UEFA Champions League Final: Barcelona worthy winners

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My most favorite team beaten by my second favorite team which I support as a football fan (Man United-England and Barcelona-Spain) , and still I can’t celebrate… 😦

Man Utd were crushed by the brilliant and masterclass play of Barcelona in yesterday’s final which opposed both teams in Rome, at the Olympic Stadium.

The match started well for the red devils however, with Ronaldo sending a freekick straight at Valdes in the first minutes, and Pique blocking the rebound, and the same Ronaldo sent some shots wide off target in the minutes afterwards. But United’s dominance lasted only about 10 minutes, as on the 10th minute mark, Eto’o scored for the Catalans when Iniesta broke through the midfield and found his team-mate, who side-footed the ball past a helpless Van der Sar. Since then, Barcelona deployed their total football which excites everyone who watches football, passing the ball around so easily and fluidly that it is an art in itself. They created many chances, but Van der Sar was there to deny them further progress, while United completely slumped, and could not even manage to make a pass correctly.

Half-time 1-0 in Barcelona’s favor. The second half started much like  the 1st one ended, with Barcelona threatening to score, while in the meantime Tevez was brought on (may be his final match as a United player), but still it had little impact on the game. United were unresponsive, while Barcelona continued their pressure on United’s defence. Eventually, Messi made it 2-0 on the 70th minute, and even with Berbatov and Scholes introduced, United could not create any clear chances, and Valdes not troubled at all in his goal.

Final score 2-0, with Barcelona 100% worthy of being European champions, and at the same time completing their treble for the season, having won the Spanish Liga and Copa del Rey, and now adding the CL trophy as well to their list.They just oozed with confidence throughout the game, and did not falter when given the chances to score. Just imagine Messi, the smallest player (about 1m70 tall) on the field to score a goal with a brilliant header, and that too past a Van der Sar who is 1m97 tall :P… and it was Messi’s 1st goal vs. an English club, after playing 10 matches against English opponents. Even Sir Alex admitted in a post match interview that the best team won, so no doubt there. Messi Ballon d’Or of the year 2009?! We’ll know the answer by the end of the year, but for me he truly deserves it, a real world class player who caused trouble to the likes of Vidic and Ferdinand at the back.

United were really boring and awful to watch, and did not look like a team which wanted to create history by winning the trophy a second successive year. May be bad tactical decisions by Fergie, or lack of passion by the players themselves, we’ll never know. But the fact is there, they gave all the fans, united or neutrals, a very disappointing display on the field, and to be honest, even the young arsenal players would have done better than them last night!!! Rio, to be honest, should not have played this game, seemed completely out of place, and may be still suffering from his rib injury.

One man was extremely happy thou, it’s ‘Monsieur Platini’ of course, the eternal English clubs hater, and he showed his happiness when Barcelona players and manager went to collect their winners medals…

The best team won eventually, and I hope United players and staff have learnt a lesson of how to play football in a final, and provide us a better display the next time they play against world-class oppositions 🙂