And they didnt, except they were fighting for ball possesion half the time they spent on the pitch at The Wembley in London. Barcelona outclassed the English with their agility and constant passing to keep the devils running for the ball. Within 20 mins of the game, Barca had succesfully completed double the number of passes as United. They continued to dominate in the first half with four solid attempts at scoring, one of which was converted when Evra failed to coordinate with Vidic both of whom gave up their run and moved inwards to an advancing Xavi who was quick to pass the ball to a clear Pedro who then had just Van Der Sar to beat. Respite came soon for United fans when Hernandez returned Rooney's pass laying down a neat shot for him which he completed in classic Rooney style to level the score 1-1 before half time.
Second half was similar with United struggling to complete their passes and generating goal scoring oppurtunities. Ten minutes into the second half, what looked like a potentially harmless pass to Messi by Iniesta, saw the 23 year old swoop in and take a shot from just outside the box to equal Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s record of 12 Goals in a Champions League season . Soon after, at the 70th minute, a similar build up saw Busquets passing outwards from inside the United Box to Villa who had enough time to stop the ball and take a calculated world class shot which went right into the top corner taking the score to 3-1 which they held till the final whistle.
Time and again, Barcelona have demonstrated their unique style of playing. Relfective of the spanish league version of the game, they never let the ball stay too long with any player. With such world class players as Messi, Villa and Pedro in the front who have 98 goals between them this season, they are perfect in completing their passes and executing shots when it is required of them. United lack this agility, the english league has a slightly sluggish overtone to its play, it was visible yesterday when United players refrained from going after advancing Barca players while the spaniards were always first to go after their opponents to try and dispossess them, giving them absolutely no breathing space.
United depend on gaps, long balls and headers to get their goals, Barcelona are comfortable passing around even within a crowd of defenders. In fact many a times, they keep passing until the last minute before a s triker just eases the ball in. Yesterday at Wembley Ferguson’s men could not come to terms with this handicap and Barcelona deservedly took away the Champions League trophy. I believe had Christiano Ronaldo been on United’s side, it would have given them an edge as he has just the right supply of tricks, speed and un-predictability up his sleeve to generate goal scoring oppurtunities for his side. Hernandez seems to have that kind of potential but he wasn’t really at his best yesterday.
Even though the devils would be dissapointed they lost twice at Wembley this season, they have had a good overall season with the English premier league win and making it to the Champions League final for the third time in four years. None the less, Sir Alex Ferguson will look forward to retrospect over his team’s gameplay in the light of yesterday’s match .
