UEFA ECL Final: Manchester United vs Barcelona FC

[nick]

1-0 Barcelona

[packsyD22]

Barca after the first 8 minutes just outplayed Man U.....2-0 now seems to much to come back from at the 80th minute.

[DRiccio21]

this finish would make my wallet very happy

[fsupenguin]

Ronaldo? Were are you? This is sweet to see him have no impact.

[jsence2]

Ronaldo? Were are you? This is sweet to see him have no impact.

Did you watch the same match I did? He terrorized them when he had the ball (esp the first ten minutes)....problem was--and this is why we lost--our midfield played like CRAP today. Carrick was off, Anderson was invisible, and Giggs was showing his age. Scholes came on and made his trademark shitty tackle (and got his regular yellow for it) but little else.

We had our normal back line and looked shaky; we didn't go 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 like normal; we went 4-1-2-1-2 for some retarded reason. And then we put JS PARK out there instead of Tevez (who was solid), and he wasted a gilt-edged chance off the Ronaldo FK early, one that Tevez or Berbatov would have put away....and his midget ass missed a few easy headers in the box. Sir Alex screwed us with those two horrible decisions (Park and formation), and Barca just played keep-away and take-away all damn match after the Eto'o goal.

We didn't deserve to win the way we played after giving up the goal....if we'd played like we did in the first ten minutes, we win the trophy easily. Instead, we got scared, our midfielders lost all creativity, and SAF waited too long to make a move to take off Park.

That said...I've lost ALL respect for Puyol. I guess with Dani Alves being suspended, he had to take up the mantle of being the chief diver for Barcelona. He, Messi, and Iniesta were diving left and right....but Puyol's antics took it to a whole other level. Congrats to Barca on the title, hopefully we find some way to keep Tevez.

[fsupenguin]

I watched it all, Ronaldo was not great by any means today. A few chances early, but he get frustrated and his game disappeared. And while there were plenty of dives, get real Messi is one of the few out there who doesn't. When he went after the through ball in the box there was contact, it was a correct no call, but Messi doesn't get half the calls he could cause he refuses to get knocked off the ball.

[nick]

who else here loves that no matter what, Jsense has excuses. "Oh kentucky doesn't suck now we just blah blah". "Oh Man U didnt suck today, Ronaldo is the best ever and didn't disapeer" "Omg someone was diving and we are upset about it!"

Shit happens, the better team won.

[Seeitsaveit13]

I turned to my teacher at the bar (I love europe) and said this in the 7th minute "If man u keeps this pressure up, Barca is going to get a counter attack goal very soon"

Boom. It happened. Barca just looked like they wanted it more, that's all. I think that Man U was so heavily favored that even they assumed they'd just win it, and Barca just outplayed them.

There's a reason there's never been a repeat in champions league history.

What was the line dave?

[bearass]

BARCA!

F C.Ronaldo

[jsence2]

I watched it all, Ronaldo was not great by any means today. A few chances early, but he get frustrated and his game disappeared. And while there were plenty of dives, get real Messi is one of the few out there who doesn't. When he went after the through ball in the box there was contact, it was a correct no call, but Messi doesn't get half the calls he could cause he refuses to get knocked off the ball.

Please show me contact....because neither Tommy or Derek Rae saw any contact, neither did the referee. Messi TRIPPED, and then ACTED, and then whined. Messi dives, so does just about everyone else in Spain--because in that league, they get treated like babies.

And Nick, I'm not making "excuses", I'm stating facts--our midfield did not show up, and it killed us. And Ronaldo didn't disappear--he can't "appear" if he's not getting the damn ball! Rooney wasn't getting it, Park lost it when he DID get it, and Tevez had to go and get it himself to have any touches. Barca played "ole!" with us most of the game and then pressured us into mistakes when we did get it back. Those aren't excuses, those are facts, that's called "analysis". I guess when people on tv "analyze" games, they are simply coming up with "excuses", right? Not once did I say "Barca got lucky" or "we should have won"; I stated that we made mistakes in team selection and formation, and players did not perform...doesn't mean we would have won had those things not happened, but it would've given us a much better chance.

I still feel that if Tevez--not Park--had started, and the chance in the second minute off the FK had fallen to him, ManU would have been up 1-0. And that is why Tevez is leaving and will likely go to our bitter rivals, and that makes me angry and sick.

[jsence2]

I turned to my teacher at the bar (I love europe) and said this in the 7th minute "If man u keeps this pressure up, Barca is going to get a counter attack goal very soon"

Boom. It happened. Barca just looked like they wanted it more, that's all. I think that Man U was so heavily favored that even they assumed they'd just win it, and Barca just outplayed them.

There's a reason there's never been a repeat in champions league history.

What was the line dave?

Barca made a great stragetic move, putting Messi inside for much of the match--moving him away from Evra (who could keep up with him) and running him straight at Vidic (who couldn't). On the goal, Messi occupied much of the back line, and Eto'o got Vidic one on one, and just flat turned him inside-out and pwned him. It was a world-class finish, I just wish VDS had gotten more of it and kept it out. That goal put the fear of the counter in ManU's mind and they never pressured like that again.

[packsyD22]

There has been a repeat champ in 90 and 91 with AC Milan.

And nick I actually thought for once jsense took his lumps well and he makes some solid points on why Man U lost. Puyol was embarassing out there.

[jsence2]

There has been a repeat champ in 90 and 91 with AC Milan.

And nick I actually thought for once jsense took his lumps well and he makes some solid points on why Man U lost. Puyol was embarassing out there.

Back then, it was known as the European Champions Cup, it was a different format. They switched to Champions League in 1992, since when nobody has been able to pull it off. It used to just be a knockout tourney, was somewhat easier back then to maneuver through a league schedule AND the Cup.

[jsence2]

This is from ESPN Soccernet's Phil Holland, who usually has spot-on commentary, in regards to if Messi passed Ronaldo....and he says the same thing I did, that the match would have been different if the ManU midfield had done better against the Barca mids:

Both men turned in decent, if not spectacular performances, but the game was won and lost in the midfield battle between Xavi and Carrick, not in the much-hyped battle of the superstars.

Having missed out on Barcelona's Champions League triumph in 2006 and having been beaten into second place in the official world and European player awards by Ronaldo last year, there is an undeniable sense that justice was done in the battle between the best two players in the world.

But did Messi do enough to wrest the crown from Ronaldo's head? Messi undoubtedly had the better game but Ronaldo exuded the same menace when on the ball and had Carrick not Xavi bossed the midfield it could have been a different result.

Despite being a loser in Rome, Ronaldo still has the edge, for now at least. But that could all change when the official World Player of the Year votes are counted next January.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/st ... ue&cc=5901