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Sunday

ANALYSIS- Midfield machine drives Barcelona to greatness

© Reuters :The midfield machine behind Spain's first World Cup success ticked back into the same relentless rhythm to deliver Barcelona's fourth European Cup triumph at a spellbound Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

Technically, tactically and temperamentally superior, and with the genius of Lionel Messi to provide the coup de grace, Barca crushed Manchester United with the simple logic that without the ball you can't do your opponents a lot of damage.

It must have been a depressingly familiar feeling for Alex Ferguson and the eight members of the starting XI that had also begun the final in Rome two years ago, as Barcelona completed a 3-1 victory that might easily have been a far higher margin.

Then, as now, the English side began by snapping at Catalan heels and threatening to exploit a defence with just a hint of vulnerability about it.

Then, as now, it took barely 10 minutes for the Barcelona midfield to exert their authority and carry the team to a comprehensive two-goal victory.

Unlike in Rome, when United were beaten 2-0, the english side recovered from a first-half goal to equalise as Wayne Rooney wafted in a fine shot after starting the move himself.

If there was any hint that they might go on to triumph despite having only a passing acquaintance with the ball it was disabused by a ruthless second-half Barcelona display.

It fell to the three strikers to score the three goals -- Messi following up Pedro's first-half opener by scoring the second himself and helping create the third for David Villa with an outrageous turn past substitute Nani on the right -- but this was a triumph built on the extraordinary work done in midfield.


PASSING RHYTHM

Xavi continually dropped deep to work his way forward, finding space where none appeared to exist thanks to the deftness of his touch and eye for the right pass -- the inevitable pass as it seems when you watch the replay.

Iniesta, the man who scored the winning goal in last year's World Cup final victory over Netherlands in South Africa, maintained the same passing rhythm while both looked to feed Messi in central areas outside the penalty area.

Xavi completed 124 of 136 passes, while Iniesta found his intended target 98 times out of 107.

Barcelona enjoyed 63 percent of the possession and it would have been much higher had they not felt comfortable enough to relax the rhythm over the closing minutes thanks to that two-goal cushion.

There was no surprise in any of this, nothing Ferguson and everyone else has not seen on countless other occasions watching Spain and Barcelona, but the execution was so good that the United manager acknowledged his side had been left helpless.

"I think it was obvious what happened tonight," Ferguson said. "We knew we were up against a good team before the game and planned as best we could.

"But they do mesmerise you with their passing and we never really controlled Messi. Of course, many people have said that."

If Ferguson was being oppressed by a sense of deja vu, his Barca counterpart was revelling in familiar surrounds.

It was at the old Wembley that Barcelona won their first European Cup in 1992, helped by a skinny midfielder who learned first-hand from then-coach Johan Cruyff that it is through the greedy accumulation of possession that trophies are won.

Pep Guardiola was an outstanding player for Barca, the classic deep-lying, ball-playing midfielder, but as a manager he has touched greater heights.

Based around Xavi, the man groomed to replace him, his Barcelona team played with something close to perfection on Saturday, securing a second Champions League win in three years.

"It's the way we played I'm most proud of," Guardiola said in a fitting summation of his philosophy.

"It isn't easy to play like this but we have managed it and I'm very happy tonight. It was a very good result."



Catalonia celebrates Barcelona's fourth Champions triumph

DPA © The entire region of Catalonia exploded with delight late Saturday as Barcelona won their fourth Champions Cup by beating Manchester United 3-1 at Wembley.

The goals of Pedro, Lionel Messi and David Villa were celebrated wildly in the Catalan capital and in the smaller towns of the north-eastern Spanish region.

An estimated 5 million Catalans, out of a population of 7.5 million, followed the final, many watching on giant screens at outdoor parties.

The only setback for the fans occurred at Barca's Mini Estadi, the club's small stadium where reserve team matches are played. A strong wind created the risk of the giant screen blowing over, so the 15,000 fans had to leave and find somewhere else to follow the big game.

The final whistle in Wembley set off noisy celebrations in Barcelona, Tarragona, Girona, Lleida and in countless small towns and villages.

Barcelona police were keen to prevent the vandalism that marred celebrations in 2009, when Barca won their third Champions.

The two epicentres of the celebrations were Barca's Camp Nou stadium and the downtown Catalonia Square. On Friday, more than 100 protesters were injured when police baton-charged a protest camp that had dominated the square for two weeks, complaining about corruption in the political system.

The celebrations will continue Sunday evening, when Pep Guardiola's team returns with the trophy and parades through the packed city steets.



We were mesmerised by midfield and Messi, says Ferguson

© Reuters Manchester United were never able to control Barcelona's midfield or deal with the brilliance of Lionel Messi as they were overwhelmed 3-1 in Saturday's Champions League final, manager Alex Ferguson said.

Like many before them, United had no answer to the wonderful passing of the players who did so much to help Spain become world and European champions and seemed powerless to get a grip on Messi as he danced through their defence almost at will.

"They do mesmerise you with their passing," Ferguson told a news conference in the bowels of Wembley to the background accompaniment of departing Barcelona fans celebrating their third European title in six years.

"We never really controlled Messi, but many people have said that. We never really closed the midfield well enough to counter them.

"We tried to play as near to the way we normally play. For instance, it's alien to us to try to man-mark players. We tried to play as normally as we can. It wasn't good enough on the night, we acknowledge that."

United actually started well but, just as they did when they lost the 2009 final to Barcelona in Rome, they quickly fell away.

Pedro put the Spaniards ahead after 27 minutes but there was a spark of hope for United when Wayne Rooney fashioned an excellent equaliser seven minutes later.

"When we got the lifeline I expected us to do better in the second half, but it wasn't to be," said Ferguson, whose hopes were blown away by second-half goals from Messi and David Villa.

"Nobody's given us a hiding like that but they deserve it because they play the right way and they enjoy their football."



STEPPING STONE

Ferguson has led United to three Champions League finals in four years, winning in 2008 having also triumphed in 1999, and said he was now facing up to the task of finding a way to compete with Barcelona for the ultimate club honour.

"It's not easy but that's the challenge, we shouldn't be afraid of that," he said.

"The challenge is always to improve yourselves, to build your team, I think we have some very good players, we'll mull it over in the summer.

"We've been consistent in Europe in the last few years but maybe this might be the same sort of stepping stone as when they beat us 4-0 a few years ago," he added in reference to the group-stage Nou Camp drubbing in 1994.

"Great teams do go in cycles and the cycle they are in at the moment is the best in Europe.

"How long it lasts and whether they can replace that team, they certainly have the philosophy ... it's always difficult to say that you can find players like Xavi, (Andres) Iniesta and Messi, probably not, but they are enjoying the moment.

"In my time as a manager I'd say yes, they are the best team I've faced."



Joy on streets of Barcelona at fourth European crown

© Reuters


Thousands of Barcelona fans danced, sang and shouted with joy on the streets of the Catalan capital after their heroes secured a fourth European Cup triumph at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

About 35,000 blue and claret-clad supporters gathered at a giant screen in the centre of the city to watch Barca's comprehensive 3-1 victory over Manchester United.

It was the club's second Champions League triumph in three years and a fourth title after successes in 1992 and 2006.

Chanting the names of scorers Pedro, Lionel Messi and David Villa, the fans celebrated wildly before trooping home to prepare to join Sunday's victory parade.

The players will display the trophy through the city on an open-top bus starting at the port on Wednesday evening at 1530 GMT and the procession will wind its way up to its conclusion at the club's giant Nou Camp stadium.

Visibly moved club president Sandro Rosell was almost at a loss for words in a television interview when asked where Barca go from here. "What more can you ask," he said.

"With this coach (Pep Guardiola), who is the best in the world, and these players who are the best in the world, with Messi leading the charge, now it's just a question of motivation.

"They have the talent, the humanity, the team ethic and the tactical ability.

"All I want now is that the Nou Camp is full of children so we can celebrate the title on Sunday."



Messi shimmies and jinks his way to more greatness

© Reuters The moment that defined Lionel Messi as the greatest player in the world came after 69 minutes of the Champions League final on Saturday, rather than the 54th when he scored. That's how remarkable it was.

Having already made his mark as the outstanding player on the pitch and having scored a sublime goal to put Barcelona 2-1 ahead against Manchester United, the 23-year-old Argentine found himself wide on the right with his team attacking again.

The United defence stood firm to block his advance towards goal where he would no doubt inflict more damage on their already fragile and battered self-confidence.

The World Player of the Year, though, merely shimmied past them into space, providing the pass that led, almost inevitably, to David Villa's wonderfully struck, high curling shot that sealed Barcelona's 3-1 victory.

The way Messi moved, having the audacity to take on international defenders with such confidence, emphasised just how superior Barca were to United for almost all of the final apart from the opening 10 minutes when the English side saw more of the ball than they would for most of the next 80.

Messi still has a boyish look about him and it was almost as if he was back being the most gifted boy in the playground, dancing around opponents as if they were not there.

The performance not only earned Messi the Man of the Match award but moved the little forward another notch closer to the game's all-time greats Pele and fellow Argentine Diego Maradona.

Barca manager Pep Guardiola said: "Messi is the best player I've seen and probably the best I ever will see. We have great players but he makes the difference and without him we would not have that difference in quality. He is unique. A one-off."

Messi's Portuguese rival Cristiano Ronaldo, on the losing side when Barca knocked Real Madrid out of the Champions League in the semi-finals, must have thought the same thing if he was watching the match on TV like hundreds of millions of others.



CURLING SHOT

Messi's goal -- his second against United in a Champions League final after his header in 2009 -- was a brilliantly executed 20-metre left-foot curling shot that spun away from diving goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar to put Barca back in front and really finished the game as a contest.

It was also, remarkably, his 53rd of the season, his 12th in the Champions League to equal the record set by Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2002-03 and means he has now topped the Champions League scoring charts for the last three seasons.

The intriguing thing about that statistic is that Messi is not an out-and-out centre forward because Barcelona's approach echoes the way Hungary played in their golden years of the early 1950s and Ajax Amsterdam did in the era of 'Total Football'.

Hungary bamboozled opponents at the time when Nandor Hidegkuti played as a deep-lying centre-forward, leaving defenders perplexed about who to mark.

Johan Cruyff was nominally Ajax's target man, but was in fact the creator who went all over the pitch, like Messi, deep into midfield, or wide on the flanks.

Fast forward 40 years to Saturday at Wembley and United's central defenders Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand were left marking empty spaces with Messi playing so far deep he was in his own half at times.

But then when he, Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Villa burst through to attack, their wonderful passing leaves opponents straining every last muscle to prevent them running riot.

Many people, including Dutch great Marco Van Basten, have called this Barca team the greatest club side of all time.

That may be a little premature considering Real Madrid's all-conquering side of the 1950s which won the first five European Cups, or the Ajax or Bayern Munich teams that won hat-tricks of titles.

But Van Basten is as good a judge as any, having been a European champion with AC Milan in 1989 and 1990, though he was no longer in the team that beat Barca 4-0 in 1994 -- the last great exhibition in a European Cup final before Saturday.

Barcelona might yet have to emulate Milan's feat as the last team to win successive finals to start deserving that accolade.

But there is little doubt they can -- and there is little doubt too that with good health and no serious injuries to stop him, Messi has many more years left to win many more honours.

He is already pulling up his chair to join the greats and may possibly end up taking a place at the head of the table.





Barcelona take their place among the all-time greats

© Reuters Pep Guardiola may deny all comparisons with the past but the breathtaking display of his Barcelona prodigies in the Champions League final has confirmed the elevation of his team into the soccer stratosphere.

Their 3-1 demolition of English Premier League champions Manchester United at Wembley, of all places, was a masterful demonstration of soccer played at the most sublime level.

Barcelona coach Guardiola, collecting his second Champions League crown in three years, has produced a team of talents who can now stand comparison with those wonder sides of the past -- Real Madrid, Ajax Amsterdam and AC Milan.

In United, Barcelona had opponents who are hardly nobodies. This was their third Champions League final in four years, they have just won the Premier League by nine points and they boast in Wayne Rooney one of the best players in the world.

Yet United, in a Wembley stadium with 'home' fans far outnumbering Catalan followers, could manage just 37 percent possession, muster only one shot on goal and not earn a single corner, so much did they fall under the spell of Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and their supporting cast.

It was the most comprehensively magical display in a European final since AC Milan trounced Barcelona 4-0 17 years ago in Athens.

When Barca play the way they did on Saturday it is hard to imagine any team surviving their onslaught. The close control in tight situations, swift inter-passing movement and clever working of spaces to create chances are simply devastating.

They force opposition fans to look on with jaws dropped in admiration of football played at a level of skill and sophistication one would not even dare dream about.

Beaten Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson acknowledged their pre-eminence. "In my time as manager I'd say they are the best team I've faced." he said. "Nobody's given us a hiding like that but they deserve it because they play the right way and they enjoy their football."

Barcelona certainly play with a joy which echoes the truly great teams of the past.



SIMILAR VERVE

The Real Madrid side which won the first five editions of the European Cup between 1956 and 1960, culminating in a 7-3 thrashing of Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1960 final, played with similar verve.

Ferenc Puskas scored four and Alfredo Di Stefano three that day in a display of attacking flair which set a benchmark for European club football.

Ajax, with Johan Cruyff in his pomp and Johan Neeskens in close support, were the next great team to enchant neutral fans with three consecutive European titles in the early 1970s.

Their "Total Football", which saw players constantly switching position and mesmerising opponents, was a spectacular tactical innovation which changed the game forever.

The AC Milan side which won the European Cup in 1989 and 1990 is probably the only team since to inspire the same kind of awe. That side, built around the Dutch trio of Marco Van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard, matched skill and athleticism to produce classic entertainment.

Barcelona have still to amass the titles of these illustrious predecessors. Competition is undoubtedly tougher these days and it is notable that no team has ever won the Champions League twice in succession since it was introduced in the 1992-93 season.

But Barca have now won two of the last three European titles and three in six seasons and it would be rash to think that Messi, at just 23, will have stopped inspiring his team to collect ever more trophies.





'Brilliant' Barca celebrate doing it their way

© Reuters
Barcelona's players were overjoyed to have shown off their dazzling brand of soccer to win the Champions League on Saturday with a performance that left even opponents Manchester United spellbound.

The Spanish champions threw coach Pep Guardiola in the air and cut out the net from one of the Wembley goals as they celebrated winning a fourth European Cup with a mesmerising display of their fantastic passing game in a 3-1 victory.

"The people watching could see that we not only won but we played a brilliant match," Guardiola told Spanish television.

Defender Javier Mascherano agreed, telling Sky television: "We are happy because we played in the way we know to play."

United manager Alex Ferguson reckoned his side had been beaten by "the best team we have faced" and there could be no humiliation in losing.

"From time to time you come up against a team far better than you and tonight was that night," Ferguson told ITV television. "They are at a tremendous peak in the cycle of their team. There are teams that elevate themselves to that status.

"Today we were beaten by the best team in Europe and there is no shame in that."

Hot favourites for the title from the start of the season, Barca were thrilled to have lived up to expectations and win a trophy Guardiola said required "a hell of a lot of effort".

"We knew the potential we had and we just had to make the most of it," forward David Villa, who scored an 18-metre curler for Barca's third goal, told Spanish television.

"It's been a great deal of work... To be happier right now would be impossible."

The trophy was lifted by fullback Eric Abidal, who was handed the honour by captain Carles Puyol after the Frenchman's recovery from surgery on a liver tumour in March.

"Three months ago, Abidal had a cancer and he suffered and (so did) his family," Guardiola told ITV.

"He recovered and I think we all showed, his team mates, to the club and to the rest of the world, the level of the human being that is this guy. As coach it is a privilege to train these guys."



BETTER SIDE

United, outplayed for so much of the game, could have no complaints but took some comfort from giving a better account of themselves than in their defeat by Barca in the 2009 final.

"I think we gave it a better shot than we did last time," centre back Rio Ferdinand told Sky.

"Although the scoreline was 3-1 we did have quite a few opportunities... but it wasn't to be. You've certainly got to give credit to them, they were the better side on the night.

He added his team could have dealt better with a couple of the goals but that the "sucker punch" had been Lionel Messi's strike early in the second half that pulled Barcelona ahead.

"They are a great side, great players, they have a way of playing they all know. It was up to us to combat that and we didn't do that," he told ITV.

United captain Nemanja Vidic said his side had not dealt with Barca's devastating movement on the ball.

"We didn't do what we should have done, we shouldn't have given them time on the ball which they had," he said. "When they have time on the ball, the final pass is easy."

Mascherano rubbed salt in United's wounds by dedicating the win to fans of his former club Liverpool -- United's arch rivals.

"After my exit they (Liverpool fans) were a little sad with me but this is for them as well," he said.



Messi evokes memories of Maradona and Villa at Wembley

© Reuters Barcelona's Lionel Messi brought back memories of outstanding performances by his Argentine compatriots Diego Maradona and Ricky Villa at Wembley with his match-winning display in the Champions League final on Saturday.

Messi got his first goal on English soil to put Barca 2-1 up against Manchester United after 54 minutes and created the third for David Villa with an outrageous shimmy, move and pass with 21 minutes left as they won 3-1 to claim their fourth European Cup.

The 23-year-old World Player of the Year was unplayable coming from deep positions to unsettle the United defence during a one-sided final in which he not only scored his 53rd goal of a remarkable season but also equalled Ruud van Nistelrooy's record of 12 Champions League goals in one campaign.

He made his mark at the same end of the pitch, albeit in the rebuilt Wembley, that Maradona and Villa did in the early 1980s.

Maradona, aged just 19 in May 1980, had already begun to make a name for himself starring for Argentina in the World Youth Cup when he played against England.

England won the friendly 3-1 but the lasting memory of the game was Maradona's brilliant performance, capped by an astonishing run through the defence in which he jinked this way and that before an audacious shot narrowly missed the goal when it bounced centimetres past the far post.

A year later Villa, playing for Tottenham Hotspur in the replayed FA Cup final against Manchester City, earned an everlasting place in English folklore with a goal that regularly wins the accolade of best ever scored in the final.

After a poor performance in the original game in which he was substituted, the tall bearded Argentine scored twice in the replay as Spurs won 3-2 -- the second a mazy jinking run through the City defence which ended with the match-winning goal.

Messi's strike was not as spectacular as Maradona's attempt or Villa's goal but his overall performance in Barcelona's outstanding victory will long be remembered in Buenos Aires and north London -- even if they would rather forget it in Manchester.





A new wizard for Wembley as Messi inspires Barcelona

DPA ©: Just before half-time Lionel Messi skipped past Nemanja Vidic with a flick of the outside of his right foot, held off the challenge of Michael Carrick and passed to David Villa in what seemed one flowing action.

Villa returned the ball across goal and Messi lunged inches away from the goal which would have put Barcelona 2-1 up at half-time.

The move encapsulated Messi's Wembley final, all shimmies and shuffles, feints and dummies, as the little Argentinian demonstrated to 87,695 spectators at Wembley Saturday and an estimated global television audience of more than 115 million why he is the world's best player.

The old Wembley had many heroes, not least of all winger Stanley Matthews whose performance for Blackpool in the 'Matthews Final' of 1953 is part of English football lore.

Now there is a Wembley wizard for the new incarnation of the stadium. If any player could rise to the occasion it was Messi, who struck with his left foot from the edge of the area nine minutes after the break to put Barcelona on the way to their fourth European title and their second in three years under coach Pep Guardiola.

It was a goal which broke a United side already reeling and left down and out when David Villa added a third in the 69th minute for a richly deserved 3-1 victory.

Already the Champions League leading scorer for three successive seasons, it was Messi's 12th Champions League goal in 13 matches, equalling a record set by Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy.

There was little doubt the man-of-the-match award was his. The world player of the year for the past two seasons now has a remarkable 53 goals in 55 games for the season.

Messi, who had scored with a wonderful mazy run and shot against Real Madrid in the semi-final first leg, a goal of Maradona dimensions, showed the comparisons with his great countryman are not misplaced, despite the player's own modesty.

"Even if I play for a million years I will never be near to what Maradona was as a footballer, and I don't want to be near," Messi had said before the game.

"He is the best player of all time. I don't compare myself with Maradona, I want to make my own history and do something important with my own career."

Now Messi is making history - his goal was, for one thing, his first on English soil - and United, who had also been looking like Barca for a fourth European title and a second at Wembley, were left to acknowledge his brilliance.

The victory was as clearcut as the 2-0 in Rome two years ago, and bore some similarities after United had enjoyed an encouraging first 10 minutes as they had at the Stadio Olimpico.

But Sir Alex Ferguson must have known it was going to be a long night after Barca began to take over the ball. Messi was the fulcrum, taking and giving passes, with Pedro and David Villa beginning to make dangerous runs inside from wide areas.

Vidic and Rio Ferdinand often found themselves having to make last-second blocks, or left to rely on Edwin van der Sar to save as Barca started to hit shots on goal or just wide.

It was little surprise when the Spanish champions took the lead, Xavi flicking a pass for Pedro to measure a shot past the Dutch keeper.

While Barca had Messi, United's own force of nature Wayne Rooney brought United briefly to life with an equalizer against the run of play, after combining well with Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs.

But it was a night in London when United had no answer to the irrepressible Messi, who almost struck again with an 18-metre shot kept out by the legs of Van der Sar and then saw a back flick cleared off the line.

Soon Messi was tormenting United again, getting past substitute Nani on the right in the lead up to the third goal. United's defence failed to clear and Sergio Busquets fed Villa who curled the ball into the top corner, with Van der Sar in his last game before retirement vainly diving to the left

It has been a watershed season for Messi in which Guardiola decided to bring him off the right wing and give him a free role. United, for all their preparations and lessons they thought they had learned from Rome, had no answers.

"It has been a great season," said Messi last week, "and the final at Wembley will be the culmination of it."

Not quite. He will take a short break in June then will fly off to Argentina for the Copa America tournament, keen to finally win something for his country after six years of frustration.