Manchester United v FC Barcelona - Champions league Final

PHB

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

Iniesta destroyed us.

Both teams defensive weakness was exploited throughout the game.
Iniesta made those driving runs which resulted in the Eto goal.
United had lots of space on the wings, but for some absurd reason, had no Berbatov in there. And then Pique played ****ing amazing, like absolutely world class. Take note to any person on these boards who never rated him, because he just put in a MOM performance in the Champions League final. We nearly got somewhere, and in the first ten minutes, you could see we were doing good stuff. But then Barca's goal just knocked us out of our stride.

Vidic was shocking for the goal, but he is always in trouble with no DM in front of him. Ferdinand for the second goal was equally poor, although how Xavi was allowed that much space is beyond me. Well no its not beyond me, it was a stupid decision by Fergie to take off Anderson.

I really don't understand Fergie's initial selection, I think it made no sense considering no DM. Then bringing on Tevez instead of Berbatov was nuts. Then taking off Anderson, who even though he had a poor game, gave much more than Giggs, was just typical Fergie, sentimental for no bloody reason.
I'm fairly upset by Fergie's choices, as I think we could have won that match on another night.

But on that night, Barca bloody owned us and deserved their win. I'm very disappointed, but it was great to see Pique and Henry win it, I think they deserve it.

We'll be back next year, and I expect the team to beat will be Barca, and I hope we can stop you from doing the double that we couldn't do

kwestfan08

Coming from a United fan, the better team defiantly won. Xavi and Iniesta tore through our midfiled and we paid dearly for not having a tackling midfileder in there for the first goal. Had Fletcher played though I think we could have stood a far greater chance of winning.

eZe^

Barcelona (United fan)

PHB wrote: »

as I think we could have won that match on another night.

Obviously, it was a match involving two of the best teams in world football! you play that game 10 times and it probably ends up 6-4 in favour of one or the other...

adox

Just back from the pub and I have to say well done to Barcelona, really deserved it. I even applauded when they lifted the trophy.

United were very disappointing. Nobody really had a good game for them but thats the way it goes sometimes and what makes football such a great game to watch,even in defeat.

I cant honestly blame the tactics or team selection. Ferguson picked the team and formation I would have started with. They just didnt perform to anywhere near the level that they can. The midfield is without doubt the weakest department in the squad but even accounting for that they should have done alot better.

Anyway, take it on the chin. They were well and truely beaten tonight and good luck to Barcelona, a fantastic club with some fantastic players who play great football.

Things are never a s good as you think when they are going well and never as bad as you think when not going well. We`ll be back at it again next season.:)

SlickRic

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

i'm bloody delighted for thierry henry.

f***ing love that guy.

that is all.

Headshot

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

hard to say but im happy for henry

deserves a CL medal

eddiehead

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

A7X wrote: »

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.

I was replying to your origional post where you just said they simply lacked leadership,you didn't say anything about what they lacked in midfield. All the encouragement and leadership in the world wouldn't help them the way they were set out tonight, adding a world class holding midfielder however.....

SlickRic

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

Headshot wrote: »

hard to say but im happy for henry

deserves a CL medal

it's the last in his collection of honours really.

he's literally won all he can win now in England, Spain and at international level.

Headshot

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

we could have Roy keane in the team and we'll still probly loose

what we needed was a roy keane and a young scholes

Vanbis

PHB wrote: »

Iniesta destroyed us.

Both teams defensive weakness was exploited throughout the game.
Iniesta made those driving runs which resulted in the Eto goal.
United had lots of space on the wings, but for some absurd reason, had no Berbatov in there. And then Pique played ****ing amazing, like absolutely world class. Take note to any person on these boards who never rated him, because he just put in a MOM performance in the Champions League final. We nearly got somewhere, and in the first ten minutes, you could see we were doing good stuff. But then Barca's goal just knocked us out of our stride.

Vidic was shocking for the goal, but he is always in trouble with no DM in front of him. Ferdinand for the second goal was equally poor, although how Xavi was allowed that much space is beyond me. Well no its not beyond me, it was a stupid decision by Fergie to take off Anderson.

I really don't understand Fergie's initial selection, I think it made no sense considering no DM. Then bringing on Tevez instead of Berbatov was nuts. Then taking off Anderson, who even though he had a poor game, gave much more than Giggs, was just typical Fergie, sentimental for no bloody reason.
I'm fairly upset by Fergie's choices, as I think we could have won that match on another night.

I agree with everything above 100%. I'm more disappointment in the perfermorance then anything. I can understand one player maybe not having a great game but they are in the Champions League final so many to not turning up.

JIZZLORD

a great result, but tbh united didnt play. most of the time there were 8 utd players defending and not doing much

eZe^

Barcelona (United fan)

SlickRic wrote: »

it's the last in his collection of honours really.

he's literally won all he can win now in England, Spain and at international level.

Deserved a WPOTY award at some stage too, but he has won every trophy alright... WC, EC, CL, 2 different domestic league titles, 2 different domestic cup titles, blah blah blah...

SlickRic

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

that utd team out there tonight beats most teams most of the time.

but up against a really top class team, the lack of real quality in the centre of the park will eventually damage you.

ferguson has to realise this, seen as his standards are so high.

eddiehead

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

monkey9 wrote: »

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

Obviously you completely misunderstood my post. My point was that with the players and the formation used tonight United never had a chance. I'm a Chelsea fan, so you don't need to tell me twice that Barca are beatable, I know how lucky they were to get to the final in the first place.

Headshot

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

SlickRic wrote: »

that utd team out there tonight beats most teams most of the time.

but up against a really top class team, the lack of real quality in the centre of the park will eventually damage you.

ferguson has to realise this, seen as his standards are so high.

most of the time ?

we did pretty bad against the other top 3 in the EPL this season

eZe^

Barcelona (United fan)

eddiehead wrote: »

Obviously you completely misunderstood my post. My point was that with the players and the formation used tonight United never had a chance. I'm a Chelsea fan, so you don't need to tell me twice that Barca are beatable, I know how lucky they were to get to the final in the first place.

Ah but you know, Russians are never really successful on a European though....

monkey9

How did Xavi get Man of the Match??? Now, this is no anti-Xavi in any way. But bloody hell, who the hell thought Iniesta was not Man of the Match. He is so brilliant, it's incredible (i hope St Pat's sign him!!!! )

eZe^

Barcelona (United fan)

monkey9 wrote: »

How did Xavi get Man of the Match??? Now, this is no anti-Xavi in any way. But bloody hell, who the hell thought Iniesta was not Man of the Match. He is so brilliant, it's incredible (i hope St Pat's sign him!!!! )

Was between Iniesta and Pique imo, Xavi a close third...

SlickRic

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

Headshot wrote: »

most of the time ?

we did pretty bad against the other top 3 in the EPL this season

that supports my point really, seen as the other top 3 are top class opposition who, seen as your midfield really isn't good enough, are more than capable of beating you.

when i say 'most of the teams most of the time' i'm talking about everyone apart from the top tier of football teams.

SlickRic

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

eZe^ wrote: »

Was between Iniesta and Pique imo, Xavi a close third...

along with messi (although he is the 'Hollywood' choice!), and i thought Toure was sensational, especially considering that's not his best position.

he even had time for a marauding run up the pitch in the first half.

thegen

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

Loook UTD are pobably the best attacking sidein the pemier league, they just met a team better than them end of!!!

eddiehead

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

eZe^ wrote: »

Ah but you know, Russians are never really successful on a European though....

Next year eZe, next year

Otis Driftwood

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

As a United fan,Im saddened.

As a football fan and a United fan,what can I say.

We were out fought,out played and out classed for almost the whole game.

I have no complaints and applaud Barca for how they played tonight and their attitude throughout.

Barring the first 10 minutes we were not a threat at all.

No touch,no passes,nothing.

Simply put they outshone us in every way,shape and form.

Hats off to Barcelona,their fans,and the paper fans that always come out of the woodwork for these types of game.

We will just have to make do with 3 trophys this season.

Oh well.

monkey9

eddiehead wrote: »

Obviously you completely misunderstood my post. My point was that with the players and the formation used tonight United never had a chance. I'm a Chelsea fan, so you don't need to tell me twice that Barca are beatable, I know how lucky they were to get to the final in the first place.

Fair enough. Apologies!!!

allthedoyles

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

Man U , have absolutely no decent midfielders......They must buy immediately.

Anyway , most of the Man U players were acting like they believed all the hype in the newspapers / tv.

Even Sir Alex said that fate was the reason they were going to win the CL .

Fate does not win football matches .......................Matches are won by 11 players performing well on the night and also by which-ever team scores the most goals

Mr Alan

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

allthedoyles wrote: »

Fate does not win football matches .......................Matches are won by 11 players performing well on the night and also by which-ever team scores the most goals

Giles?! is that you!?

Mr.Nice Guy

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

Well Barca just put a dampener on my birthday!

Can't really have any complaints. The better team won and they are some team. Iniesta was different class. Unfortunately Rooney didn't do it on the night like I believed he would. I remarked while the team was lined up that Rooney looked a bit nervous and he seemed to start in a shaky way and never really come into the match. I was surprised.

I think the defining moment was the first goal. It was all United but the Barca goal definitely rattled the team, and Barca are not a team you want to allow go into the lead. It was the equivalent of a boxer who starts well with a flurry of offence and then gets hit with a sucker punch that knocks him to the mat. You need courage and heart to be able to pick yourself up and recover from that and sadly the team in white didn't have any. Barcelona did.

It was a great shame no one had the leadership to be able to rally the team to get back into it. If ever a Keane-type player was needed it was tonight. Carrick is a guy I've been a fan of and while he had a good start to the season, the truth is he's faded sharply since around March or so and he played very badly tonight. The defence didn't cover itself in glory either, though I thought O'Shea did well overall.

Disappointing but I think this team will be back. As the saying goes failure isn't failure as long as you learn from it and I fancy United to come back a stronger team from the disappointment.

Still, well done to Barcelona on a well-deserved win.

thegen

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

For the good of football I am delighted that Barca won.

Unicef V AIG (tINKERS)

And I dont have to listen to my two Bros giving it large


Happy Fcucking Days

Xavi6

Barcelona (United fan)

So in less than 12 months Xavi has been voted Player of the Tournament at the European Championships and Man of the Match in the Champions League Final. Not half bad I suppose! :pac:

Mr Alan

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

and neither were deserved!

Xavi6, you must have friends is high places!;)

MisterAnarchy

Barcelona (Neutral)

I am wondering do other Utd fans find the football played over the last season as good as in previous seasons ?

I generally dont find the football half as exciting.
The team seems to be alot more restrained and defensive in nature.

Utd struggled to beat alot of weaker teams this season 1-0 and relied on alot of late goals.
In seasons gone by we'd hammer lowly placed league teams ,5-0,6-0,7-0.
Now its 1-0 ,just do enough.

The central midfielders dont seem to be getting forward as much as in previous seasons.
Scholes hardly ever gets forward,similarly Carrick and they are reluctant to shoot anymore.

Its a noticeable change in the style of play and its even more noticeable in the away European games.
Utd play cautiously away from home,and dont seem to put too much emphasis on attack.
They are basically defending with a 6 man defence and hoping to create something with the other 4 players.

I wonder did Mourinhos tactics at Chelsea influence these tactical and style changes ?

I dont think the quality of Utds football this season has been great,its been very professional and organised with a sprinkling of class.
But far too many wins have been ground out.

This Barca team is a great team,their football is a joy to watch and tonight they exposed all the flaws I've thought existed in the current Utd team.

johnor

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

yea.. disapointed we didnt show up tonight

rooney far too quite playing out there on left, when he did get the ball he couldnt beat the first man alot of the time...

felt overall we lacked the drive to go and beat them, i guess the early goal really knocked us, but i thought there woulda been someone in the team who could grab them and get them going... no one rose to it. was left thinking what coulda been from that free kick from ronaldo, only half chances after that to be honest, the one time giggs acctually got his head down in the second half created a chance but again pique i think got the block in on giggs if not ronaldos strike..

Dont agree with the calls for a mass clear out, I think a bit of extra class is defo required, I feel like we should be going out and doing what barce are doing, found myself thinking if only fletcher was playing we might have contained them better.. but really we should be looking to be out playing the likes of them imo, something to aspire to anyhow.

full credit to barce, out passed us, some of the movement was fantastic, looked like school boys chasing after it by times. Id echo what some said before, Iniestia was by far best player on the pitch, his control was class and his use of the ball and space was fantastic.

Handsome Bob

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

The result was justified. There can be no complaints. Bar the first ten minutes Barcelona dominated and schooled Manchester United. It was almost embarassing to watch Barca's midfield boss Man U's.

thegen

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

Mr Alan wrote: »

and neither were deserved!

Xavi6, you must have friends is high places!;)

Xavi, inesta, Messi take you pick, a country mile ahead of Ronals=do, Ruooney, Tevez or Berbatov:p

mcowhey

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

thegen wrote: »

Loook UTD are pobably the best attacking sidein the pemier league, they just met a team better than them end of!!!

well now lets not go overboard, Utd might be the second best attacking side in england behind liverpool but they're not the best.

Barca fully deserved it tonight they were brilliant, but in saying that united were crap after etoo's goal. that won the game tonight.

There is no easier way to put it other than barca kept a clean sheet tonight and they're one of the worst defensive sides in the world. That is how bad united were tonight

mcowhey

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

I know this will come across as a ridiculous statement given the success of this united team but do they have a clue how to win a final. I genuinely dont think they know how to win.

I say this cos,
Charity Shield - Penalties
Champs League - Penalties
League Cup - Penalties

now in that time they've won 3 leagues but weren't really challenged, Chelsea last year with a push towards the end and Liverpool this year who threw it away in January. Basically in my opinion for all the talent they serious are lacking big game players which united never lacked previously

allthedoyles

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

mcowhey wrote: »

I say this cos,
Charity Shield - Penalties
Champs League - Penalties
League Cup - Penalties

Yep, they may have won on penalties , but they threw away the FA Cup semi-final on penalties ...................I mean the one Berbatov took was so childish

And you may have noticed , that since that defeat to Everton in the FA semi-final, Sir Alex has left Berba on the best for most matches since then........

Not surprising , it was a ridiculous attempt at penalty - taking

johnor

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

mcowhey wrote: »

I say this cos,
Charity Shield - Penalties
Champs League - Penalties
League Cup - Penalties

add to that the semi v everton all be it a weakened team (not weak)
also the fa cup v chelsea in first year we got the league back

could have a point... not so sure about the big game theory as so much the final thing... think theyve stepped up the plate in games v big teams..

mcowhey

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

ya i know berbatovs penalty was ridiculous but do that side know how to win when its all on the line

thegen

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

allthedoyles wrote: »

Yep, they may have won on penalties , but they threw away the FA Cup semi-final on penalties ...................I mean the one Berbatov took was so childish

And you may have noticed , that since that defeat to Everton in the FA semi-final, Sir Alex has left Berba on the best for most matches since then........

Not surprising , it was a ridiculous attempt at penalty - taking

Well Ferguson did pay
32 mil for him:rolleyes:

romperstomper

lads where can i get some of the RTE panel stuff from tonight?

fcleere

Barcelona (Neutral)

we were always told as chaps that you have to suffer the bitterness of defeat before you can truely appreciate the sweetness of victory.
i hope this loss will stand to this united squad and show them now what it takes to convincingly win finals. it should give them that extra edge that you need to win matches like these.
bet by the better team on the night, simple as. defense was bad, midfield non existent, and forwards with no creativity. not even the introduction of tevez could get the team revved up.
carrick was exceptionally poor again.
maybe another mid fielder in the summer is an option?

5starpool

mcowhey wrote: »

well now lets not go overboard, Utd might be the second best attacking side in england behind liverpool but they're not the best.

Barca fully deserved it tonight they were brilliant, but in saying that united were crap after etoo's goal. that won the game tonight.

There is no easier way to put it other than barca kept a clean sheet tonight and they're one of the worst defensive sides in the world. That is how bad united were tonight

Ah now, steady on.

They may not exactly had the solidity of Italian teams of the past in defence, but no need to go overboard. They are not exaclty West Brom at the back.

SlickRic

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

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_5351405,00.html

i hate to say it, but fair play to fergie, no bullsh*t.

although it would be hard to after that game.

'in fairness, we were beaten by a better team'

applehunter

Barcelona (United fan)

Watched the match with a real Barca fan tonight.

He thinks this is the best Barca team he has seen.

IMO this is the best club team we have ever seen.

Even better than Cork City 2004/2005

MisterAnarchy

Barcelona (Neutral)

Johnny Utah wrote: »

The likes of Carrick, Anderson, Park aren't up to the standard of the prvious great United teams over the years- Keane, Scholes, Beckham at their peak. Nowadays, Scholes and Giggs are past it, they were once great but their legs are gone sadly. United could use an injection of talent in the center of the park.

Compare that midfield tonight against that of 99, Beckham,Scholes,Keane,Giggs, no comparison.
Watching the highlights now and UTD were absolutely woeful in the final quarter,any time a Barca player approached them they gave the ball away.
Most times Barca attacked Utd had plenty of players back but half of them were just running around chasing shadows.

Johnny Utah

Barcelona (United fan)

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Compare that midfield tonight against that of 99, Beckham,Scholes,Keane,Giggs, no comparison.
Watching the highlights now and UTD were absolutely woeful in the final quarter,any time a Barca player approached them they gave the ball away.
Most times Barca attacked Utd had plenty of players back but half of them were just running around chasing shadows.

Exactly, thank you. How many of United's current midfield would get into either the 99 or 94 teams. None I would think. They were clearly outclassed tonight- Iniesta, Xavi, Messi et al - different planet.

MisterAnarchy

Barcelona (Neutral)

Johnny Utah wrote: »

The truth is United have a lot of average, ordinary players right through their squad, and a lot of old-timers too that way past their sell-by date; a fact that has been masked by the heroics of Ronaldo, Tevez and Rooney over the last two seasons. I think they'll need a big clearout in the summer cause the midfield went MIA tonight.

Very true.
Ronaldo has become their get out of jail card .
The guy single handedly carried them last season and almost did it this year.
If he leaves they will be fracked.

K-9

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Compare that midfield tonight against that of 99, Beckham,Scholes,Keane,Giggs, no comparison.
Watching the highlights now and UTD were absolutely woeful in the final quarter,any time a Barca player approached them they gave the ball away.
Most times Barca attacked Utd had plenty of players back but half of them were just running around chasing shadows.

Ah some sense. It wasn't just the final quarter though.

MisterAnarchy

Barcelona (Neutral)

K-9 wrote: »

Ah some sense. It wasn't just the final quarter though.

True ,they had no composure on the ball at all to be honest

On a side note I thought the tv picture quality tonight was rubbish ,very blurry and the replays were crap too.