastic to reach the final again. I have always said that our record in Europe is not good enough for a club of our size but reaching our third final in four years is going some way to changing that."

The Scot added: "We showed great spirit and determination but must now face a team of amazing quality to win the trophy."