Barcelona win the Champions League

So I was half right. I did manage to predict 2 goals from Barcelona. It’s just that Man Utd let me down and didn’t score the 3 they were meant to.

First of all, hats off to Barca. They were majestic. Although, Pep Guardiola has surely been playing Football Manager. He employs the exact same formation that I have used to guide Newcastle Utd to multiple League and European titles. The whole tactic revolves around your midfield 3 (in this case, Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets) controlling 80/90% of the possession combining with 2 attacking midfielders/wingers (Messi and Henry) and a strong forward (Eto’o). So, congratulations to the Football Manager community. This victory is yours.

It was however, one of the poorest United performances I have seen for a while. And I must start my analysis with questioning Sir Alex’s team selection. He must have had an idea that Barca would have fielded this tactic, as they have done in almost all of the games this season, so one thing you will want to avoid, is being out numbered in midfield. Yet that is exactly what happened. Giggs and Anderson were often far too far away from Carrick, leaving him isolated, and as a result, he ended up giving the ball away almost as soon as he got it. Surely Scholes would have been a better bet.

It seemed that Man Utd were trying to emulate the same formation as Barca, but it is essential that the midfield 3 remain a tight unit, and the attacking wingers support them. Too often, Rooney and Park were isolated and out of the game. In fact I can’t remember seeing them at all for most of the first half. Ronaldo, after his bright start in the first 10 minutes, faded as the United midfield was starved of possession. He did see much more of the ball when he was switched wide in the second half, but why start with him up front, and your main striker on the wing? Surely, as United’s biggest threat, he should be in a position to get as much of the ball as possible (i.e. midfield)?

At the back, things weren’t much better. The first thing Van der Sar had to do was pick the ball out of his net, after he was beaten too easily at his near post. A bit of a disappointment for him after his form this season. There wasn’t much he could do about the second goal however, as the Man Utd defenders somehow allowed Messi, at a towering 5 feet and 6 inches, to ghost between them to place a pin point header into the far corner (it should be noted too, that it required a pin point cross from Xavi to find Messi in amongst all that defender).

Generally, all the Man Utd players were flat, and appeared rusty. Perhaps it was a mistake for Sir Alex to rest his entire champions league squad for the last game of the season against Hull. But then, Sir Alex is a successful world renown manager, and I am not, so maybe he had some greater game plan in mind, that I just can’t comprehend.

It was in this game however, that for the first time, I witnessed the astonishing brilliance of one Lionel Messi. Living in Australia isolates one somewhat from the joys of Champions League football, and up till now, my only glimpses of Messi had been youtube clips and highlights. It was thoroughly entertaining to watch him for an entire match. United couldn’t touch him as he roamed around their defensive quarter with the ease and air of an afternoon stroll after tea. Having a little dribble here, sliding pin point passes there. I’ve made a mental note to get hold of him in Football Manager as soon as possible. He made Ronaldo look like a tired and cumbersome centre forward, with all the grace of Dion Dublin. One thing is for sure however, these two will meet again at some point, and I am sure Ronaldo won’t want to miss out next time.

Both these teams have enjoyed a successful season, and although one defeat doesn’t constitute a crisis, this will hurt Man United significantly, especially as all the pre match talk was about “making history”. They will regroup next season, but Sir Alex will no doubt be contemplating how to close the gap to Barcelona. It’s pretty big.