Manchester United v FC Barcelona - Champions league Final

eZe^

Barcelona (United fan)

Fair play to pretty much every Man United supporter in here, truly gracious in defeat, wasn't expecting that at all. I just can't describe how awesome this is, to go toe to toe with the other best team in the world and to come out on top in nearly every department makes me so proud.

Firstly I can't believe how Pep Guardiola has changed this clubs fortunes, he was my favourite player of all time when he played for the Blaugrana, but now he has won the treble in his first ever season. That has to make him the manager of the season right? Delighted for him. Also, SOOO happy to see Henry get his winners medal, I was his biggest critic over the past two years, but he truly proved me wrong.

Also, let's not belittle C. Ronaldo, he is a fantastic player, imo he isn't as good as Messi, as he doesn't contribute as much. But to laugh at him for being on the losing side is a little small time, he was Utd's best player tonight. There is NO way any player could function as expected when your midfield is dismantled as badly as Utd's was tonight by Barca. It was amazing, Iniesta/ Xavi/ Busquets were untouchable really... Hopefully they'll go down as one of the best midfield partnerships of all time, it'll be awesome to watch those players supply Torres/ Villa at the WC next summer.

Finally, I'd REALLY like if we could put to bed the fact that Barcelona have an awful defense... In the past 5 games against English sides, they conceded two goals, both wonderstrikes (Essien/ Scholes). Sure they aren't as defensively astute as the likes of Liverpool or Chelsea, but they are more than capable of defending against any team. Pique is probably the best passing central defender I've ever seen, he sprays long balls around the pitch similar to Alonso, lovely to see.

Hold your heads high United fans, I've been there, last year it looked like Barca would be in the shadow of Real Madrid/ Manchester United/ Chelsea for the next decade, but look at us now. You have a great squad, and can only get better, I just think you need Hargreaves to be fit, and try and find a ball playing CMF like Pirlo. Fairplay though, classy game and it has to be respected that SAF tried to go toe to toe with us.


Let's hope we can go on to add more CL's to our trophy cabinet. It's a shame we only have 3, yet we are joint top scorers in the competitions history. Bet Pep will win us the next 6 on the bounce... ;)

VISCA BARCAAAAAA SALUD AL CAMPEONNNNNNN

yermandan

We had no leader. We have no leader. Iniesta is just amazing. Please sign us a leader Fergie. Well done Barca, truly the performance of champions

CorkMan

Barca deserved it, outplayed United, hit the post and kept going forward.

Ronaldo didn't do great. First of all, he shot from 40 yards at the start, only hitting the net on the way back in. He was shooting at every half-chance, not passing to Rooney at all. He missed a good chance near the end. (Plus blatantly elbowing Puyol out of frustration)

I wondered if he saw his misses on the big screen.

Dave!

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

Ahh well...

Sh*tty performance by United, very good performance by Barca

Better team won, not much else to be said really

Well said eZe. Barca deserve this. Brilliant season.

ironictoaster

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

Soby wrote: »

Give Pam and her mates a vist...calm the nerves;)

In temple bar at the moment. It's depressing...

Macker1

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

Barca took Manu to school and gave them an education. People can now see why the likes of Fabregas do not get into the first team for Spain ahead of Xavi and Iniesta. Messi no doubt at his mecurial best and surely demonstrated that he is the man.

Ronaldo will eventually turn up somewhere in the morning because he wasn’t too be found in the Olympic Stadium :P:P:P:P

[Reply]

Macker1

Macker1 wrote: »

Ronaldo will eventually turn up somewhere in the morning because he wasn’t too be found in the Olympic Stadium :P:P:P:P

I didn't know blind men posted on boards! Welcome.

ironingbored

Barcelona (United fan)

eddiehead wrote: »

Fletcher was a huge loss too.

You're the second person to say that. Fletcher is at the same mediocre level as Carrick, Nani, Park and Anderson.

JPA

ironingbored wrote: »

eddiehead wrote: »

Fletcher was a huge loss too.

You're the second person to say that. Fletcher is at the same mediocre level as Carrick, Nani, Park and Anderson.

Well his energy and tenacity cannot be underestimated like that.

I'd just like to also say I am glad there was no controversial decisions, no red card and no penalties.

A7X

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Woah, very disappointing performance by United. I don't subscribe to the whole Barca hype and all United done tonight was make them look better than they actually are. If it was down to Barca stopping United playing then I would say fair enough but Barca had very little to with it. United's players and the tactics that AF employed is the root cause of tonight.


Firstly, United should have employed a 4-2-3-1 formation tonight with two stiffling midfielders keeping an eye on Xavi and Iniesta. Carrick and Anderson should have stuck to those two players like glue. Instead, due to Giggs playing closer to Ronaldo than Carrick and Anderson, the trio of Barca midfielders were just able to play around the United twosome. Even if Giggs was told to drop deeper and cover, I don't think he would have had the legs for it. Giggs simply shouldn't have been on the pitch.

Anderson is a decent young player and has plenty of running in him but he isn't anywhere near good enough to play in the role he was asked to tonight against such high class oppostion. You need more than running in matches like this. You need to be able to cut out runs and read the play before they happen.

Carrick is a decent player but he isn't good enough for United team.



The last time I witnessed this United team outplayed like they were tonight was againt Liverpool a few weeks ago. Liverpool, like Barca, are one of about three or four teams in the world with a better central midfield than United (Chelsea under Hiddink and Mourinho and possibly AC Milan are others too I think).

What seperates United from the rest of the PL is what they have across the rear, along the wings and up top. With world class players in every position but the centre of midfield, United are capable of and do beat 95% of the opposition out there. It is also why Hargreaves missing all season looked to be a non issue as it is only against opposition with top midfields that he is really missed.

Before ye all jump down my throat, look at the thread discussing which players from the United and Liverpool's squad would you pick for a dream team and see who ye all picked - Masch, Alonso and Gerard (Torres too) in virtually every team.

Even though I didn't want United to win tonight, I genuinely thought they could beat Barca. What happened tonight would never have happened against Chelsea or Liverpool - as was proven in the semi against Chelsea. The central midfield of United is a genuine weakness.

I just want to highlight this post again as it's exactly what I was going to say.

Well done Barca.

We played muck. Started off very promising but I feel that early goal killed us, Though it shouldn't have.

I'm sickened.

mcwhirter

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

Man u played like they were in the 2nd division.

Headshot

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

ironingbored wrote: »

eddiehead wrote: »

Fletcher was a huge loss too.

You're the second person to say that. Fletcher is at the same mediocre level as Carrick, Nani, Park and Anderson.

theres always one

have you seen fletch this season

Shanotheslayer

Barcelona (United fan)

Fletch has had a good season tbh. Compared to Carrick- Didn't play well tonight.

Highsider

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

Rooney had a shocker. The white Pele? Me thinks not

ironingbored

Barcelona (United fan)

Headshot wrote: »

have you seen fletch this season

Not in the same league as Iniesta, Xavi or (pleasantly surprised) Busquets tonight.

Y2J_MUFC

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

Great performance by Barca. We really missed a Hargreaves type to get stuck in and get in and about Xavi and Iniesta.

I was really disappointed to see Rooney left out on the wing. It obvious wasn't working, its not fair on the lad. Its one of the biggest games of his career and he should have been playing in his best position. Park is a good squad player, but doesn't have the quality to be playing in a Champions League final. I'd have liked to see us play Tevez and Rooney up front, 4-4-2, and play the United way like we do week in, week out. When you're the defending Champions of Europe, they opposition should be worrying about you, not the other way around.

Great year for Barcelona, they played the right way and got the rewards. At least we have number 18 to celebrate this season, so its not all bad.

K-9

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Woah, very disappointing performance by United. I don't subscribe to the whole Barca hype and all United done tonight was make them look better than they actually are. If it was down to Barca stopping United playing then I would say fair enough but Barca had very little to with it. United's players and the tactics that AF employed is the root cause of tonight.


Firstly, United should have employed a 4-2-3-1 formation tonight with two stiffling midfielders keeping an eye on Xavi and Iniesta. Carrick and Anderson should have stuck to those two players like glue. Instead, due to Giggs playing closer to Ronaldo than Carrick and Anderson, the trio of Barca midfielders were just able to play around the United twosome. Even if Giggs was told to drop deeper and cover, I don't think he would have had the legs for it. Giggs simply shouldn't have been on the pitch.

Anderson is a decent young player and has plenty of running in him but he isn't anywhere near good enough to play in the role he was asked to tonight against such high class oppostion. You need more than running in matches like this. You need to be able to cut out runs and read the play before they happen.

Carrick is a decent player but he isn't good enough for United team.



The last time I witnessed this United team outplayed like they were tonight was againt Liverpool a few weeks ago. Liverpool, like Barca, are one of about three or four teams in the world with a better central midfield than United (Chelsea under Hiddink and Mourinho and possibly AC Milan are others too I think).

What seperates United from the rest of the PL is what they have across the rear, along the wings and up top. With world class players in every position but the centre of midfield, United are capable of and do beat 95% of the opposition out there. It is also why Hargreaves missing all season looked to be a non issue as it is only against opposition with top midfields that he is really missed.

Before ye all jump down my throat, look at the thread discussing which players from the United and Liverpool's squad would you pick for a dream team and see who ye all picked - Masch, Alonso and Gerard (Torres too) in virtually every team.

Even though I didn't want United to win tonight, I genuinely thought they could beat Barca. What happened tonight would never have happened against Chelsea or Liverpool - as was proven in the semi against Chelsea. The central midfield of United is a genuine weakness.

YEP, If Liverpool had Mascherano in the first leg against Chelsea, we'd have beaten them. That's how important a good DM is.

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

I am a Liverpool supporter.. I would like nothing more to be able to say that Barca are a far better side and tore United part.. To think that though would be extremely naive.. How one sided tonights match is the result of a number failings by United's players and their manager..

eddiehead wrote: »

Thats hitting the nail on the head right there, jesus_thats_gre said that wouldn't have happened with Liverpool or Chelsea, which i agree with, but there's no reason why it should happen with United. Against Chelsea, Barca were very ineffective, I think United are more than capable of stopping them play aswell, they just decided not to go that route.....and lost.

FWIW, I dont believe Barca are the superior team, SAF just got it all wrong on the night

QFT.

Hank Scorpio

Highsider wrote: »

Rooney had a shocker. The white Pele? Me thinks not

not really fair. He isnt a winger

He did more than any other UTD midfielder tonight

eddiehead

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

ironingbored wrote: »

Not in the same league as Iniesta, Xavi or (pleasantly surprised) Busquets tonight.

No Fletcher isn't in the same league as Xavi or Iniesta, but he's the ideal type of player to use against them, so like i said, he was a huge loss

Headshot

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

Im poor sick and tired of saf messing Rooney about,he's a god dam striker

Rooney is he's own worse enemy sometimes

Highsider

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

The boss thinks Anderson is going to replace you Paul

A7X

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

Highsider wrote: »

Rooney had a shocker. The white Pele? Me thinks not

Agreed he did, but he has been our most consistent player recently played out of his favoured position. I feel sorry for him tbh. Usually plays his heart out.

Y2J_MUFC

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

nuxxx wrote: »

not really fair. He isnt a winger

He wasn't playing in his best position and the team overall didn't play well. Its just a cheap ABU-type pop at him tbh. He's not a miracle worker. You can't pick out one player in particular (especially a player not playing in his best position). The whole team didn't click. End of story.

imeddyhobbs

Nobodys talking about the lack of leadership in the Utd team??

A7X

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

imeddyhobbs wrote: »

Nobodys talking about the lack of leadership in the Utd team??

Aye. That popped into my head. Just thinking, "we need someone to grab the team by the scruff of the neck and go for it" but no one did.

Headshot

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

imeddyhobbs wrote: »

Nobodys talking about the lack of leadership in the Utd team??

mate its been like that for yrs

and look how many trophies we've won

imeddyhobbs

Headshot wrote: »

mate its been like that for yrs

and look how many trophies we've won

How many have ye lost,Tonight included??

eddiehead

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

imeddyhobbs wrote: »

How many have ye lost,Tonight included??

Are you serious?

Headshot

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

imeddyhobbs wrote: »

How many have ye lost,Tonight included??

its impossible to win every trophie mate with or without a leader

just have to balance out the trophies we've won with the ones we've loss since keane left

and you'll see a leader doesnt always matter

carlop

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

Highsider wrote: »

Rooney had a shocker. The white Pele? Me thinks not

I thought Rooney was shocking, that doesn't mean he's not a great player. Judging a player on one performance against the best team in Europe is bit short-sighted in my opinion.

Barcelona had a terrible start to this season, by your rationale I guess they should have just got rid of Guardiola, yeah? Benayoun was the much-maligned for the first half of the season, now he's banging them in and playing really well, Malouda the same.

A player, and indeed a team, needs to be assessed over a long period of time. That is why we have a 38-game league season.

A7X

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

Headshot wrote: »

mate its been like that for yrs

and look how many trophies we've won

Regardless of how many trophies we won, a leader out there tonight is what we needed when we were one goal down and dying for a goal.
There was no one really tryong to rally the troops so to speak on the field.

imeddyhobbs

Headshot wrote: »

its impossible to win every trophie mate with or without a leader

just have to balance out the trophies we've won with the ones we've loss since keane left

and you'll see a leader doesnt always matter

Fair enough but,

Seems to me that Ferguson wants to be the manager and captain.

Watch how players look to the bench for approval instead of talking to someone on the pitch,captains mean nothing at Man Utd

Hank Scorpio

is it fair to say most utd fans had a inkling or a feeling barca won win 2nite?

eddiehead

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

A7X wrote: »

Regardless of how many trophies we won, a leader out there tonight is what we needed when we were one goal down and dying for a goal.
There was no one really tryong to rally the troops so to speak on the field.

I dont buy that for a second to be honest, you could play Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Roy Keane,James T Kirk and Barack Obama in a 4-3-3 against that Barca side and still lose, lack of leadership was not the problem tonight.

Spud83

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

I won't say much becuase now aint the time and I don't want to take away from barca by picking apart our performance.

Quite simply the better team won tonight, and congratulations to them. I'm disappointed at losing and our performance in many regards but nothing can be taken away from barca they were very simply better.

eZe^

Barcelona (United fan)

SlickRic

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

first of all, a huge congratulations to Barcelona on a thoroughly deserved victory. even though i was fully aware of the threat they posed, i was completely taken aback by what I saw tonight. breathtaking stuff.

utd's gameplan seemed to hinge on getting that 1st goal quick. they were unreal in those first ten minutes, and you could argue deserved a goal due to the intensity with which the went about their business; although Ronaldo was being ridiculously selfish at times.

but then, 3 words....

'GOALS CHANGE GAMES'

who knows if barca would have turned in the performance they did without that timely goal. we don't. but it happened, and the much vaunted first goal was eto'o's after Iniesta walked through the Utd midfield. for the rest of the half barca passed it around utd at will. chelsea never had to contend with a Barca who had a lead, to their credit, and Barca with a lead is a different animal altogether. messi did some unreal things but the puppeteers, xavi and iniesta were on another planet.

utd were now nervous, and barca were relaxed.

i was still on edge throughout the 2nd half, because we all know what utd are like. but i need not have worried as xavi and iniesta continued to do what most of us knew anderson, giggs and carrick were unlikely to stop them doing; controlling the game. they had the goal, and we could now all see what we've all been raving about with regards to this team. messi's goal was a thing of beauty; granted it was poor defending really, but the cross was perfectly flighted, with Messi's header precise, heading it from behind him.

then barca taught us a lesson in how to kill a game, even though Ronaldo had a chance immediately after the second, and Berbatov had a header he should've done better with.

there is no shame in losing to that barca team.

utd have an unbelievable amonut to be proud of this season. they are the English Champions and Carling Cup winners. also, essentially they were a couple of games away from potentially winning everything; all that with, imo, a deficient midfield when you compare it with their great midfields.

anderson was shown up for what he is tonight; merely a very good prospect whose not quite ready for the top top level.

giggs couldn't handle the class of Xavi and Iniesta at all; he wasn't disgraced, he just shouldn't be one of the anchors, at 35, of a Manchester United midfield.

for barca, Pep's done it all in his first season. already a legend, who has stayed true to the principles by which Barcelona have always played. the treble in his first season; unbelievable achievement.

iniesta was incredible, as were messi and xavi. they did exactly what their form this season promised. the angles and the positions they took up were just out of this world. it really was a joy to watch. i can't pick a man of the match between those three. even toure could claim to be up there.

it's barcelona's night, and good luck to them; quite possibly the most complete performance in a European Cup final by any team since the great Milan team that hammered Barca 4-0 all those years ago.

jesus_thats_gre

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

eddiehead wrote: »

I dont buy that for a second to be honest, you could play Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Roy Keane,James T Kirk and Barack Obama in a 4-3-3 against that Barca side and still lose, lack of leadership was not the problem tonight.

What happened to United tonight was alot more significant than loosing in my opinion.

Barca didn't stiffle them. Bara didn't even step into second gear. Barca put out an average enough performance for a team of their quality.

United lacked leadership. They lacked any destructive players in the centre of midfield. They lacked any player in the centre of midfield that could spot a run and pick out that killer pass. With the above lacking, they just gave up.

Very little of the above would probably have happened with Steven Gerard, Roy Keane et all on the pitch.

JPA

jesus_thats_gre, that was NOT an average performance. That performance, in the final ,was outstandingly brilliant.
What the hell?

eZe^

Barcelona (United fan)

Iniesta is too fcuking good to be honest. I'm so glad people are recognising his brilliance as opposed to pointing out his lack of goals. He is more complete than Xavi and Fabregas, his dribbling is second in world football only to Messi. Amazing little player, maybe even my favourite, despite that brain surgery haircut he usually sports... :D:D

Headshot

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

JPA wrote: »

jesus_thats_gre, that was NOT an average performance. That performance, in the final ,was outstandingly brilliant.
What the hell?

tbh they didnt have to try too hard against utd after the first goal concided


the minute that went in the heads dropped

monkey9

eZe^ wrote: »

Fair play to pretty much every Man United supporter in here, truly gracious in defeat, wasn't expecting that at all.

In fairness, they hadn't much choice!! Any Utd fan who'd had done a Wenger would have been laughed out of it. Barca were incredible tonight! Absolutely no debate. The top players stood up and were counted!

Xavi6

Barcelona (United fan)

Delighted for Xavi.

He was only an unused sub for the previous final having just recovered from a cruciate ligament injury but tonight he got to prove his ability in the biggest club game in the world. His ball for Messi's goal was better than porn.

Still the best midfielder ever.

A7X

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

eddiehead wrote: »

I dont buy that for a second to be honest, you could play Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Roy Keane,James T Kirk and Barack Obama in a 4-3-3 against that Barca side and still lose, lack of leadership was not the problem tonight.

I really don't know how you can't see that a leader in the middle, who has a huge influence on those around them would'nt of changed that game.

Some one to encourage the players, drive them on and tell them what to do. It's something that was needed but not all that was needed tonight.

JPA

Headshot wrote: »

tbh they didnt have to try too hard against utd after the first goal concided


the minute that went in the heads dropped

Ya but it's not like they lay down. The players on the pitch weren't good enough. They couldn't get the ball. Maybe a full United squad would have been good enough.
By saying United gave up is taking away from Barcelona who were amazing.

Anyone else think Alves absence was a blessing? He's just too marauding.

monkey9

eddiehead wrote: »

I dont buy that for a second to be honest, you could play Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Roy Keane,James T Kirk and Barack Obama in a 4-3-3 against that Barca side and still lose, lack of leadership was not the problem tonight.

That's complete bullsh!t. Barca were awesome tonight and it was very one sided. But any team with a bit of fight in them would have put it up to Barca tonight. Barca strolled that final and i don't know what was wrong with Utd!.
But to say no one could have dealt with Barca tonight is complete, naive bullsh!t

eddiehead

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

What happened to United tonight was alot more significant than loosing in my opinion.

Barca didn't stiffle them. Bara didn't even step into second gear. Barca put out an average enough performance for a team of their quality.

United lacked leadership. They lacked any destructive players in the centre of midfield. They lacked any player in the centre of midfield that could spot a run and pick out that killer pass. With the above lacking, they just gave up.

Very little of the above would probably have happened with Steven Gerard, Roy Keane et all on the pitch.

I half agree with you here, yes that destructive midfield type player would have stifled Barca, but to simply add great leadership qualities to one or two players out of the 11 who started while in that formation would have changed nothing. Take Makelele, Essien or Mascherano for example, any of those 3 would have dramatically improved uniteds chances, but none have outstanding leadership qualities like a Keane or Gerrard. So what I'm saying is yes Keane or Gerrard specifically would have made a difference but not necessarily because they are great captains, more because of the types of players they are.

My point is they weren't lacking a captain, they were lacking a good defensive midfielder.

eZe^

Barcelona (United fan)

Xavi6 wrote: »

Delighted for Xavi.

He was only an unused sub for the previous final having just recovered from a cruciate ligament injury but tonight he got to prove his ability in the biggest club game in the world. His ball for Messi's goal was better than porn.

Still the best midfielder ever.

He's no Pep, maybe in 10 years when he is managing Barca to their 11th consecutive CL medal I'll agree.... :pac:;) The main thing that I fell in love with tonight was how impossible it was to get Xavi/ Iniesta off the ball, I remember one moment where Iniesta jinked out of two tackles, chipped the ball to Xavi and he opened up United's defense with a lovely through ball to Henry...

LuckyLloyd

yermandan wrote: »

We had no leader. We have no leader.

What Utd lacked tonight imo. I don't buy the assertion that the likes of Carrick and Scholes are beaten dockets at the very highest levels (Anderson is a way off yet), just that they aren't what you need in games like tonight. A Keane would have stood up and fought tonight, NEVER would have allowed them to weave double digit passing patterns over and over in the middle of the park. NEVER would have stopped getting in his teammates ears to hold it when they got it. I don't know who is available or what type of money Utd can invest, but if they had €50 to spend on a player it should be on a Masch, Essien type '**** you' player in the middle of the park. Then, maybe, talk of being the best team in history, etc may be somewhat justified. Ye are very, very, very, very good - but there is definitely room for improvement.

Barca though lads! At times, just wow...words don't cut it.