CL Special: Sir Alex Falls Apart As Brilliant Barcelona Obliterate World Champions
United's dream of back-to-back CLs was crushed as Barca again proved themselves as the best attacking force on the planet, writes Goal.com's Sulmaan Ahmad.
May 27, 2009 5:20:50 PM
Zoom
Samuel Eto'o - Barcelona-Manchester United (Rebecca Naden/PA Wire/Press Association Images)
"Remember, the last team that played in white against Barcelona lost 2-6 at the Bernabeu," joked a Spanish journalist, with Sir Alex Ferguson, at yesterday's press conference. The legendary boss laughed it off, of course, finishing by saying, "Plus, we're better than Madrid."
Of course they are, but no one watching tonight would have known it. United fell into the exact same traps as their continental nemeses, Real Madrid, in being completely outclassed by Barcelona this evening in Rome's Stadio Olimpico.
Like Madrid, they started full of fight, taking the game to the notoriously unplayable Catalan giants. United were far better for the small matter of ten minutes, until Iniesta weaved his way between Anderson and Carrick as if they weren't even there, before weighting the simplest of balls into the path of Eto'o - a man so devastatingly out of form - who cut through the indomitable Nemanja Vidic and hammered it past Van der Sar at his near post. The conflation of stunned silence and furious cheers perfectly encapsulated the essence of what was to come.
Because it was then when United turned into Madrid.
Giggs began floating forward and out to the left - and Fergie let him, for some reason - while Messi dropped back into midfield to form the head of a diamond also including the small matter of Iniesta, Xavi and Sergi Busquets. Those four, against just two - Anderson and Carrick - when Barca are so notoriously a team you need to outnumber in midfield to even stand a chance of subduing them.
Vidic, United's star of the season, could have mastered the game if it had been an exercise in counterattacking, but the moment United came out, his lack of pace left him at sea, as Barca forwards took turns sailing past, in and around him. Carrick, for so long an unsung hero of United's ranks, was left to fight a solo battle against the best midfield on the planet and, despite his courage, stood no chance and only got worse as the game progressed. The forwards were barely even given a sniff after the initial spate of chances.
This was not the United team that Fergie had forged over all these years. Barcelona missing defenders through suspension and having key forward players short of full fitness was expected to hand the English outfit an advantage, not to mention all the superior options the reigning champions had on the bench.
The truth is - and Ferguson will know this as well as anyone - United only went on a record-breaking unbeaten streak in this competition by sacrificing so much of their domestic adventure. That air of overcautiousness - the 4-5-1s, the leaving out of Tevez in favour of Park, the trust in underestated experience over exuberant youth - yielded the required results.
This cautious approach first adopted after Madrid obliterated them at the Bernabeu in 2003. Fergie learnt his lesson then of what it takes to succeed in the modern European game. Ruud Gullit said it best. "A little bit like Chelsea, but better in possession." That's all they may have needed. Tonight, six years of near perfect progression was discarded, and they paid the dearest of prices for it.
It was something you'd expect from Ossie Ardiles, Kevin Keegan or Steve McClaren - complete evacuation of midfield in favour of forward after forward in the hope something, somehow, would end up in the back of the net. It didn't.
Again, United's evolution in Europe can be likened to Juande's at Madrid. Both were undone by the same phenomenal footballing force. Each time, the world knew Barca were the better football team, but each time, there were reasons to believe it might be a game too many for this
dream team, yet each time, they held their nerve, they stood by their philosophy and the sheer force of their football sent their competitors crumbling to chaotic defeat.
There is something to be said for Man United and their parallels to Real Madrid - and there's about 5,000 Cristiano Ronaldo jokes waiting to be told as a result of that alone - but there's so much more to be said for Barcelona. There might be ways to beat them, but they have so many more ways to beat you. It doesn't matter who you are.
roud:
