Truth Be Told, Barcelona Deserve To Be European Champions, but...

It's not easy for a Manchester United supporter to accept defeat but I'll come out and say it "Barcelona deserve to be European Champions".

Last night, Perhaps, the most prestigious prize in club football, the UEFA Champions League final was contested in front of a packed house at the Stadio Olympico in Rome.

It was being billed as one of the greatest finals in the history of the competition, the game itself, invariably failed to live up to all the hype that had been generated prior to kickoff.

Cristiano Ronaldo versus Lionel Messi was one of the battles that was being highly anticipated ahead of the grand finale as the Champions of England, Manchester United came face to face with the Champions of Spain, FC Barcelona.

Many football pundits tipped the Red Devils as slight favourites ahead of the game. Josep Guardiola's side were missing quite a few members of their defense including Daniel Alves, Eric Abidal, Gabriel Milito and Rafael Marquez.

Much to the delight of the Catalonian nation, both Andres Iniesta and Thierry Henry started the game despite being major doubtful starters for the La Liga Champions.

Veteran left-back Sylvinho came in as skipper Carles Puyol started on the right wing to allow make-shift centre back Yaya Toure to accompany ex-Manchester United defender, Gerard Pique in the heart of Barca's defense.

Manchester United were missing their suspended Scottish midfielder, Darren Fletcher and he was replaced by Ryan Giggs, which was Manchester United's only change to the side which destroyed Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in the second leg of their semifinal with the Gunners.

The Red Devils started as the stronger team, Cristiano Ronaldo's freekick in the very first minute of play caused problems for Victor Valdes and the Spanish stopper needed the help of Pique to parry it away as Park failed to connect with the rebound.

United's Portuguese sensation was on fire as he constantly caused problems for Barca's back-line in the opening minutes of play in Rome.

Ronaldo, himself, had four shots on goal, three of them on target in the first nine minutes of play.

Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra were looking to exploit the aging Puyol on the left but Pep Guardiola's team always seemed to do just enough to deny United taking the lead in the opening minutes of play, when, completely against the run of play, Barcelona silenced the United section of the crowd, as Samuel Eto'o rounded up a brilliant passing move between Xavi and Lionel Messi by toe-poking the ball past Van der Sar from the right side of United's goal.

Barcelona 1 Manchester United 0

Moments later, Cristiano Ronaldo got the better of the ex-Arsenal left-back, Sylvinho, and headed towards goal when he was brought down by Gerard Pique.

Pique was lucky to escape with just a yellow card as replays showed, he was indeed, the last man and could have been sent off by the Swiss Referee, Massimo Massaca.

Barcelona's goal certainly jolted United's confidence as the Red Devils completely lost their rhythm and the momentum in both their passing and their attacking play.

Sir Alex Ferguson's team selection was questionable to the say the very least. Now, I don't want to sound hypocritical here, because it might appear that this team won against Arsenal and when they win it's accepted but when they lose it is criticised.

The truth, however, is Arsenal and Barcelona are entirely different teams and you need to play against different teams with different strategies.

South Korean midfielder Park Ji Sung was relatively poor on the night, losing possession every time he was put under pressure and failing to make a positive contribution to United's attack.

Various sections of the Old Trafford faithful have blasted the decision to start Park against the Catalan Giants, terming it as 'politics' and 'just a fellow to represent Asia'.

Brazilian midfielder Anderson was equally ineffective and was rightly substituted for Carlos Tevez at the interval as Paul Scholes started on the bench.

John O'Shea had been promised a start by Sir Alex Ferguson after scoring in the semifinal against Arsenal but the make-shift right back was put to the sword by Barcelona's Thierry Henry.

Perhaps, Gary Neville or Rafael Da Silva might have posed a greater threat going forward as the have the ability and the pace to go deep to provide crosses into the box for the likes of Rooney and Ronaldo.

Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic were relatively solid on the night, two lapses causing two goals. Lionel Messi's goal was an absolutely sensational header by the reasonably short Argentine forward, which nothing either the fit-again Ferdinand or Vidic could do about.

To be fair to Barcelona, United had their fair share of luck as a spectacular freekick by Xavi struck the woodwork after the interval which was followed by Edwin Van der Sar making an unbelievable reflex save from a Thierry Henry effort from merely six yards out.

Cristiano Ronaldo struggled in vain, to get a goal back for the Red Devils put despite several terrific through balls from Micheal Carrick both Rooney and Ronaldo failed to hit the back of the net being denied either by Valdes or Pique.

Eventually, Sir Alex Ferguson played all his cards, having United's Fabulous Four of Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Dimitar Berbatov on the pitch at the same time.

But the forwards just weren't getting the supply needed to get the goals, it was almost as if, the ball refused to go into Barca's net as Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo were denied twice by Victor Valdes who desperately through his body around, trying to to hold on to a clean sheet by the skin of his teeth.

As we headed towards the end of the 90 minutes, United fans, were hoping against hope, praying, believing, but a repeat of the magical treble at the Camp Nou, 10 years ago, where United scored two goals in the last two minutes, was never to be.

As the final whistle blew, it was ecstasy for Barcelona who were deservedly crowned Champions of Europe despite getting to the final, in a controversial manner, many including Didier Drogba termed their semifinal clash against Chelsea as a 'disgrace'.

Barcelona 2 Manchester United 0

It was agony for Manchester United. The reigning Champions were forced to surrender their crown but in all truth, United just weren't good enough, on the night, they were second best.

Sir Alex Ferguson's men accepted that their off-colour performance wasn't enough for them to write their names in history by becoming the only team to retain the UEFA Champions League, though AC Milan did retain the European Cup in 1989 and 1990.

Barcelona's attacking trio of Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi have been absolutely sensational this season, with 99 goals between them as Barcelona scored a total of 169 goals in all competitions. It was a fantastic display from their midfield duo of Andres Iniesta and Xavi.

A word of praise for Gerard Pique, who constantly kept the Red Devils at bay. Carles Puyol, the skipper, battled hard and was rewarded for it, as he lifted the European showpiece.

Hats off to Josep Guardiola, who outfoxed the fox, Sir Alex Ferguson. Guardiola completes a treble in his very first season in charge at the Nou Camp. A fantastic achievement. Congratulations to FC Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Champions - 2009!