Barcelona Become Champions of Europe

An irresistible Barcelona has comfortably defeated Manchester United by three goals to one in the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final at the new Wembley stadium.

All three goals from the Catalans were of the highest quality with Pedro Rodriguez opening the scoring after 28 minutes, and strikes from Lionel Messi and David Villa sealing the victory in the second half.

United’s best moment came with Wayne Rooney’s equalizing goal on 34 minutes sending the teams in at half time on level terms. That 1-1 half-time score-line probably flattered United, and in the second period Barcelona stepped up a gear and Sir Alex Ferguson’s men were simply unable to live with them.

First Half—Honors Even

A persistent knee problem that has troubled Barcelona skipper Carlos Puyol for several months kept him on the bench. That would have provided some encouragement for the English champions as all of Barcelona’s seven defeats this season have come when Puyol was not playing.

Eric Abidal was given a start at left back. It was a dream comeback for the man who has made a miraculous recovery from surgery to remove a liver tumor which earlier in the season looked likely to end his career.

United stuck with the eleven that had played so impressively against FC Schalke in the semi-final first leg, with Fabio da Silva being preferred to brother Rafael and John O’Shea in the right-back position.

Just as in the 2009 final United made a positive start; passing the ball well, pressing Barcelona back and closing them down quickly. The team in red actually enjoyed twice the amount of possession as their opponents during the first quarter of an hour, but was unable to convert their superiority into genuine goal scoring opportunities.

Their only sniff of a chance came when Rooney almost got onto the end of a route one punt from Edwin van der Sar, but Victor Valdez was out quickly to punch clear and nullify the danger.

A familiar pattern soon emerged though, and as Barcelona settled they began to assert their superiority in midfield with Xavi and Iniesta pulling the strings and Lionel Messi buzzing around pulling defenders out of position right, left and centre.

Their first opportunity came when Xavi fed Pedro Rodriquez from the right but the latter failed to find the target. Then David Villa had two chances in quick succession—the second bringing a smart save from van der Sar.

However, on 28 minutes Xavi again found Pedro in space, Patrice Evra having gone infield to shadow the mercurial Messi, and this time the Spanish international made no mistake—planting his shot a foot inside of van der Sar’s left-hand post.

Against the run of play United managed to find some inspiration to come back. A nice little triangle of short passes on the right flank released Wayne Rooney who cut inside and exchanged a neat one two with Ryan Giggs before firing the ball emphatically past Victor Valdez from 20 yards.

Barcelona Dominate Second Period

The tone of the second half was set early with the Spanish champions winning two corners in the first minute or so. United simply could not get any meaningful possession and it seemed only a matter of time before the inevitable happened.

On 52 minutes Danny Alves was foiled by the feet of van der Sar, then two minutes later came the defining moment of the match. The United defense failed to close down Lionel Messi who eagerly took advantage of the space and hammered the ball past van der Sar from just outside the penalty area while a trio of United defenders watched in apparent admiration.

United were living on their nerves and Barcelona had several more chances, but it was the impressive David Villa who made certain of the trophy when in the 69th minute he curled a wonderful shot into the top left-hand corner of van der Sar’s goal.

In response United made a rare foray into the Barcelona half and Rooney made an audacious attempt to chip Valdes which almost succeeded with the ball landing on the roof of the net.

Sir Alex sent on Nani in place of Fabio and Paul Scholes for Michael Carrick in a vain attempt to make something happen. In the 84th minute Javier Hernandez had half a chance but Valdes came out with authority to snuff out the danger, and shortly afterwards Nani cut in from the right with the ball on his left foot, as he has done so many times to great effect this season, but the shot went wide. Chicharito was rarely in the game and there might have been a case for introducing Michael Owen, particularly as United still had one more substitute available.

At this point Barcelona had achieved seventeen attempts on goal to United’s three, and that statistic pretty much tells the tale. The imperious Lionel Messi would no doubt have liked another goal which would have given him the record for a Champions League season.

As it was he remained on 12, equaling the tally set by former United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2002-3. But the little Argentine maestro has not yet reached his 24th birthday and will surely have many opportunities in future seasons to make the record his own.

Catalans a Class Act

It has to be said in conclusion that for most of the game Barcelona were in a class of their own and thoroughly deserved to be crowned kings of Europe. They are clearly the best side on the planet right now and one would expect that status to be formerly confirmed at the World Club Championship tournament next season.

As for United, let’s not forget that this year was supposed to be the start of a rebuilding program and at the beginning of the campaign few but the most die-hard supporters expected them to win anything beyond one of the domestic cups.

Yet they have won the toughest league in the world for a record 19th time, without a genuine midfield general who could stamp his authority on any game in the manner of a Bobby Charlton, Brian Robson or Roy Keane, and have only been deprived of the Champions trophy by one of the greatest sides in the history of the game. They have nothing of which to be ashamed.