Farcelona: Messi United fail to retain European Crown as Ronaldo shows his Petulance

Barcelona showed their class in Rome tonight, as did Lionel Messi, whilst a sloppy and wasteful United were summed up by the petulance and inconsistency of their star man, Ronaldo. The Catalonians ran out deserved winners, outclassing United in all departments to ensure the Champions League trophy takes it’s place back at the Camp Nou.

Surprisingly, it was United who started on the front foot, whereas Barcelona could not seem to keep the ball; a criticism you would never lay at the feet of the La Liga Champions. They seemed to be weathering an early United storm, as the Mancunians, and Ronaldo in particular, craved an early goal.

The World Player of the Year wasted no time in testing Valdes out in the Barca goal, with his ferocious free kick in the second minute, which moved mysteriously through the air, dipping and diving towards goal. Valdes just about got something on the ball, yet the rebound was nearly put in by Ji Sung Park, who was waiting to pounce. He would have his piece of history had it not been for some valiant defending from the ex-United man, Pique.

Five minutes later, Ronaldo saw his place in the headlines again, when he felt the urge to let fly from all of thirty yards, or as he calls it, Porto range. Unlike his sublime effort in Porto, however, the ball glided past Valdes, and the post. He was epitomising the spirit of United, who like him, seemed to be on a mission.

The man from Portugal had many fooled a few moments later, when he attempted a left-foot volley from the corner of the box. The effort bounced past a helpless Valdes but also whistled narrowly wide of the post. His frustration, displayed on the television replay, summed it up, and these feelings would worsen within a few seconds.

It was the first time Iniesta was able to get on the ball, and the first time United looked vulnerable; he cruised into second gear and out of Carrick and Anderson’s sight, before sliding Eto’o in on the left hand side. Suddenly, Vidic was left one-on-one against Eto’o and was turned far too easily to allow the Cameroonian an effort at goal. His instinctive toe-poke was too quick for Van Der Sar to react in time, treacling into the net after the Dutchman had got a hand to it.

For all of United’s endeavour in the first ten minutes, and for all of the importance Sir Alex Ferguson must have put on the early goal, it was the Catalonians who had the lead. For the rest of the half, Iniesta, Messi and Xavi were allowed too much time and space on the ball, and it was comfortable. United, on the other hand, went to pieces after going a goal behind, and rarely have they been so wasteful in possession. Ferdinand and Vidic were harassed and hence they had no solid base upon which to build; long ball galore.

Ronaldo tried to summon his team’s response soon after conceding, bursting through the Barcelona defence only to be brought down cynically by Pique on the edge of the box. A booking was all it was worth, according to the referee, on the reasoning Yaya Toure would have been able to challenge Ronaldo i.e. Pique was not the last man. Giggs took the resulting free kick, which did not trouble Valdes, gliding a good yard over the bar.

Messi started to respond in his personal battle with Ronaldo, but in a different manner. Ronaldo’s strive for glory was peppered with individual endeavour but bordered on greed at times, whereas Messi just played his football and strutted his stuff, for his team. His twenty-five yard attempt, which flew past the crossbar, was the first we saw of the little Argentinean, but certainly not the last.

Xavi tried his luck with a free kick in the 27th minute, from the corner of the Barcelona penalty area, but Van Der Sar had it covered as it went high and wide of the target. United just could not keep the ball, were getting frustrated and giving cheap fouls away, as Barcelona’s midfield dominated Carrick and the relatively inexperienced Anderson. It was because of this Sir Alex Ferguson decided to change it, bringing Tevez on for Anderson, putting Park back into midfield and shifting Giggs into the middle for more experience.

Giggs ageing legs did little to affect the second half, and it was Barcelona who could have grabbed the next goal after the interval. Just before the fifty-minute mark, O’Shea was caught in possession high up the field, and Xavi duly exposed the resulting gaps, sliding Henry in on the wing. He ran at the Mancunian defence, striking fear into Vidic and Ferdinand from his beloved left flank. He wriggled his way into a one-on-one with Van Der Sar, but the latter won the war, making himself big to foil the Frenchman.

A minute later, Sylvinho’s vicious cross from the same flank seeked Eto’o in the middle, but he could not make contact with the goal gaping. United were rocking. A few seconds later, Barcelona were in controlled possession when Xavi played a through ball in Messi’s direction. Running onto it, through on goal, the maestro fell to the floor appealing for a penalty, a la Gerrard and Gattuso in Istanbul. The referee did not deem the challenge a foul, leaving Messi and Eto’o livid in protest.

Xavi’s free kick deceived Van Der Sar in the United goal, but smashed off the post, as the Spaniard looked to put the game beyond doubt. In a frantic opening ten minutes of the second half, Barcelona could have sealed the match as Manchester United were rocked to their innermost core. Despite the half-time change, Tevez failed to find his way into the match as Xavi and co. did not allow United much ball-time.

Big players come to the fore at big times, and Ronaldo was certainly prevalent, but for the wrong reasons. His moaning, elbows, greed and general attitude failed to impress, whereas the man in the other strip, with whom he was supposed to be battling, was earning some merited credibility. Messi’s general composure and attitude was brilliant to watch.

It was Ronaldo, however, who would be involved in the next opportunity. Rooney’s whipped cross cut out Ronaldo and Pique at the near post, but bounced towards Park, unmarked at the back post. The Korean could have used a step ladder at the time, as the ball frustratingly bounced beyond him.

Twenty minutes from the end, Xavi got on the ball and was given all the space of the ancient city to find his pass. Seeing Messi peeling away at the back post, Xavi played an inch-perfect cross to his team-mate, and the brilliance of the assist was only matched by Messi’s agility and leap to head the ball beyond Van Der Sar. The European Cup was going back to the Camp Nou; signed, sealed, delivered.

The rest was academic. Berbatov, a substitute for Ji Sung Park, crossed the ball dangerously across the United area. Giggs met the ball but his effort was blocked, and the ball fell to Ronaldo at the back post. Valdes rushed out to hurry him, and Ronaldo could not find the net. It just was not his night.
Messi won a free kick with fifteen minutes left on the clock, and Xavi took it. Carles Puyol rose unmarked, criminally, from eight yards out and powered his header into the ground. Either side of Van Der Sar, and he was in trouble. As it was, the ball fell straight into the arms of the grateful goalkeeper.

The whole affair seemed to change with Eto’o’s clinical early goal; Barcelona were comfortable for all of eighty minutes and United fans will struggle to recall such a poor showing from their team. On tonight’s evidence, Barca are the deserved Champions of Europe, whereas Ronaldo does not deserve the gong he has received, for his attitude alone.

Essien-tial Goal Cancelled Out by Iniesta, the Heart-Breaker

Iniesta, a man who has come on in leaps and bounds this season, completely stunned Stamford Bridge tonight by grabbing a last-gasp goal just as the 40,000-strong Chelsea faithgul were dusting off their passports and setting towards Rome. Essien's beautiful early goal was almost matched by Iniesta's late strike, but the important thing in semi-finals, as everyone knows, is the result.

It was the classic encounter of artistry versus graft, good versus evil, free-flow versus organisation, if you will. The match started in predictable fashion, with Barcelona enjoying all of the possession and Chelsea remaining strong and organisation, but this only set up the clichéd goal, against the run of play.

After a rare venture forward for the home side, the ball dropped to Michael Essien and the rest was simply magic. On his weaker foot, with a man in his face and with the ball at a difficult height, the Ghanaian left the floor and displayed exquisite technique to power a volley towards the Barcelona goal. It dipped, it moved and found the corner, leaving Valdes completely stranded and helpless, and leaving Essien with a goal to celebrate.

Much like Manchester United in last year's semi-final, the English outfit had got their home goal early in the second leg, after a deadlock in the Camp Nou. This must have started to feel like deja vu for the leaders of La Liga.

Barcelona, in a similar way to Arsenal, only know one way to play, and so it was constant pass-and-move but Chelsea, in a dissimilar fashion to the Gunners in last night's tie, remained organised and dogged at the back. For all of the possession Barcelona enjoyed in the first half, they failed to cut Chelsea open, and for Chelsea, it was the inverse. They used what possession they were allowed to it's full potential, with Drogba, Anelka and Malouda causing the make-shift Barcelona defence problems every time they marauded forward.

Just after the fifteen-minute mark, Lampard played in Malouda behind Dani Alves. Alves is no slouch, but Malouda was simply too quick, reaching the box first and sliding the ball back to Lampard. He, however, could not do what Essien had done minutes earlier, as he slashed high and wide with his weaker foot.

Next, it was Drogba's turn, when he was played in beautifully by Lampard seven minutes later. The Ivorian was constantly nestling himself in between the recently-formed partnership of Pique and Touré. Valdes was quick off his line to meet Drogba at the edge of the box and won the battle, just as it looked like the Chelsea frontman would nick it away just as he did in the FA Cup Semi Final.

Florent Malouda was causing Alves, the best full back in the world, all kinds of trouble. He could have had a penalty a few minutes later. The Frenchman reached the line before deceiving Alves with his Cruyff turn. Alves, knowing he was beaten, pulled Malouda to the floor but the referee deemed it a free kick, not a penalty. Drogba took the reulting set piece, firing wickedly across goal, but Valdes was up to the challenge and punched the ball away for a corner.

John Terry rose to meet the corner that was subsequently taken, but his header narrowly evaded the on-rushing Alex, and the far post. For all of Barcelona's lightning-quick passing and movement, it was Chelsea who was creating all of the chances. It was proving that football can be played as beautifully as God intended, but effective, drilled teams will usually triumph. Something that Arsene Wenger seems incapable of grasping.

Just two minutes after Terry's header, the other fan-favourite, Frank Lampard, played Drogba in dangerously in again. He had found the gap between Pique and Toure once again and he looked set to score. Shrugging off Abidal and closing in on Valdes, the Ivorian was trying to muster a shot, but fell to the floor under what can only be described as a clumsy attempt to win the ball by the Frenchman. The referee, inexplicably, waved the claims away.

Such was the nature of Chelsea's defending, and Barcelona's unwillingness to change their style of play, that was the last incident of note before the interval. The eleven in blue were drilled to the inch, and were allowing Barcelona the ball in certain areas, but not allowing them into the box. Barcelona's boots were built to pass, and so they seemed incapable of playing long balls and at least testing Chelsea in different ways.

Eight minutes after the restart, Drogba could have put the match beyond the Catalonians. Nicolas Anelka's brilliant play sucked in the Chelsea defence and slipped in his Ivorian team-mate to the right. Drogba took his first touch and deceived Pique, who made a last ditch attempt at blocking Drogba's effort. All Drogba had to do was beat Valdes with his effort, but the Spaniard proved he was equal to the task, saving with his feet and keeping Barcelona in the tie.

Fatigue started to affect the veteran-filled Chelsea team, who were starting to concede some space to the away side; a dangerous thing to do when playing the most potently creative team in world football. On the hour mark, Keita controlled the ball on the penalty spot but sent the ball high, wide and handsome with his turn-and-volley.

Five minutes later, Messi shrugged off the chasing Chelsea pack and attempted to beat Cech from range. However, rather typical of his night, the Argentinian skewed his shot high and wide of the target.

Then, the game changed. A long ball from Cech was again too much for Barca's centrebacks to deal with, and left Abidal alone to defend against Anelka. With little or no contact, Anelka fell to the floor and the referee sent Abidal for an early bath, after asking his assistant, “Is he off?”

Much like Fletcher's dismissal last night, it was an extremely harsh decision and one that the referee got totally wrong. By the letter of the law, with the last man rule, the referee was right to send Abidal off the field, if he so deemed it a foul. However, it was a very harsh decision to send him off, considering there was little contact. Lampard scuffed the resulting free kick wide of the target.

Two minuteslater, Lampard could have wrote his name on the scoresheet but not for Valdes. His shot took a wicked deflection off a Barcelona defender, but Valdes changed his feeting quickly to pounce on the ball.

With the game on a knife-edge, against a team that could score at any moment, Chelsea wanted to put the game beyond reach, and Anelka wanted two penalties. Firstly, he felt he was brought to the floor illegally by Yaya Toure, but the referee, for not the first time in the night, waved away the appeals. It seemed to be the correct decision; the next, however, was incorrect.

Anelka had put himself in between the Barcelona defenders, much like Drogba had done before being substituted, and he flicked the ball beyond Pique to set up his opportunity. It seemed, however, to almost everyone inside the Bridge, that Pique had illegally stopped the ball with his hand. Their eyes were not deceiving them, as the replays showed.

Barcelona, who had not tested Petr Cech once all game, scored in the dying embers. This game throws up headlines all the time, and Iniesta's perfectly-placed shot in the 92nd minute left Cech no chance and left Guardiola dancing down the touchline. After surviving a red card, multiple penalty appeals and close scares, the footballing Gods triumphed over the footballing anti-Christs to set up a dream final between the Catalonians and the current holders. There is not much more to say.

Barcelona Masterclass Embarrasses Real at the Bernabeu

Barcelona is a city known for artistic architecture, inspired by Gaudi, Picasso and Dali. Madrid is a city renowned for it's financial and commercial strength. And never have the two principal football teams of the cities been more accurately represented than in the present day. Barcelona set the benchmark globally, for the beautifully artistic football they produce, whereas Real Madrid have recently adopted a hard-line business approach to their football, with more graft than craft.

The game, nicknamed El Clásico, can be likened to no other, with it's historical, cultural and social heritage. Not even the Glaswegian derby can rival a match involving a team from Spain's capital, voted the best team of last century, and a team hailing from the alternative city. The passion of the encounter had even rubbed off on Arjen Robben, as the Dutchman was seen cheerleading the Madrid faithful within the first two minutes, upon winning a corner for the home side.

The amount of stars on show is simply frightening, but a rather encouraging fact for the purist is that five of the Barcelona starting eleven were from Catalonia. Real Madrid, on the other hand, consist of a lot more foreigners, but it was the Spanish-born Ramos who would play a part in the opening goal. He received the ball of Diarra, skipped past Eric Abidal and fired a terrific cross into the Barcelona penalty area. Higuain had evaded the defence, to accurately header beyond Valdes in the visitors' goal.

Barcelona are known and revered world-wide for their craft and artistic approach to football, but they showed they are not short of fighting spirit. Thierry Henry, who had been playing cat-and-mouse with the Madrid backline for the opening twenty minutes, started to roll back the years to his Arsenal days. First, he left Ramos for dead on the wing, cruising past him with ease, before reaching the Madrid box and flicking towards Eto'o at the back post. He could not apply the finishing touch to Henry's effort, to provide the perfect response to Higuain's opener.

However, Henry evaded the offside trap on the 18th minute, getting on the end of Messi's beautifully-weighted chip and sliding past Iker Casillas comfortably. His calm jog towards the Barcelona bench betrayed the energy he was exerting in the first half.

El Clásico is one of the rare fixtures that never disappoints, and it was another sumptuous football feast, played more in the spirit of a basketball match. The end-to-end nature of the game brought another two goals before the half-time interval, and both went the way of the visitors. It was the Frenchman, Henry, who would one again prove the bane of Madrid, when he glided past Cannavaro before he was cynically brought to the ground just outside the box. The Barca set piece routine, orchestrated by Xavi, was finished off by the skipper, Carles Puyol, who was criminally left with a free header nine yards from goal. As could be expected, he did not miss.

Real could have found their response just a few minutes later, when Higuain's quick feet evaded the on-rushing Barca defenders, and the ball bobbled through kindly to Robben. He, however, could not match the composure shown by Henry moments earlier and instead, he fired straight at the feet of Valdes.

Some clever play between the dutchman and Lassana Diarra was finished with a through ball to Higuain just seconds later. He powered onto the pass, and steamed past the leggy Abidal, before firing the ball clean across the goal. Even though the ball evaded Raul in the six yard box, Alves met it with his foot just a yard from goal, but it cannoned into the unaware Casillas, who gratefully snatched the ball up at the second attempt.

Dani Alves was the centre of attention just two minutes later, as he left the Madrid midfield for dead, leaving a three-against-three situation. Ignoring Eto'o to his right, he flicked the ball to Messi on the other side, who was left to pit his wits against Casillas. However, ignoring Eto'o on the far side of the box, he fired straight at the Spanish number one, who punched the ball away.

The Argentinian maestro could have scored just before the half hour mark, also, when a passing masterclass between him and Xavi was overplay of the highest order. Messi eventually decided to shoot from the penalty spot, after Xavi's assist had left Casillas stranded, but it would be the Spaniard who foiled Barcelona again, diving back across goal and pouncing on the ball.

But the Argentinian eventually got his goal, when Xavi caught Lassana Diarra in possession in his own half. The ball bobbled through to Messi, and Cannavaro tried to get back whilst covering the on-rushing Xavi, but it proved to much for the former World Player of the Year, and Messi simply tapped the ball past the best goalkeeper in the world and into the Madrid net. The tug of war with the La Liga title was strongly pulled towards Catalonia with the goal, and the 80,000-plus crowd packed into the Bernabeu knew it.

The Madrileños were given a kiss of life by Sergio Ramos on the 56th minute. The Spaniard was left unmarked by shambolic defending and met Robben's astounding delivery to leave Casillas no chance. Ramos, never short of flamboyance and passion, celebrated with passion and complete virulence, as he had brought the momentum back in Madrid's favour, or so he thought.

Despite not being able to provide the perfect response in the first half, Henry put 4-2 ahead just two minutes after Ramos' header. Xavi's beautiful through ball tempted Casillas out of the Madrid goal, but the Frenchman won the race, reaching the ball first to tap into the net from all of thirty yards. From this point forward, it was not a contest.

Real, like they did against Liverpool, lacked conviction and passion in the biggest match of their season, as too many players went missing and the best team of the 20th century looked completely toothless. For Barcelona, it was the complete opposite; all of their big players came to the fore on the big stage as the Catalonians looked paralysingly potent in attack. The opposition was not provided by some rookies; this was a Madrid side littered with stars and littered with money.

However, such was Guardiola's comfort and confidence, he brought off the man of the match on the hour mark. Just before Henry left the field, Messi would have a chance to get his second of the match. Alves and Eto'o combined beautifully on the edge of the box and it was the Spaniard who had a free run at goal. He picked out the unstoppable Messi on the penalty spot, who took his eyes of the ball, as he sliced it wide of the target.

And it was Lionel Messi who would provide the main threat for Madrid again, with his inch-perfect through ball to Iniesta. He could have given Barcelona a three goal lead, but forever the flag-carriers of overplay, it was never that simple. Instead, he decided to take a few more touches, but was clumsily bundled over by Lassana Diarra in the box. The Barca players appealed, but it was in vain, as the referee, maybe scared of embarrassing Madrid in their own stadium, waved away the claims.

Messi was proving just what a player he was, and was single-handedly destructing the Spanish champions in the second half. He finally got his second of the match when he combined with Xavi on the edge of the box. Xavi, showing typical Catalonian artistry, slid Messi through on goal. This time, their was no mercy, and no mistake from the Argentine, who sent Casillas the wrong way. 5-2 down at home to your biggest rivals, could things get any worse? Yes, they can.

Gerard Pique, once of Manchester United, capped off a terrific individual performance as he marauded into the Madrid box. He was first to react when the ball went loose, spinning on the ball and firing past Cannavaro and Casillas, who had both left the goal-line in anticipation of a cut-back.

The most frightening thing about Barcelona was that they took their foot off the pedal when they went 4-2 up. Players were rested for the Champions League tie with Chelsea, and the passing was slowed down to walking pace. The game was played at Barcelona's pace throughout and the general feeling was they could have stepped up the pace at any time. They did step up the pace after going 1-0 down, and scored two goals in four minutes. Who knows how many they could have got had they went all out for ninety minutes?

There would be one more chance for the visitors before the referee blew the final whistle. The substitute, Bojan, skipped past Heinze on the line and found his fellow countryman in the box. Messi had drifted infront of Diarra, but again did not make a sufficient contact with the ball. It is no exaggeration to suggest that Messi could have, and maybe should have, had five or six goals on the night.

Many are labelling this team as the best Barcelona team ever, trumping that of Maradona's and Cruyff's, and whilst that may be true, no-one can deny how good, and how traditional, Barcelona are. The five starting Catalonians has already been mentioned, but couple that with the fact that Barca do not throw massive amounts of money around, and it is easy to see why they are such a proud team. The last two Champions League competitions have shown that Barcelona are the only team in Europe that can rival the English monopoly, and they rival it without betraying their well-revered traditions. The artistic beauty seen in their passing and craft is only matched by that of the city itself, and that is how football should be. They are one of the few teams that maintain pride and identity in the modern game, and it is for these reasons that they deserve to be La Liga Champions.