OUTCLASSED AGAIN

 

 

The last time United were in the Champions League final was back in '09 when we were beaten 2-0 by Barcelona at the Stadio Olimpico and it proved to be one of the rare occasions that I've ever seen the Reds dominated. The last time we won the biggest match of the European club season was back in '08 when we drew 1-1 with Chelsea in an all-Premiership contest at the Luziniki Stadium after extra time before seeing off the Blues on penalties. That was the third time we'd won the trophy in our history and we're still seen as one of the heavyweights in Europe, after all, there's till a fair number of the players from the '08 side still around.

Well the last time we faced Barcelona in the Champions League was in the '09 final and we've already covered that...it was the announcement that the teamn to beat in Europe at the time had achieved their mission. The last time we beat them was in the semis of the 07/08 competition, when we managed to hold the La Liga giants to a 0-0 draw at the Nou Camp in the 1st leg before beating them 1-0 in the 2nd leg at Old Trafford to give us our first European final of the 21st century. What we have never managed to do though is beat Barca on the biggest stage of all and they themselves have lifted the grand trophy three times.

Well, this was it, once again the eyes of an entire continent and a large chunk of the rest of the world was on us. The big advantage the Reds had on this occasion was that we were relatively close to home - this year's Champions League final was at Wembley. Yet Barcelona were still the favourites, still the team to beat and yet, we were surely the one team on the continent that could give them major trouble. United went 4-4-2 for this encounter with Fabio at right back, Vidic and Rio in central defence, Valencia right mid, Carrick and Giggsy centre mid, Park left mid. Rooney and Hernandez up front. Mid-curry, Dad and I prepared to watch United take on what is seen to be the ultimate football challenge.

During the early stages of the match though it looked as if the Reds were more than holding their own in this the biggest of matches but the early goal did not come and Barca were gradually turning up the heat on the occasion. As they did so the United defence started to look more and more desperate untill in the 27th minute when we were finally breached when Xavi slid the ball to Pedro whho slammed it into the net. Yet we weren't done. Some on the other side of the Channel didn't take Rooney seriously before this match - they do now! In the 34th minute we pretty much beat Barca at their own passing game, finishing with a volley from the England assasin that would have made the Nou Camp bow down! Half time and our chances of lifting the trophy looked fairly promising.

Slight problem, Barca had other ideas and if you give Lionel Messi too much space, you're in trouble. In the 54th minute we did just that and he put the ball in the net. Then we gave the ball away to the Argie genius again, this time in the 69th minute, the ball went to Sergio Busquets and from there to David Villa, 3-1 Barca. At this point I started getting a sence of deja vu, because we most certainly did not look like we would be getting back into this encounter. The clock ticked down and Barca were putting on one of their passing demos. It was a better United performance than it was in '09, but it was also a better Barca performance. Better luck next time.

So, congratulations to Barcelona who win the Champions League for the first time since '09. They have also picked the the La Liga title this season. I'm not honestly sure what can be said about this side that hasn't already been said, Barca have never seemed to go with the galactico approach and yet...they just seem utterly invincible. They are the ultimate demonstration of technique. Some, particularly on this little island say that you cannot win matches on technique alone or that you can win them with lesser technique. Well...no one's worked out how to beat Barca that way yet to the best of my knowledge. An awesome display.

 

In domestic affairs, Reading faced Swansea in the Championship playoff final at Wembley. Scott Sinclair opened the scoring for Swansea with a penalty and got his second soon afterwards before Stephen Dobbie made it three before half time. Reading were given home when Swansea midfielder Joe Allen put the ball in his own net and Matthew Mills pulled another back but Sinclair then completed his hat-trick with a second penalty and that finished the game off. So, congratulations to Swansea who will be playing in the English top flight for the first time since the 1982-83 season, having a Welsh side in the Premiership will certainly be interesting.

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