UEFA Champions League Final: Barcelona Show For The Ages
The 2011 Champions League Final, watched by the world's eyes, did not disappoint on Saturday as Barcelona completed the 90 minutes with a 3-1 win over Manchester United. The first half began and for the opening fifteen minutes it looked as though Manchester United's home advantage (English team playing on the English turf of Wembley) was going to pay dividends as they poured on the pressure and put the Barcelona back-line - containing Abidal and Mascherano - on the back-foot with direct balls up to Rooney and Hernandez.
The attacking endeavours of United, however, didn't reap any rewards and as the clock ticked through to the 15 minute mark, Barcelona suddenly flipped the switch and activated 'Massacre mode'. It's a mode they've been stuck in a for a large part of their domestic season and for the majority of the Champions League and for Manchester United, the second fifteen minutes of the match were experienced whilst in a state of fear - fear at the impending onslaught at the hands of the Spanish outfit.
Following near misses from midfielder Pedro (he was able to ghost in at the near post only to put the ball wide from 7 yards out) and from star striker David Villa, Barcelona watched on in disbelief as their warning shots went unheeded. On 27 minutes, Barcelona showed United and the watching world exactly what they were capable of as a beautiful defence splitting ball from Xaxi found Pedro whose solid finish sent Van Der Sar the wrong way.
Despite conceding an opener to Barca, Manchester United didn't throw in the towel, not even against a Barcelona team with a squad of players who wouldn't be out of place in a DC comic and in the 34th minute their resilience paid off. Taking a note out of Barcelona's 'Pass-pass-pass-pass-pass-shoot-score' book, a series of tight passes and one-twos eventually found Rooney at the penalty spot who applied a tidy finish to a Hernandez pass. That finish signaled United's intent and for the remainder of the half, they made Barcelona look human - something the Catalan club hadn't experienced very often.
At half time and at 1-1, the game was surprisingly even. United had spells where they made Barcelona uncomfortable and likewise, Barca had shown glimpses of what they could do to United given a little time and space. In the second half though, United and the estimated 400million worldwide audience would have front row seats to watch possibly the greatest club team in recent memory, tear apart the Premier League champions. Read More
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