Champions League - The Final: Player Ratings

Eurosport - Thu, 28 May 12:06:00 2009

We rate the Manchester United and Barcelona players in the Champions League final.

FOOTBALL Andrés Iniesta / Foto EFE - 0

MANCHESTER UNITED

Goalkeeper

1-EDWIN VAN DER SAR (6) Spilled a low cross from Messi but had little chance with either goal.

Defenders

22-JOHN O'SHEA (6) Shackled Thierry Henry in the opening half but left a huge goal which the Frenchman almost exploited shortly after the break.

5-RIO FERDINAND (5) Troubled by injuries recently and nowhere near his best. Not even close to Lionel Messi for the second goal.

15-NEMANJA VIDIC (5) Named Barclays player of the year earlier in the day but was culpable for the first goal with a weak challenge.

3-PATRICE EVRA (5) His aimless clearance allowed Xavi to pick out Messi for the second goal.

Midfielders

16-MICHAEL CARRICK (5) His passing was not even close to its usual standard. Failed to pick out Wayne Rooney in the second-half when he was clear.

11-RYAN GIGGS (6) Did his best to support Cristiano Ronaldo early on but then was switched to the left flank before being moved centrally to help Carrick.

13-PARK JI-SUNG (7) He worked tirelessly against Barcelona captain Carles Puyol and almost opened the scoring early on.

8-ANDERSON (4) Replaced at half-time after an ineffective 45 minutes. Andres Iniesta got past him too easily for the opening goal.

Forwards

10-WAYNE ROONEY (5) Struggled to get in the game on the left wing and was left frustrated throughout by poor service.

7-CRISTIANO RONALDO (6) The World and European Player of the Year had six efforts on goal but became increasingly frustrated in the second-half.

Subs

32-CARLOS TEVEZ (5) Came on at half-time but was another who did not receive quality service. Could be his last match for the club.

9-DIMITAR BERBATOV (5) His languid style has not always impressed United's fans and spurned a decent chance late on to give his side a glimmer.

18-PAUL SCHOLES (5) Most significant impact was a trademark scything challenge on Sergio Busquets that earned him a yellow card.

BARCELONA

Goalkeeper

1-VICTOR VALDES (6) Spilled an early Ronaldo effort but was alert to come off his line and clear danger.

Defenders

5-CARLES PUYOL (7) The shaggy-haired captain is loved by the fans for his passion and commitment. Twice came close to scoring a third.

24-YAYA TOURE (7) Drafted into central defence following the injury to Rafael Marquez and, a wild hack at a Ronaldo cross apart, was solid.

3-GERARD PIQUE (8) Spent three years at Manchester United and produced an assured performances in central defence. Two key blocks.

16-SILVINHO (7) The former Arsenal man was dependable throughout as Barca didn't miss the suspended Eric Abidal one jot.

Midfielders

28-SERGI BUSQUETS (7) Played effectively as a third central defender for much of the second-half. Did his job and let others play.

6-XAVI (8) The creative fulcrum of most of Barca's attacking play and was so close to scoring when he struck the woodwork with a free-kick.

8-ANDRES INIESTA (10) A sublime performance from the diminutive Iniesta. A constant threat with his running at pace and subtle passing.

Forwards

10-LIONEL MESSI (9) Almost as irresistible as Iniesta. Barca's top scorer in Europe, he made it nine goals with a header any old fashioned centre forward would have been proud of.

9-SAMUEL ETO'O (8) A darting run for the opening goal, his electric pace made Vidic look pedestrian.

14-THIERRY HENRY (8) Only just recovered from a knee injury in time for the final, turned Ferdinand inside out early in the second-half only for Van der Sar to deny him.

Subs

15-SEYDOU KEITA (6) Replaced Henry for the last 20 minutes and added some extra bite to midfield.

27-PEDRO RODRIGUEZ (6) Injury-time sub

Lee Walker / Eurosport

Comment 317 - 336 of 336

Sort comments by: Most recent
  1. well they beat united fair and square but the chelsea­ match was a joke. Their were 2 very clear penalties and­ a few that could have been given.

    From tomsmith1, on Sat 20 Jun 2:38PM
  2. Barcelona beat Chelsea and United fair and square.

    Did­ Chelsea think just because they got their first goal,­ Barca would just leave themselves open.

    Both Chelsea­ and Manchester United are arrogant bad losers.

    From peasah2005, on Wed 3 Jun 2:18PM
  3. just very happy with the way united accepted the defeat­ and their poor game.i also think that early goal by­ Etoo killed the original spirit of the match.

    From collins, on Sat 30 May 9:23AM
  4. @frankwill2626: Barcelona outclassed MU in both games­ and lost by a lucky goal by a rubbish player . MU­ decided to "park the bus" in both games .­ They made a big mistake of NOT doing the same last­ wednesday . Any EPL club that tries to play Barça­ without using dirty tactics or their signature­ anti-football park the bus strategy WILL get embarrased­ and humiliated and lose . There is more to football­ than the EPL's long ball nonesense !!

    From Tim, on Fri 29 May 11:47AM
  5. where was bacelona last season when they played manutd­ twice?

    From frankwill2626, on Fri 29 May 8:58AM
  6. MU suck..

    From Firdaus, on Fri 29 May 7:50AM
  7. Everybody wants to be a champion, but noone is willing­ to work hard enough to achieve it. ManU reached the­ final and decided that if they defeated Barcelona last­ year that they can beat them this year with a­ fingersnap... also Barcelona brings them memories from­ 1999... SO WHAT? ManU underestimated the opponent ON­ THE FINAL... they forgot that the final is for the TWO­ BEST TEAMS. They thought they went there as­ favorites... sky high american type of confidence that­ brought them nothing but a loss.

    From Mike, on Fri 29 May 12:37AM
  8. omg u manc go on like ur city is crimefree, salford is­ everybit as bad as liverpool. and scruffy so get some­ new material, coz even everton done u

    From Sold Out, on Thu 28 May 10:36PM
  9. 325. Puyol was top man, played with his heart on his­ sleeve with passion for his club, not the cash. Once­ or twice he played for the foul, that is professional­ football, 2-0 up Ferdinand would have done the same. I­ was worried that Puyol would be found out but no he­ was, if not the man of the match, then very close.­ Should have scored with the header, two good shots, a­ few good crosses not to mention actually doing his own­ job of defending. Top class. True pro.

    From Jay, on Thu 28 May 5:15PM
  10. aih carles puyol was amazing, c ronaldo and rooney were­ like 8 year old girls against him. Iniesta and Xavi­ flawless like always and etoo is back..and messi was­ just..messi! beautiiful game and the right team won!

    From unastef, on Thu 28 May 3:59PM
  11. After all MU fc is not the super invincible team that­ it's fans are trying to make , and as for SAF ,­ when you reaching the top ( by being level with­ Liverpool , 18 times each) , and watching their­ performance last night , one
    can only say , there­ would be only one way and that's down .

    From MohamedB, on Thu 28 May 2:38PM
  12. Football is all about hardworking and not what­ references are doin especially by favouring team like­ man united use in the premier league this has clearly­ shown by Barca's win against Man U.

    From karagama geidam, on Thu 28 May 2:10PM
  13. Looks like Man U performance last night like a little­ boys against big men Barcalona players. Flash back as­ PATRICE EVRA mentioned previous comments from his team­ against Arsenal. Most Man U players are freaking cocky­ s.o.t.b, now tastes your own medicine....Very good job­ Barcalona.

    From le h, on Thu 28 May 1:59PM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Carles Puyol should not have been man of the match as­ he was rolling around trying to get people booked.
    What­ a joke and a bad sports man

    From Joel, on Thu 28 May 1:24PM
  15. remember when they contained eto last outing one of the­ commentator's said he was worth nothing why would­ you want him in eng you see now..ha ha The only way to­ beat barcelona was to have close man marking not zonal­ marking so ronaldo is correct with the tatics bit.ball­ posession-key
    when you contain a good side and they­ evaluate and plan the next time will be better.tatics­ from the last match and what chelsea achieved was­ changed -too much talent so the coach vary their play­ without changing their flow-eng footballers don't­ rate individual skill and got a lesson from it­ yesterday

    From Eric, on Thu 28 May 1:22PM
  16. Uafa's dream final was the most impassionate and­ boring game I've ever watched. It was played with­ the enthusiasm of a group stage match, at­ best...

    CHELSEA, LIVERPOOL & ARSENAL would never­ have put in such an appauling display.

    From legoode, on Thu 28 May 1:22PM
  17. Man of the match was Carles Puyol. Played "out of­ position" at right back, he appeared to enjoy­ himself even more than his regular centre of defence.

    From Kaybee, on Thu 28 May 1:19PM
  18. remember when they contained eto last outing one of the­ commentator's said he was worth nothing why would­ you want him in eng you see now..ha ha The only way to­ beat barcelona was to have close man marking not zonal­ marking so ronaldo is correct with the tatics bit.ball­ posession-key
    when you contain a good side and they­ evaluate and plan the next time will be better.tatics­ from the last match and what chelsea achieved was­ changed -too much talent so the coach vary their play­ without changing their flow-eng footballers don't­ rate individual skill and got a lesson from it­ yesterday

    From Eric, on Thu 28 May 1:16PM
  19. Now, now jj red 20.....do we really have to resort to­ name calling? And if we do, surely you can do better­ than "numb nuts". Pretty lame I'm afraid­ but sums up how Man Ure were last night & also how­ they were against Liverpool this season.
    And all­ football supporters realise that there was life before­ the Premiership......but I forgot....you're a Man­ Ure fan, not a football fan!
    And check the spelling in­ the dictionary......that's the big book with no­ pictures that explains what various words mean!
    Try­ the junior version, ages 4-11!!!

    From TomH, on Thu 28 May 1:04PM
  20. Man'U is a disgrace to english teams what a poor­ performance.Barca was simple unstoppable my boy messi­ made it again nowonder he will be the best player in­ the wolrd at the end of this year.

    From jonanyadzi, on Thu 28 May 12:48PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account