Barcelona reach the glory in Rome

Barcelona proved to be the best squad in the world by beating Manchester United 2-0 and conquering the most wanted trophy in Europe: the Champions League

The blaugranas controlled the ball for long stretches with its unhurried and clever passing, attacked incessantly, held tight with a patchwork defense and made a tactical switch at forward, placing Lionel Messi as a central striker and shifting Samuel Eto’o to the right wing. Eventually, Messi drifted into midfield to secure possession. Both he and Eto’o delivered goals as Barcelona won its third European title and second in four years.

It will be left to Barcelona’s supporters to gleefully debate whether this is the Catalans’ greatest team, now that the first-year boss Pep Guardiola has guided his team to the Spanish League title, the Spanish Cup and now the European Cup with a style that is familiarly elegant and ebullient. For a night, it was enough for Barcelona supporters — seemingly the vast majority among 72,000 at Olympic Stadium of Rome — to celebrate with cameras that flashed like fireflies as the trophy was held aloft in a shower of confetti.

“We are not the best team of history, but we have played the best season in history to win three titles and the way we won,” expressedGuardiola, 38, who has won a European championship both as a Barcelona player and boss.

The Red Devils, meanwhile, lost for the first time in 26 Champions League matches and failed to defend its 2008 title. Even with four attackers in the second half, the English Premier League champions often seemed lethargic, uninvolved — at times unrecognizable — after missing several chances in the early minutes of the match.

So strong and constrictive on most nights, the Manchester United defense was unable to subdue the organized and creative Barcelona attack, which flowed with the inevitability of water through any available crease. Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester manager, dismissed his defense as “shoddy.”

Pep had urged his Barcelona footballers to be daring, and after the victory said, “We wanted to say we played and were not being cowards.” He added, “There’s nothing more dangerous than not taking risks.”

Barcelona’s one apparent weakness, a depleted defense, never became a liability. Dani Alves and Éric Abidal were suspended and Rafa Márquez was shelved with injury. But Guardiola found a reliable solution, placing Carles Puyol at right back, Yaya Touré in central defense alongside Gerard Piqué and Sylvinho at left back. They remained impenetrable.

Guardiola made another adroit move up front. Last year in the Champions League semifinals, Manchester United’s left back, Patrice Evra, had handcuffed Messi on the right wing. On Wednesday, Guardiola countered with Messi as a central striker, moving Eto’o outside. Later, Leo Messi retreated into midfield and, along with Xavi Hernández, helped Barcelona control the ball as if it were tethered to his foot. Sometimes, it seemed minutes passed before Manchester United could regain possession from the smaller, more dexterous Barcelona footballers.

“If they get in front of you, they’re very difficult to beat,” Ferguson stated. “They can keep the ball in areas of the field where it is difficult to protect.”

Early on, it was Manchester United that threatened to dominate. After missing several inviting opportunities, though, the team deflated, never regaining its spirit and vigor.

In the second minute, superstar Cristiano Ronaldo drove a low, hard free kick that bounced and could not be smothered by Victor Valdés, the Barcelona goalkeeper. Park Ji-sung, Manchester United’s tireless winger and the first Asian player to participate in a Champions League final, pounced on the rebound, but a Barcelona defender slid across his path. The shot deflected high over the crossbar. Ronaldo later lashed two shots wide, unfulfilled chances that Manchester United could not afford.

“Losing that first goal was decisive for us,” Sir Alex Ferguson stated. “We couldn’t recover from that.”

Barcelona quickly struck back. In the 10th minute, midfielder Andrés Iniesta, recovered from a thigh injury, played the ball to Eto’o on the right flank. Eto’o, a Cameroonian forward, cut sharply inside, turning the defender Nemanja Vidic, leaving him corkscrewed and helpless. Eto’o punched the ball into the net off the left hand of Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, giving Barcelona the only goal it would need.

After halftime, Manchester United clearly required of an infusion of energy, but neither the replacement forwards Carlos Tévez nor Dimitar Barbatov could kick-start a somnolent engine.

In the 70th minute, Puyol stole a pass for Barcelona, beginning a magical sequence that finished with Xavi chipping a superb pass from outside the area to a waiting Messi, six yards from the goal, unattended by two defenders. He headed the ball over van der Sar’s head and Barcelona took an insurmountable 2-0 lead. Now it is Messi, not Ronaldo, who is certain to gain favor as the world’s greatest player.

“We didn’t have to win to know he’s the best,” Guardiola stated.

In the end, though, Barcelona did win, primarily by getting the ball and refusing to give it back. “For us, we are a horrible team, a disaster team, when we don’t have the ball,” Guardiola admitted. “We need the ball. We got it” he concluded

Prince William from England and King Juan Carlos from Spain to attend the Champions League Final

According to many news agencies, Prince William is to attend tonight's Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona in the italian city of Rome, in his capacity as President of the English Football Association.

In fact, the Prince will meet key officials and other dignitaries in private before the match, during half-time and after the match. The Prince will be accompanied by senior English FA officials, including chairman, Lord Triesman.

As for King Juan Carlos of Spain, he will also attend the match in support of Barcelona and Prince William will be granted an audience with The King before the match.

However, what makes this game so important that the royal families of both competing nations should want to be in attendance, when they can view proceedings from the comfort of their sumptuous sofas.

We could say that the Champions League final is the biggest, most watched and most eagerly-anticipated club football encounter in the world.

It's interesting to notice that Manchester United are the champions of England, Barcelona are the champions of Spain and, by common consensus, the English Premier League and Spanish Primera Liga are the two most glamorous leagues in European football.

Thierry Henry ready to win the Champions League for the first time

French super star Thierry Henry believes he can fire the Blaugranas to an historic treble triumph in the Champions League final now he has rediscovered his love for football. As we know, the forward was criticised by fans and Spanish media for lacking the verve he showed at Arsenal following his June 2007 transfer from the Premier League club.

Despite the critics, Henry has been back to his best this season, scoring 25 goals to help Josep Guardiola’s team win the domestic League and Cup double.

A victory over Manchester United in Wednesday’s European Final game would give the Catalan club their first ever treble and confirm Henry’s place in the club’s hall of fame.

The popular "Titi" himself is just delighted to have finally become comfortable with his form in Catalonia.

“I think that I’ve definitely changed opinions about me this season. Now I feel the affection of the Nou Camp fans, compared to the really tough times with our home crowd on occasions last year,” he admitted.

"In fact, I like that people question me, I use that to motivate myself and try to prove them wrong. My opinion is that this is a club where, to triumph, you have to understand not only the fans but the club, the city and the fact that Catalonia is not Spain.

"I'm so eager to get the title and finally achieve the only crown i don't have in football. And it will be an honor to win it over one of the most powerful teams of all times, Manchester United" he concluded.

Apparently, Guardiola trust Henry's qualities and the Frenchman will be a starter in tomorrow's important game.

UEFA Champions League Referee: Massimo Busacca

In a very surprising statement, the main board of the UEFA announced that Massimo Busacca, from Switzerland, will performe as the referee for the Champions League final between Barcelona FC and Manchester United. According to the press in Switzerland, the quality of his work is flawless.

In fact, wednesday's final clash in Rome's Stadio Olimpico will be Busacca's second European club final, after the all-Spanish UEFA Cup title match between Sevilla and Espanyol in 2007.

We mus remember that he awarded visiting Manchester United a penalty for a handball after only three minutes of the first-leg match, though Cristiano Ronaldo shot wide. The match ended scoreless and the Red Devils won 1-0 at Old Trafford to reach the final, where they beat Chelsea.

The referee has officiated in 32 Champions League matches in his career, including United's 1-0 win at FC Porto to advance to the semifinals as one of six this season.

What's more, UEFA also appointed Busacca to referee the 2008 European Championship semifinal between Germany and Turkey.

It's interestin to notice that FIFA has selected Busacca on its list of referees for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. That means that in the end, he is a good decision.

Liverpool 4-0 win over Madrid caused the Spanish newspapers fury

Every single publication in Spain reacted with strong criticism against Real Madrid after they being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League, destroyed by a super efficient Liverpool

Indeed, "Madrid in the worst crisis", "Liverpool, white cemetery" and "Madrid crashed" were among the headlines after a 4-0 defeat saw the nine-times European champions lose the last-16 tie 5-0 on aggregate. The result means the popular "merengues" have failed to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for a fifth straight year.

The scoreline might have been worse were it not for a string of saves from Iker Casillas in the Real goal and Spain's newspapers did not hold back in their assessments of Juande Ramos's side's performance.

"The english powerhouse Liverpool gave a provincial-looking Madrid a lesson in what Europe is," wrote the daily ABC. "Their devastating play made Madrid look like they weren't at the game: no possession, no ideas, no energy and lacking control or width. A stellar Torres knocked Madrid to the ground and Gerrard buried them."

Real Madrid's recent 10-game winning streak in La Liga, which ended with Saturday's 1-1 draw at home to city rivals Atlético, was all but forgotten.

The old newspaper "El País" blamed the Spanish champions' poor showing partly on the club's recent institutional problems which it said urgently needed to be resolved. Real have an interim president following the resignation of Ramón Calderón in a vote-rigging scandal and El Pais said elections must be held sooner rather than later so a new president can breathe life into the club.

"Madrid have hit rock bottom," wrote the publication. "They have been there for a while on the institutional side and now they have fallen off a cliff in the sporting arena."

Didier Drogba scores to beat Juventus and give Ranieri an awful "welcome back"

It's good to hear that Drogba goal leads Chelsea to victory again. The African striker, his season hampered by injury, suspension and a fallout with axed coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, looked back to his predatory most amazing at the moment he took a pass from Salomon Kalou and despatched the ball beyond Gianluigi Buffon in the 12th minute.

Former Chelsea coach Claudio Ranieri, now in charge of Juve, was given a warm reception by the home supporters before the game. Ranieri is still held in high esteem by Chelsea supporters even though he failed to win a single trophy during his four-year stint at Stamford Bridge.

Hiddink was taking charge of a Chelsea side at home for the first time since his temporary appointment and it was the hosts who made the first inroads towards goal with Jose Bosingwa forcing Buffon into a save with a left-foot shot from the edge of the area in the fourth minute.

Indeed, four minutes later Drogba almost opened the scoring at the moment he got ahead of his marker to turn a cross from Bosingwa just over the crossbar.

But the Ivorian put the home side in front in the 12th minute at the moment a superb through ball from Kalou provided him with a clear-cut shooting opportunity and Drogba supplied the required finish in style. It was the perfect start for the Premier League side although Juventus claimed Drogba was offside before he fired the ball home from 10 yards.

In the 15th minute, Drogba must have made it two at the moment he met a corner from Frank Lampard inside the six-yard box, but he inexplicably headed wide.

The italian powerhouse enjoyed plenty of possession after the interval but found the Chelsea defense in fine form, with Petr Cech only having to deal with a succession of long-range efforts.

Marco Marchionni and Alessandro del Piero both tried their luck from distance and Pavel Nedved went close near the end for the visitors.

Chelsea also had opportunitys to double their lead, notably at the moment a 20-yard effort from Nicolas Anelka flashed inches wide, but Chelsea held on for the victory.

"We maybe must have netted a second goal to give us some breathing space for the second leg. I felt we suffered a little bit in the second half and Juventus are a difficult side to play, but I'm happy with the result," Hiddink concluded.

Didier Drogba netted the only goal as Chelsea beat Juventus 1-0 at Stamford Bridge to give Guus Hiddink's side a slender advantage ahead of their Champions League last-16 second leg in Turin.