There are NO more league games left. No more bouts of football that offer log position changing results or reputation creating moments for the hungriest of players. All but one is done. One final battle that all fans will be focused on, and if the club you support isn’t involved in this massive spectacle, then you’re inevitably picking a side.

Saturday, 28th May 2011. Not only is it the biggest annual club match in the world, but this years final also sported two of the biggest clubs in the world. Both sides last featured in a Champions League Final in 2009, when Barcelona claimed a comfortable 2-0 victory over Manchester United at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

In the red corner: Manchester United have sported a less convincing side this past season than what we’ve become accustomed to seeing, yet Fergie‘s men showed a top-shelf level of discipline and consistency that overshadowed teams that seemed bigger challengers on paper. This proved to be key in their haul of a record 19th Premier League title and their climb to the Champions League final.

In the blue corner: FC Barcelona have had a tremendous 2010-2011 La Liga campaign, not only winning the Spanish league for the 3rd consecutive season, but beating Jose Mourinho’s superstar-studded Real Madrid side in what was a two horse race for the title.

Almost as if the 2009 Final script was revisited, the echo of the whistle to kickoff had barely faded and the Red Devils were let loose like hunting dogs. United’s applied pressure gained them an early dominance and the Catalans struggled to create a rhythm or adequate possession of any kind. Unfortunately, closing down a team at this rate is nearly impossible to keep up for 90 minutes and it didn’t take too long for Barca to gain momentum and control of the game’s pace. Barcelona maintained 67% possession in the first half of the game, spending most of it in the devil’s half of the pitch. They produced a continuous flow of attempts to get closer into the box where they usually prove to be most dangerous, but a commendable defensive effort from United broke down the attack systematically, forcing the Catalans to gamble on a series of ambitious, but unsuccessful attempts.

It was in the 27th minute that the game was opened by a trademark Barca counterattack that allowed them space around United’s tight defence and saw Pedro net a clean shot from just outside the big box from a well-timed Xavi through ball. Seven minutes later, Wayne Rooney created, carried through and finished a beautiful run from the right flank, near midway on the pitch. Rooney’s second pass in his run was to a questionably off-side Ryan Giggs who’s touch back set Rooney up for an unstoppable shot.

The second half saw Barca pick up from where they ended the first half. Determined to regain their lead, they sped up the game pace, creating a number of dangerous opportunities with no reward until the 54th minute. During their typical predatory movement around United’s big box, Barca opened the perfect gap after Park Ji-Sung’s miss-timed attempt to intercept an Andreas Iniesta pass pulled him out of position and left Lionel Messi to pick up the pass and make use of the neglected space. A quick run at the defence dragged Patrice Evra across to overlap Nemanja Vidic, opening up a narrow gap for Messi to boot an elegant left foot shot past Edwin van der Sar.

United were unable to piece together a solid attempt at equalizing as Barca conducted the momentum for the remainder of the game. One can never write off Fergie’s men though, as they’ve proved on countless occasions in the past by turning games around at the death and creating goals from minimal possession. However, red hearts dropped and belief in a game turnaround was diluted in the 69th minute when David Villa added his name to the score sheet in a ‘stand & deliver’ fashion. Once again, Messi was involved as he made another defence-trailing run into the box and his misplaced pass was repossessed by Sergio Busquets in a shaky defensive shuffle, then laid back to Villa who placed a sublime shot into the top right corner from a near stationary position outside the big box.

United fought hard but were given little time on the ball to make any significant headway. There was much speculation by pundits prior to the match as to its final result. United had just won the league after a great run of form and the possibility of the tables turning is always more likely to be expected when two teams with similar lineups face each other for a second final in short succession (as with Liverpool and AC Milan in the 2005 and 2007 finals). United were also on English soil and the likes of Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey and Arsenal in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal proved that Barcelona CAN be floored. Still, it’s no textbook task.

Acknowledging the fact that a large portion of their squad makes up much of the 2008 Euro and 2010 World Cup winning Spanish side, how does one defend against and attack a team who consist of so many players that can fill multiple roles during a match and who has players in the midfield and backline that are able to score crucial goals frequently? How does one tactically structure a team differently to counter such a side and then maintain that level of consistency for the full 90 minutes? How do you break down a team who seems to play as well in congestion as they do in space?

United may have been deconstructed in possession and control of the game, but definitely not in spirit. A hard fought display against what is arguably the best club football team in the world. In conclusion, whether you’re a fan of Barcelona or just a football fan in general, you can’t argue that in this day and age where so many teams comprise largely of foreign imports, it’s a pleasure to see a team that consists predominantly of domestic players, lift club football’s most celebrated award.

Nic Hoekstra

Pic: cdn.bleacherreport.net

Barcelona dominated the match with their slick passing game which stunted anything Arsenal tried to create, and two goals from Lionel Messi and one from Xavi won the game for the Catalans with Sergio Busquets scoring an own goal for Arsenal’s consolation. However it was the controversial sending off of Robin van Persie that helped swing the game in Barcelona’s favour after the Gunners’ fortuitous equaliser.

Arsenal were given a huge boost before kick off as both Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas were declared fit and named in the starting line-up. The Dutchman had been substituted in the League Cup final with a knee problem and Fabregas injured his hamstring against Stoke City a month ago, but both men recovered quicker than expected.

Arsene Wenger made three changes from the side who won the first leg at the Emirates with Bacary Sagna, Tomas Rosicky and Abou Diaby coming in for Theo Walcott, Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboue.

Barcelona lined up without usual centre-backs Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique due to injury and suspension respectively, so Eric Abidal was partnered with Sergio Busquets in defence with Javier Mascherano taking Busquets’ place in central midfield. The Catalans only other change from the first leg saw Adriano come in for Maxwell at left full back.

The match began, as expected, with Barcelona controlling possession and Arsenal looking to break on the counter attack, and the first chance fell to the hosts in the fourth minute. Pedro made a good run in behind the Arsenal defence, he was found with a lofted pass from Xavi but Koscielny recovered well to deny the chance and concede a corner.

Arsenal survived a scare in the 13th minute after a mistake by Johan Djourou allowed Mascherano to release Messi one-on-one with Kosicelny, but the defender muscled the Argentine off the ball superbly. However, he slipped as he attempted to clear the ball but a wonderful sliding interception from Jack Wilshere stopped David Villa getting a shot on target.

With Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola permanently positioned in his technical area, marshalling his troops, the hosts were dominating possession but finding it difficult to break through the last line of the Arsenal defence.

They did test Wojciech Szczesny in the 16th minute from a long range Dani Alves free kick but the Polish keeper was able to gather the ball, but it would prove to be his last involvement in the game, as he was substituted straight away with a finger injury and replaced by Manuel Almunia.

Arsenal’s normally neat and confident passing game was nowhere to be seen as the pressure of chasing the ball seemed to affect them building up their own periods of possession. And Barcelona nearly made their constant pressure pay in the 28th minute, only for a strong tackle from Djourou to deny Messi inside the penalty area after another trademark run. The loose ball fell to Pedro but his left foot shot from the edge of the area sailed over Almunia’s goal.

Five minutes later Barcelona tested Almunia for the first time since his introduction. Xavi released Villa who had found some space between Sagna and Djourou. The Spanish international took the ball to edge of the penalty area, and despite pressure from Djourou, was able to get his shot away but it lacked power and Almunia saved easily.

And the hosts continued to be apply the pressure, and were extremely unlucky not to be awarded a  penalty after Diaby appeared to bring down Messi on the edge of the penalty area. But the referee turned down the Argentine’s appeals, and seconds later a neat passing move saw Villa release Adriano inside the penalty area on the overlap but his fierce left foot drive smashed against the post and rebounded away.

After so much possession and so much domination Barcelona finished the half the much stronger side, with Messi again going close to opening the lead. Andres Iniesta raced away from inside his own half as Arsenal pushed on for the first time in the match. The Spaniard found Messi, who jinked past Clichy but his shot was straight at Almunia who clutched onto the ball gratefully.

Nonetheless, Barca broke the deadlock a minute later after a terrible mistake from Fabregas on the edge of his penalty area. The Arsenal captain attempted to back heel a ball to Wilshere, but it fell to Iniesta, who found Messi with a delightful pass, and what followed was pure magic. Messi controlled the pass, and lifted the ball over the advancing Almunia, before firing a volley into the back of the net to give the hosts the lead at the break.

The second half started as the first had ended, with Barcelona dominant in possession but there were more forays into the hosts’ half from Arsenal to give them hope of getting back into the tie.

And in the 53rd minute they were handed a lifeline, thanks to a mistake from stand-in centre half Busquets. Samir Nasri battled hard down the Arsenal left wing to earn his side a corner, and from the resulting set-piece, Diaby was unable to reach the cross but the ball struck Busquets and the ball flew past Victor Valdes in the Barcelona goal.

A minute later Arsenal were lucky not to go behind again as Villa was released inside the penalty area, but Almunia stayed up and made a good save, before his defenders cleared the ball to safety.

Arsenal’s task was made much harder three minutes after their goal as Van Persie was controversially dismissed for a second bookable offence.

The Dutchman looked to get on the end of a ball over the Barcelona defence but he mistimed his run and was flagged offside. However, the striker controlled the ball and fired a shot wide of goal which referee Massimo Busacca deemed to be kicking the ball away to waste time, and he issued a second yellow card and a subsequent red.

Despite the protests of van Persie and his team-mates that the striker had not heard the whistle, due to the crowd noise, the Dutchman had to make his way to the dressing room and leave his team to withstand more pressure with 10 men.

With Arsenal a man short the Barcelona charge really began, and Villa had two excellent chances to put his side back in front but was denied by Almunia again. Villa’s first chance came when Xavi released him inside the penalty area but as he was about to release his shot, Almunia made a good save. Minutes later Messi released the striker inside the penalty area but again Almunia saved, this time with his body, and Sagna cleared the ball to safety.

However in the 69th minute Barcelona did get themselves back in front through their inspirational captain Xavi. The build-up to the goal was beautiful as the Catalans sliced through the middle of the Arsenal defence as Iniesta glided past two challenges before finding Villa, he rolled the ball first time into Xavi and he calmly fired past Almunia.

And just two minutes later Barcelona extended their lead further after Koscielny brought down Pedro inside the penalty area. Pedro received a pass from Xavi and touched the ball away from the Arsenal defender before being tripped; Messi stepped up to take the spot kick and calmly fired the ball into the bottom corner of the net, with nonchalant ease.

With a lead on aggregate secured, Barcelona began to keep even more possession and chances continued to be created, with two clear opportunities for substitute Ibrahim Afellay.

With seven minutes to play the Dutchman was released by Adriano down the left. He held off the challenge of Djourou but his right foot shot sailed wide of goal. Two minutes later another passing move saw Messi release the young Dutch winger, but this time he was denied by a good save by Almunia.

But it would be the Gunners who were presented with a final chance to win the tie. With three minutes left to play, Wilshere and substitute Nicklas Bendtner broke away from the Barcelona defence before the Englishman cut the ball back for his team-mate.

But the Dane was unable to play the ball away from the backtracking Mascherano, who slid expertly to snatch the ball, as Arsenal’s Champions League died, one again, in the Nou Camp.

Source: goal.com

Pic: football365.com

The Argentine, like last season, treated Europe’s blue riband club competition as his personal playground, scoring two classy goals before missing a penalty as Barca recovered from an early shock to thrash visiting Panathinaikos 5-1 in Group D.

Inter took the lead but then had to come from behind to draw 2-2 at Dutch debutants Twente Enschede in Group A with the Italians losing forward Goran Pandev to a knee injury.

A much-changed Manchester United could find no way past obdurate Scottish visitors Rangers in Group C, drawing 0-0 in a game overshadowed by a serious ankle injury to Antonio Valencia.

The impish Messi bagged eight goals in the competition last season and judging by his display at the Nou Camp against an overwhelmed Greek side he will be aiming for double figures again, as Barca set about trying to reclaim the trophy.

Messi would have celebrated a hat-trick but for the second-half penalty save and he also rattled the goal frame before halftime as he resumed normal service after failing to hit the target at the World Cup finals.

David Villa, Pedro and Dani Alves also found the net for the irresistible Catalans who emphatically made up for their shock defeat by promoted Hercules in La Liga at the weekend.

“He is the best player in the world by some distance from the rest,” said Barca coach Pep Guardiola. “It hurts him to miss and he has this amateur spirit of always wanting to play.

Inter forward Diego Milito was not far behind fellow Argentine Messi in the Champions League goal charts last season but scored at the wrong end as they began the defence of their crown under new manager Rafael Benitez in jittery fashion.

Milito’s own goal briefly left Inter 2-1 behind at Twente after Wesley Sneijder had given the Italians an early lead.

Samuel Eto’o spared his blushes with an equaliser but Inter had to settle for a point after a goalless second half.

“In the first half we deserved nothing. We opened the scoring but after that we faced serious problems,” former Liverpool coach Benitez, who faces a colossal task filling the shoes of Jose Mourinho, told reporters.

The other game in Group A also ended 2-2, Tottenham Hotspur wasting a two-goal lead against Bundesliga side Werder Bremen on their first appearance in the European Cup since 1962.

Manchester United struggled to find insipration in their goalless draw with Rangers and Valencia’s misfortune capped a poor night for manager Alex Ferguson, whose decision to make 10 changes to the side that drew with Everton on Saturday misfired.

Wayne Rooney did return after being left out at the weekend as he deals with marital problems but the England striker, like his team mates, huffed and puffed against the massed ranks of Rangers’ eight-man defence without making a serious dent.

Winger Valencia fell to the turf after a seemingly innocuous tackle in the 63rd minute and manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports he feared the Ecuadorean had broken his ankle.

Turkish side Bursaspor were given a baptism of fire against Valencia, losing 4-0 at home in Group C’s other game.

In Group B, Benfica and Olympique Lyon started with victories, neither of them particularly convincing.

Benfica beat Israel’s Hapoel Tel Aviv 2-0 and last year’s semifinalists Lyon chiselled out a 1-0 win over Schalke 04, who played the second half with 10 men after central defender Benedikt Hoewedes was harshly sent off before hte break.

Russian champions Rubin Kazan, who stunned Barcelona last season and will face them again later in Group D, were beaten 1-0 at Denmark’s FC Copenhagen.

Wednesday marks Mourinho’s Champions League bow with his new team Real Madrid hosting Martin Jol’s Ajax Amsterdam while last season’s runners-up Bayern Munich host AS Roma as the opening games in the competition continue with matches in groups E-H.

Source: supersport.co.za

Pic: sport24.co.za

You know a player is very good when the opposition’s manager hits world headline praising him. Arsene Wenger, Arsenal’s manger is singing Lionel Messi’s praises at the top of his voice this morning in spite of the fact that the Argentinian national wiped his team out of the Champions league single handedly with a crushing 4 -1  victory.

The night started off OK for Arsenal when Nicklas Bendtner fired the Gunners into a shock lead on 18 minutes. But their joy was short-lived as Messi struck a brilliant 21-minute hat-trick, before compounding Arsenal’s misery with a fourth late on.

In the guardian.co. uk, Wenger likened Barça’s brilliant Argentinian to a computer creation. “He’s like a PlayStation,” he said. I think he can take advantage of every mistake you make. Barcelona are a very good side but of course they have Messi who can make the difference at any moment in the game.”

Wenger also believes the 22-year-old can go on to become one of the great players of all-time. “He is very young but he can achieve a lot. There are not many players who can score four goals like he did.

“He has six or seven great years ahead of him and he can become unbelievable. Touch wood nothing happens to him,” he said.

And as  Barcelona striker Lionel Messi takes his tally for the season to 39, he stressed the importance of team effort in his brilliant finishing after his four goals against Arsenal last night.

Source: vuvuzelasouthafrica.co.za

Messi struck a brilliant opener after just 12 minutes to put Barca 2-1 ahead in the last-16 tie, and he played a key role soon after as Pedro Rodriguez made it 2-0 on the night in the Nou Camp.

Messi, who was a constant menace, added a third on the hour mark to take his tally to eight goals in the last four games before Bojan Krkic completed the romp late on as Barca became Spain’s only representative to make it into the last eight.

Real Madrid, whose Bernabeu stadium will stage this year’s final, and Sevilla were both dumped out in the last week while Atletico Madrid bade farewell to the competition in the group stages.

Barca coach Pep Guardiola opted to start Thierry Henry as centre-forward instead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the Frenchman was the home side’s biggest threat early on, bringing a save out of Jens Lehmann in the second minute and then shooting wide not long after.

It was Messi who took centre stage after that, though.

Fresh from his stunning treble in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Valencia – his second hat-trick in 2010 already – the Argentinian broke the deadlock with a superb finish.

Yaya Toure fed the reigning FIFA World Player of the Year near the halfway line and the diminutive playmaker was allowed to venture unchallenged to the edge of the Stuttgart area before unleashing an unstoppable shot that flew into the top corner.

Messi then turned provider 10 minutes later as Barca doubled their advantage. His brilliant pass inside the Stuttgart right-back was latched onto by Toure, and his first-time pass inside was slotted home by Pedro.

Those two early strikes put Barca in total control and with Stuttgart creating little to trouble Victor Valdes and his defence, Guardiola’s sextuple winners went into the half-time interval knowing only a huge reversal of fortunes in the second half would deny them a place in the next round.

The script did not change at all though, with Messi again featuring heavily.

He set up Toure for a low shot that fizzed just wide in the 55th minute before then extending Barca’s lead five minutes later.

Pedro’s pass back to the edge of area was cleverly flicked into Messi’s path by Dani Alves, and the 22-year-old spun Timo Gebhart and drilled another left-footed shot past Lehmann from 20 yards out.

That was Messi’s fourth Champions League goal of the season and took his tally to 29 in all competitions

It ended any doubt about which team would be part of Friday’s draw, and the only question was how many more goals Barca would add against a Stuttgart side who have taken just one point from their last two Bundesliga games and need a tremendous end to the season if they are to get back into the Champions League again.

Messi had two chances to net his hat-trick, being denied by a superb Lehmann save and then dinking the ball wide with only the veteran goalkeeper to beat, while Andres Iniesta also went close.

Barca did manage to get one more goal though as substitutes Ibrahimovic and Bojan combined in the 89th minute for the latter to slide home a low shot from outside the area.

Source + Pic: teamtalk.com

Messi’s entourage “knows that Barca want the player to feel good here… We are proud to have him in the team because he is the best player in the world.”

The negotiations are continuing “at a good pace,” he said.

The 22-year-old is under contract with Barca until 2010. His salary is estimated at eight million euros per year.

Coach Pep Guardiola said meanwhile said that the arrival of Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will help keep Messi on his toes, and that’s what he needs.

“If Leo isn’t under pressure, he gets bored,” he said.

Ibrahimovic was signed from Inter Milan last month on a five-year deal which involved Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o moving the other way and the Italian side receiving €46 million as well as Alexander Hleb on loan.

Source: supersport.co.za