Miguel Delaney at Wembley
1. The make-up of United’s midfield
GIVEN how much Xavi and Andres Iniesta define this Barcelona, it’s entirely appropriate that they were the keys to the team’s crowning glory. But the bald fact is that they were given an awful lot of space to do so.
Tactically, Alex Ferguson’s midfield selection was every bit as important as Barcelona’s brilliance. Put simply, the United manager made the wrong choice.
Time and again, we’ve seen that an aggressive defensive midfielder – in the mould of Pepe – can be quite effective in breaking up Barcelona’s passing. At the very least, it forces them to pick trickier angles and bottlenecks their attacks.
By picking Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick there, however, Ferguson completely conceded that area of the pitch. United just didn’t have the energy or the aggression to get in amongst Barca. Both of the game’s key goals came through this area. For Pedro’s, Xavi was allowed to coast through unchallenged. For Leo Messi’s, there was no enforcer to snap at his heels. It was telling that, even with the game at its most poised at 1-1 before half-time, Barca put together three glorious triangles in that area.
2. Messi’s magnificence
WHATEVER about being granted space, you’ve still got to be able to maximise it. Messi did exactly that. And more. With the game still in the balance at 1-1, he produced the turning point. Switching feet magnificently, the Argentine then buried a shot that elusively curled away from Edwin van der Sar. It summed up his night. United just couldn’t get close to him. Antonio Valencia was forced to repeatedly foul him to stem the tide.
In the first half alone, Messi nutmegged three different United players – including his relentlessly persistent marker, Park Ji-Sung. At one stage, Messi had waltzed through another three at the edge of the box only to be faced with Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand directly in front of him. He paused, poised himself... then prodded the ball aside for Pedro to shoot. It was a level of control just beyond United.
To be fair though, it was a level of control beyond most players or teams in the world. Talk about a big-game player. Messi has now scored in two Champions League finals as well as that semi-final against Real Madrid. Many say he won’t reach Diego Maradona or Pele’s status until he dominates a World Cup. But surely utterly dominating two Champions League campaigns, as well as winning another, is an equal achievement?
3. Manchester United didn’t learn their lessons from 2009
THE greatest compliment that can be paid to this Barcelona team is that they ensure absolutely every game is played on their terms. Yet Ferguson, perhaps someway understandably, refused to approach the game as an inferior. It might have sent out the wrong message, might well have sent his team out with the wrong mentality.
But maybe that’s how you need to approach this Barcelona? Accept you’re not as good and play the percentages from there. It was the key to Inter’s victory last year after all. Because of his approach, though, Ferguson didn’t know whether to stick or twist. In the end, the pattern of the game was depressingly familiar to 2009 for United.
For the first 10 minutes, they went out all intensity and hell for leather. Just like Real Madrid in the semi-finals, however, they couldn’t keep it up. And once Barcelona found their rhythm they were untouchable. Wayne Rooney’s superbly worked goal may have been a show of character and may have added a false sense of suspense. But ultimately it only delayed the inevitable. Barca were exceptional.
It’s also games like this which explain why all of those passing statistics keep getting repeated ad nausea. By about 60 minutes, United looked absolutely shattered from chasing. Simple touches let them down, a clear sign of fatigue. Barca, by contrast, were exquisite with almost every one of theirs.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/dU78Fc6g7L0/post.aspx
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