Captain Puyol and the rest of the blaugrana hoist the trophy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
FC Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United FC
FC Barcelona surprised a great many in the football world with a comprehensive 2-0 victory over Manchester United in Rome to take the Champions League title away from the current holders and complete the historic treble. Having won the Spanish League and the Copa Del Rey the week before, Barcelona became the first Spanish side to add the European championship to the domestic double. Leading up to the match there was consensus among football punditry and experts alike that United were the favorites -- if not heavy favorites -- to repeat as European champions. Indeed there was not much one could argue to the contrary as the Catalans had managed only one goal in their previous 12 halves against English sides – their nifty passing and technical ability seemingly no match for the strength and defensive prowess of the top Premiership clubs. On this night however Barça found the breakthrough which had eluded them for much of the last three campaigns.
The pre-match debate as to Sir Alex’s planned tactics -- would he come out and attack Barça’s makeshift defense, or would he park the bus and defend in the hopes of scoring on a counter or free kick -– was answered decisively in the first ten minutes as United dominated the proceedings by launching wave after wave of attack on Barcelona’s net. However, against the run of play, in the 10th minute a clever run by Iniesta was finished when Samuel Eto’o juked past Vidic and fired a shot past Edwin van der Sar for Barça’s first goal. The surprise of the ensuing 80 minutes was that United never seemed to recover from the letdown of this initial concession and were unable to regain the initiative that had so clearly been theirs at the start. The nervy match was put out of reach in the 70th minute in an unlikely manner when 5’7” Lionel Messi deftly headed a beautifully served cross from Xavi for the blaugrana’s second and final goal.
Though it is difficult for me to put an exact finger on how Barça was able to control the majority of the match against such a strong United side, I think it is safe to say the battle was won in the midfield. Having already won the Euro 2008 tournament for Spain, Xavi and Iniesta are proving to be one of the most effective midfield tandems in world football. To their credit United seemed unwilling to hack away at the mighty mites the way that Chelsea had, and this extra bit of fairplay allowed the duo the space to orchestrate the passing game that has won Barça so many accolades this season.
Regardless of whether a cynic can question Barcelona’s right to play in the final after a terrible performance by the referee in the 2nd leg of the semifinal with Chelsea, no one can question the quality of the season that the Catalans assembled. Having beat their arch-rivals Real Madrid by an aggregate 8-2 in La Liga, they marched decisively through some of Europe’s stiffest competition on route to the CL title. They beat the reigning French champs Lyon 6-3 on aggregate, reigning German champs Bayern Munich 5-1 on aggregate, then defeated last year’s runners-up Chelsea, only to beat back-to-back English champs Manchester United in the final.
FC Barcelona have themselves said this is the greatest single season in the club’s long and storied history. After two trophy-less years and a steady decline in the club’s performance, Pep Guardiola’s rookie season at the helm could not have gone any better. His main challenge will be where to go from here.
As Cantona once explained to me, the football pendulum tends to swing back and forth between eras of attacking grace and those of stout, stodgy defense. With Spain’s dazzling conquest of the Euros and Barcelona’s capturing of this year’s CL title, joga bonito appears to be in the ascendency. Next year’s Champions League, and, most importantly, World Cup tournament will go a long way in determining how the current era is viewed in perpetuity. Personally, I’ve got my fingers crossed that the goal-scorer’s get their way.
Real Marin celebrate Barça’s championship with a bottle (or two) of Spanish vino.
