Champions League - Barcelona win the final

Eurosport - Thu, 28 May 10:40:00 2009

Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi scored the goals as Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0 in the Champions League final in Rome.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Champions League Barcelona Trophy - 0

Cameroon international Eto'o struck after ten minutes and Messi added the second with a superb header 20 minutes from time.

United can have no complaints as they failed to find their usual fluency and defended hesitantly with many of their key performers well below-par.

Barcelona lifted the trophy for the third time in their history and matched United's own treble in 1999 as Pep Guardiola's men added Europe's premier competition to domestic League and Cup success.

The Catalan club scored with their first real attack after United started in electric fashion.

Andres Iniesta got past Anderson too easily and found Eto'o who cut inside Nemanja Vidic and toe poked the ball under Edwin van der Sar from close range.

Until then it had been all United.

After just two minutes Cristiano Ronaldo's 30-yard effort bounced viciously in front of Victor Valdes who spilled the effort and it required a superb block by former United defender Gerard Pique to deny Park Ji-sung a tap-in.

The Portuguese then volleyed just wide from 16 yards before United fell behind with Serb Vidic, named Barclays player of the year earlier in the day, culpable with a lackluster challenge.

Ronaldo looked to get his side back on terms and his run through on goal was ended by a Pique block for which he received a yellow card.

But Barca then began to boss the game and Messi came to the fore with a scorching drive just missing the top corner, with Van der Sar beaten, before Xavi curled a free-kick just over the top.

It was the 11th effort on goal in a frenetic opening half-hour.

United had an escape on the brink of half-time when Van der Sar spilled a low cross from Messi but there was no-one at the near post to capitalise and Sir Alex Ferguson gambled at the interval by replacing the ineffective Anderson with Carlos Tevez.

But Barca relished the extra space in midfield and twice came close to extending their advantage within the space of four minutes.

Iniesta sent Thierry Henry away down the left, in a big hole vacated by John O'Shea, and he turned Rio Ferdinand inside out before seeing his shot saved by the legs of Van der Sar.

Then a surging run from man-of-the-match Iniesta was ended a yard outside the penalty area by Vidic and Xavi curled the resulting free-kick around the wall and against the post.

United did regroup however and Ronaldo swung in a cross from the right which Yaya Toure completely missed only for the ball to bounce off the hard pitch and over the head of the unmarked Park six yards out.

Park was then replaced by Dimitar Berbatov as Ferguson threw caution to the wind with a 4-2-4 formation only to concede a second.

Patrice Evra hooked his clearance aimlessly to Xavi who picked out an unmarked Messi and the little Argentine climbed high to guide the ball past Van der Sar and into the far corner for his first goal against an English club.

United should have pulled a goal back almost immediately as the ball fell to Ronaldo at the far post only for Valdes to smother his shot.

Paul Scholes replaced Giggs and he was booked along with Ronaldo as United chased the game with the Premier League champions almost conceding a third when Carles Puyol's thumping header was saved by Van der Sar before the advancing Dutchman saved a shot from the Barca captain after the best move of the match.

Berbatov headed over from close range late on but there was no way back for United who failed in their bid to become the first team since Milan in 1990 to retain the European crown.

Victory for Barca also ended United's record 25-match unbeaten run in the competition and inflicted a first defeat in a European final on the Old Trafford club.

Lee Walker / Eurosport

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  1. First of all what I'm about to say goes to the ones­ who hate Barcelona, La Liga, and have been talking­ trashhhh throughout the season about them. First of all­ Premiershitt is not better than La Liga. Now Spain has­ 12 CL trophies, 1 more than England and Italy. Second,­ Barca leads the goals scored in CL, with 851 goals, and­ second come madrid with 850 goals. Third, Barca is the­ only team in Europe to compeete every year in a­ European Competition.This proves that La Liga is­ Better. Also, you english fans complained about­ Barca's defense not being good. Barca were missing­ Alves, Abidal, Marques, and Milito, 4 of their key­ players, and still Man U could not score a single goal­ against Barca. You english fans complained about Messi­ not being a great player and not being a complete­ player, and saying that ronaldo is better, and Messi­ can't score against english teams, and can't­ score with his head. Here are the facts, Messi scored­ with his had against Man U, an english team, and he has­ scored with his head before too. Another fact, ronaldo­ himself has not scored a goal against an Spanish team.­ You english fans were also talking trashhh about­ english teams having better defender, and ViBITCH and­ Rio being the best defenders. Well let me ask you, did­ you see how they got outplayed, did you see how­ Eto'o outplayed ViBITCH and scored the goal? Did­ you see Henry and Messi outplaying Rio, ViBITCH and the­ whole man u defense? I'm sure you saw that. And for­ you english people that say that Barca has not played­ any hard teams, well let me tell you, Barca beat­ Seville home and away, beat Valencia, home and away,­ beat Villareal, the same team that man u could not­ beat, Barca beat them home and away, they beat Atletico­ Madrid 3 times, Barca also knocked out chelsea out of­ CL, by dominating the first leg, and came back in the­ second leg with 1 men down and scored against 10 men­ anti football team called chelsea, and Finally­ OUTCLASSED man u. TRUTH HURTS

    From barcelona_mes_que_un_club, on Thu 28 May 9:52PM

  2. As an arsenal fan, i must say am so pleased for Thierry­ Henry!!!! He's finally won the CL!!!!!

    From Maggie, on Thu 28 May 5:23PM

  3. Decipline, hard work and humility....is the formula to­ win championships! Congratulations Barcelona....you­ deserved the glory!!!

    From marilacson, on Thu 28 May 4:10PM

  4. Anyone that has played and watched football with­ interest and brains,knows that there are days when­ -however well you've trained,however fit you­ are,however much you've analysed the opposition,and­ however much you're being paid-IT JUST DOESN'T­ WORK. Pity that last night was that sort of day for too­ many of United's players. But they and Fergie have­ nothing to prove and all true United fans should be­ proud. This time next year perhaps someone else will be­ victims of the hate mob ;might even happen at Wembley­ on Saturday? Beware Chelsea-you might suffer a night­ like United, or a day such as Arsenal had against­ United, or Liverpool against Chelsea. There's­ nothing new in football ,except the growing percentage­ of morons on the net.

    From KEL, on Thu 28 May 4:08PM

  5. Anyone that has played and watched football with­ interest and brains,knows that there are days when­ -however well you've trained,however fit you­ are,however much you've analysed the opposition,and­ however much you're being paid-IT JUST DOESN'T­ WORK. Pity that last night was that sort of day for too­ many of United's players. But they and Fergie have­ nothing to prove and all true United fans should be­ proud. This time next year perhaps someone else will be­ victims of the hate mob ;might even happen at Wembley­ on Saturday? Beware Chelsea-you might suffer a night­ like United, or a day such as Arsenal had against­ United, or Liverpool against Chelsea. There's­ nothing new in football ,except the growing percentage­ of morons on the net.

    From KEL, on Thu 28 May 3:58PM

  6. BARCA THE BEST TEAM

    CATALONIA IS NOT SPAIN
    VISCA

    From André, on Thu 28 May 3:41PM

  7. As a Barcelona fan, the more and more I look at this,­ the more and more it annoys me that there is such shock­ Man Utd lost, and that we won

    Look at the facts-
    Man­ Utd played 4-3-3 against arguably, the absolute masters­ of 4-3-3, it was a stupid formation to play, we've­ perfected 4-3-3, its how we play week in week out, how­ could they be expected to beat that playing the same­ formation? It was a stupid tactic, for 10 minutes yes­ it worked, but honestly, you cant outattack Barcelona,­ and we've proved that tonight. Man Utd should have­ played the way Chelsea had. We would have moaned and­ whinged that they ruined football, but the facts are­ that Chelsea's tactic worked a damn side better­ than Man Utd's. Man Ut'd counterattacking style­ is alot better than Chelsea's, they probably would­ have scored.

    Our midfield, in Iniesta and Xavi, on­ paper, and noticeably on the field, eclipsed their­ midfield. Compare Anderson and Carrick to Iniesta and­ Xavi, they barely touch them in ability, even Busquets,­ who has come up from the B team this year, did better­ than those two. Man Utd have wasted £30 million on a­ quite frankly awful Dimitar Berbatov, to improve a­ strikeforce which did not need improving, and failed to­ improve it. If they had spent that £30 mill on a world­ class central midfielder, maybe Iniesta and Xavi­ woudlnt have had such an easy job

    Rooney is wasted for­ Man Utd, and was wasted in that game. Honestly, I know­ he works for the team, but why play arguably the best­ striker in English Football on the wing, and arguably­ the best winger in the world up front?

    We deserve it.­ I know that Man Utd fans will disagree, and people will­ put forward arguments for why la liga is easier, etc,­ but we do. Man Utd have not been as good this season as­ last, they havent walked the Premiership, they've­ had to grind out results, Wigan, Stoke, Aston­ Villa

    We've walked La Liga, the Copa Del Rey, and­ now the Champions League Final. Dominance is B

    From Jordzibob, on Thu 28 May 3:04PM

  8. manc scum!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From w.a.wells123, on Thu 28 May 2:40PM

  9. When teams play good football against MU , the later­ get lost , and get back to basic ball kicking and wrong­ passes which shows what they are made of when meeting­ big mighty teams in the likes of Barca. and­ Liverpool
    so my advice to teams countering mu , do not­ hesitate go ahead and attack them , i am sure­ you'll win.

    From MohamedB, on Thu 28 May 2:14PM

  10. Barcelona made a dream final a one-sided final. Bravo­ to them, they proved to be the best.

    From NewarkYMCA, on Thu 28 May 2:12PM

  11. Oh Ian M - stop it, please! Don't do this to me.­ You're SO funny, I'm wetting myself at your­ incredible sense of humour.....

    I take it that it must­ be quite a bit cooler in England than it is in Spain­ for you to have crawled out from under your stone. What­ are you doing at home? Silly me - I forgot that­ it's probably half-term and that you're on­ school holiday. I was wondering if you actually knew­ what "dogging" was - or have you just heard­ the word from one of your school chums?

    From Mary, on Thu 28 May 2:12PM

  12. Congrates to Barca form a United fan. They where the­ best team on the night.
    And to all the ABUs GROW UP.­ United won the League over 38 games or are you saying­ that English Football is corupt or is just when United­ win. Ive been a United fan for 34 years and seen it all­ , we may have lost to the best team on the night but at­ least we did not murder anyone.

    From ishtar2001, on Thu 28 May 1:58PM

  13. Mary - I'm not surprised you're in Spain at the­ moment - unless you support United, you might as well­ book your holiday when the Euro final is being played. ­ Still, you'll soon be back over here at your­ favourite dogging site

    From Ian M, on Thu 28 May 1:57PM

  14. foeyp tee-shirts for sale - just call the Scamfield­ dogging site on 0800 101010 (won nothing, won nothing,­ won nothing)

    From Ian M, on Thu 28 May 1:54PM

  15. Respect Chelsea!!!!!

    From Peter, on Thu 28 May 1:44PM

  16. i'm glad man u got beat after watching GMTV­ yesterday morning, merseyside was watching and gloating­ last nite, manni from stone roses can sing a song about­ that match.

    From philmcgovern42, on Thu 28 May 1:09PM

  17. i'm so sad because mu not won.:((
    but next time mu­ can win
    messi vs ronaldo
    :D
    i support mu
    but my­ friends support barcelona

    From Aiman, on Thu 28 May 1:08PM

  18. SCOUSE HATER, UTD ...WORLD CHAMPIONS.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­ DON,T THINK SO MATE

    From TEVEZ, on Thu 28 May 12:51PM

  19. OUT CLASSED, OUT THOUGHT, OUT FOUGHT, OUT PLAYED, THE­ DREAM FINAL, WON BY TE DREAM TEAM.

    From TEVEZ, on Thu 28 May 12:48PM

  20. It couldnt have happened to a nicer team - whichever­ way you look at it. Barca are kin brilliant, Man united­ got messi.. er sorry messy after the first 10 minutes­ and super @#$% couldnt save them. maybe he will go to­ Real or Milan, just so long as he goes and sulks­ somewhere else... by the way You didnt catch Liverpool­ on the European cups now did you... I laughed like a­ drain on that second goal. Van Der Sar didnt even know­ what bloody year it was let alone where he was on the­ night... Fabulous to see the cocky @#$% get ripped by­ class. I really wanted to see Ferguson weep, that would­ have been worth a pint or two... C'mon you reds!!!­ back for 6 next year..:-)

    From exiled_in_bpl, on Thu 28 May 12:36PM
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