It was billed as one of the greatest games ever. It was the game between the two best sides in Europe. Ronaldo v Messi. Ferguson v Guardiola. The champions of England against the champions of Spain.
Last night in Rome the might of Barcelona took on the might of Manchester United in a game to decide who truly is the best in Europe and probably the entire world.
So how did it work out?
Well, the first nine minutes were all Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo was absolutely on fire. He must have had five attempts on goal in those first nine minutes.
Ended
Unfortunately for Manchester United, that was where it all ended. From the moment that Andres Iniesta ran through the United midfield with ease and passed forward to Samuel Eto’o, it was game over for the English champions.
Eto’o still had plenty to do but a simple drop of the shoulder made the normally brilliant Nemanja Vidic look like a Sunday morning footballer with a hangover and he then toe poked the ball firmly past a hapless Edwin van der Sar. 1-0 to Barcelona and with their fantastic ability to keep the ball, it was difficult to see United coming back even with eighty minutes left to do so.
Outplayed
The fact is, that United never really did come back at all. They were totally outplayed from that moment on by a truly great Barcelona side. It is probably fair to say that Manchester United were not at their best but that should take nothing away from the absolute class of the performance put on by the Catalan giants.
It took a long time for the second goal to come but when it did it was no surprise. Not for the first time, United gave Xavi far too much time on the ball and he delivered a perfect cross for Lionel Messi to head home unmarked.
Flattered
Add to the two goals the fact that Xavi hit the post, Messi fired just over and van der Sar made some decent saves and you begin to see that a 3-0 or 4-0 scoreline would not really have flattered Barcelona. They really were that much better.
After the game Sir Alex Ferguson basically admitted that he knew the game would be tough after the early goal and was quite frank about the fact his team had been beaten by the better team. It is not often you hear Fergie say something like that!
Were Barcelona so good or were United poor?
I think there was a little of both, but it is chirlish to take anything away from Barcelona’s masterclass. They didn’t let United play and they totally dominated the game by imposing their style, tempo and skill on United.
Hyped
As for the much hyped showdown between Ronaldo and Messi, well that was a bit of a damp squib really. Ronaldo started brilliantly but faded away and contributed little. By the end of the game he had the look of a beaten and frustrated man. Messi scored the second goal, but in truth, he wasn’t Barcelona’s best player and although he didn’t have a bad game, he wasn’t one of the stars on the night.
The real winner on the night was Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola. He took on the most experienced and successful manager in club football, in his first season in the job, and showed him how to do it.
Impose
Both managers thought their team was the best and that they could impose their style on the other. Sir Alex sprung a surprise by playing Giggs as a second front player alongside Ronaldo in a basic 4-4-2 formation. He obviously thought that Barcelona would be caught by surprise and would have to change the way they play to deal with it.
Now I have only been the manager of a local league football side for the last four months or so and I feel a little presumptious in criticising the great Sir Alex, but even I could see that Carrick and Anderson could not cope with the three man Barcelona midfield. Even I could see that Xavi and Iniesta were getting all the time they needed on the ball. Even I could see that if United were going to play two strikers surely Tevez or Berbatov were a better bet than Giggs?
I’m afraid Sir Alex got it wrong in this one, but even if United had been better tactically and in their performance, I’m not sure they could have lived with a Barcelona side that can justifiably now claim to be the best in Europe.
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