Manchester United: Just Another One of Aristotle's Puppets?

(Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

When the term 'Greek Tragedy' springs to mind, we often think of the philosopher Aristotle, and his works Poetics.

We may also think of tragic plays, with notable ones including the work of Sir William Shakespeare and his 'Big Four': Othello, King Lear, Hamlet, and Romeo & Juliet.

But on Wednesday 27th May 2009, only one thing sprung into mind upon hearing the term "greek tragedy."

It was the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final in Rome's magnificent Stadio Olimpico, home of AS Roma and SS Lazio, where historic Catalan giants FC Barcelona emerged 2-0 victors over English champions Manchester United.

As described by many pundits and United fans worldwide, their performance was "tragic."

And from United's performance, it seemed that they did indeed have all the elements of an Aristotlean protagonist: hubris, hamartia, and catharsis.

Hubris - Excessive pride, or just plain arrogance...

According to Aristotle, for the character to be a tragic protagonist, they must display excessive pride in themselves (otherwise known as arrogance), and it will be this excessive pride which ultimately leads to their downfall.

Leading up to the most prestigious game in World Football, it could be said that Manchester United displayed excessive pride, and well...we all know what the outcome was.

United had just been crowned Premier League champions, they had won the Carling Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, and were on course for an historic quadruple of trophies in their 2008/09 campaign.

Ahead of the encounter in Rome, Cristiano Ronaldo was reminding the world it's him who is the best player in the world at the moment (as he has the trophy to prove it).

Patrice Evra said he could contain Argentina superstar Lionel Messi (as he had done previously) and even went as far as claiming himself to be "the best left-back in the world right now."

And FC Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola was paying his respects to Manchester United, with the team from Lancashire doing little to pay those respects back.

All of these factors could show that United displayed excessive pride, and it was this hubris which lead to the next element, hamartia, and ultimately their 2-0 downfall.

Hamartia - Flawless are flawless, United are not...

In Poetics, Aristotle claims the next element a tragic protagonist must have is hamartia, a fatal flaw which directly causes the downfall of the protagonist.

Whereas Britain's most popular dance act, 'Flawless' from the ITV show Britain's Got Talent, are literally flawless, from their performance in Rome it clearly seems Britain's most popular football team are not.

Manchester United's hubris from before kick-off had rubbed off on the pitch, and after a period of sheer dominance in the opening 10 minutes, the Red Devils perhaps thought they did not need to defend, as Andrés Iniesta and Samuel Eto'o sliced through their opponent's defence like a knife through butter.

Before the English champions knew it, they were 1-0 down, and after surviving on numerous occasions, their luck was out.

In the second half FC Barcelona capitalised on this flaw in the Manchester United ranks and provided the killer blow.

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