Barcelona are passionate technicians who play intelligently for each other. They have guts and brains as well as artistry.
Tactically, they annilated Manchester United by dictating where the game would be played. Their patched-up back four played a high line that combined discipline and flexibility.
Rookie coach Pep Guardiola,38, has given the team steel and a wonderful work ethic. Messi and Eto’o graft constantly to close down defenders, Iniesta and Xavi are ball-winners as well as ball-keepers.
The Spanish champions made the English champions look utterly average. Park looked like pub player, Giggs looked like an lost old man, Anderson a weightlifter from Venice Beach. And they made Cristiano Ronaldo, the world’s No.1 footballer, look like a circus act, a one-trick pony who could only pull the trigger.
First ten minutes, United played power football against nervous,depleted opponents.
Ronaldo, the biggest superstar in English football, dominated the build-up far too much and dominated the game far too much. He was at centre forward and that meant that his job was to score, not to play. His manager expected him to score, his teammates expected him to score, the media expected him to score, the fans expected him to score, and he himself expected to score. If he failed, Manchester United would lose.
After 9 minutes of United attacks, Samuel Eto’o scored.
Ronaldo had four goal attempts in the first 8 minutes.
He sent a left-foot volley past the far post in 8.05.
Then Eto’o scored in Barcelona’s first attack.
He scored a well-made goal in 9.05.
Iniesta accelerated between Anderson and Carrick, played the ball to Eto’o, who turned inside Vidic and stabbed home from the corner of the six-yard box. The ball went in off Van der Sar’s arm.
As Iniesta moved, Evra stood there like a plank, not covering inside as Vidic went wide, Anderson just watched as well. Only Carrick saw the danger and he raced back to put in a sliding tackle that upended Eto’o, who landed on his back. That was a penalty tackle. But the ball was already in the net by the time Eto’o crash-landed painfully.
1-0 to the Catalan maestros.
GOALS CHANGE GAMES- AND HOW !!!
After that goal, Manchester United imploded, froze, played with fear.
While Barcelona played a sophisticated high line, moving five or ten yards forward depending on where the ball was and who had it, Xavi and Iniesta ran the game, and Busquets,20, was under no pressure because United HAD NO MIDFIELD.
Giggs was too far forward and anonymous because United hit every ball wide to Rooney and Park. Playing many balls diagonally to wide positions, they kept losing possession. That 4-3-3 diagonal game is difficult and while Chelsea can make it work, United did not. There were only a couple of moments in the whole game when Barca had to foul Ronaldo to stop him running beyond their high line.
The biggest difference between the teams was that Barcelona were collectively intelligent when they had the ball and collectively intelligent when they didn’t have it.
They won the 2009 Champions League Final 2-0 because they were far better than United when they didn’t have the ball.
United lacked an organiser and it was mind-boggling that Sir Alex did not (1) bring Tevez on sooner and (2) switch Rooney into the middle
Tevez came on for Anderson at half time and that improved United in patches but Berbatov came on for Park in 65 and was abysmal. United didn’t create anything at all. Their only chance came from a corner which Berbatov ballooned over the bar by horribly mistiming his header.
Basically, Barcelona trusted their style and their system and it worked beautifully. They made light of the absence of Dani Alves and Marquez, who are big leaders on the pitch, and dominated with superior teamwork..
Just as that 4-0 in 1994 was the Desailly-Savicevic game , this was the Iniesta-Xavi game.
By 70 minutes United were revealed as a comprehensively clueless outfit with no leader and no coach in the technical area to re-arrange them. In 70, Xavi flighted a pinpoint cross and the unmarked Messi hung in the air and timed an awkward header beautifully, directing the ball well wide of Van der Sar and giving him no chance.
2-0, game over.
This season Messi has developed into a box striker. He still makes his own goals by dribbling and playing one-twos but he also gets on the end of crosses and rebounds. He is a wing wizard but also a fox in the box whose finishes are subtle and cool.
It WAS a bit weird to see United being outplayed to that extent, looking like dunces, and being unable to react to what Barcelona were doing. They seemed bemused, baffled and paralysed.
Sir Alex needs to hire a No.2 who can improve his team’s collective intelligence. The only player who might have led United back into the game was Rooney, who was isolated on the left wing in the first half and isolated the right for most of the second.
Obviously, Barcelona deserve to be champions. There was no doubt, no controversy, no extra time. It wasn’t close. I thought this final would be close but I was wrong. And if Xavi’s free-kick had gone in instead of hitting the post in 52, Rome might have been a rout. As United faded and fizzled out and became spectators waiting for the final whistle, I wondered if the whole of Merseyside was celebrating.
We saw the game at a friend’s house and when we got home at 11pm I found an email from Stewart Joseph, quoting my preview :
Barcelona only have three players who would get into the United team.
Iniesta, Xavi and Messi.
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and they were the best three players on the park tonight.
At times, Barca played the most elegant and beautiful football.
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I would not argue with Stewart’s summary.
The Guardian headline seemed a bit harsh: United fold without a fight.
But I felt the same way. Like many other people, I was surprised that they were so clueless and so gutless, surprised that they were outclassed. Manchester United didn’t really give Barcelona a game. Arsenal gave Barcelona a better game in Paris with 10 men