Barcelona Dominates Manchester United to Win UEFA Champions League

Watching the 2009 Champions League final unfold a sense of déjà vu washed over me. In a lot of ways it was like watching the final of Euro 2008 all over again. Instead of Spain defeating Germany 1-0 last June, Wednesday it was Barcelona defeating Manchester United 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Once again in a big match, the Spanish way of soccer -- namely quick, precise passing -- took precedence. And again it was the twin engine of Andres Iniesta and Xavi pulling the strings in the midfield. Just as Germany found it nearly impossible to win the ball back once down 1-0 last year in Austria, Manchester United found how difficult it was hold possession against the pinpoint passing of the Spanish midfielders.

The win gave Barcelona a treble, winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League. The club's win also gave Spain the most overall Champions League titles with 12, one better than both England and Italy.

Wednesday it took some time for Barcelona to get going. In fact, Manchester United -- through Cristiano Ronaldo -- came out firing inside the first five minutes. Ronaldo gave United its best chance on a second-minute free kick that Barca keeper Victor Valdes couldn't handle cleanly. Yet Ji-Sung Park was late to the rebound and United couldn't convert.

In the 10th minute Iniesta initiated Barcelona's first attack and it proved to be the difference. Iniesta raced up the field untouched and laid off a pass to Samuel Eto'o on the right side of the box. Eto'o essentially juked United defender Nemanja Vidic out of his pants and fired a ball inside the near post past Edwin van der Sar.

Once Barcelona went ahead it was pretty much lights out for Manchester United. The Red Devils could barely possess the ball. At halftime Sir Alex Ferguson brought on Carlos Tevez and later Dmitar Berbatov, but it was no matter as they couldn't trouble Barcelona's makeshift back line.



Barcelona sealed the match in the 70th minute when Xavi chipped in a perfect ball to Lionel Messi, who rose and put his whole, tiny body behind the powerful header that sealed the game. Messi, who had be criticized for some of his Champions League showings especially against English teams, quieted those doubters with his first goal against an English team. Messi finished with nine goals to lead the competition, pushing him to the top of the list for all the Player of the Year awards.

Oddly enough, the suspensions of Barcelona outside backs Dani Alves and Eric Abidal might have actually helped out Wednesday. Captain Carlos Puyol shifted to right back and did a yeoman's job marking against Ronaldo. As the game wore on, his physicality appeared to take the Portuguese star out of his game. Sylvinho, too, did a good job taking Wayne Rooney completely out of the match.

In fact it's hard to remember a game where nobody on Manchester United seemed to play a good match, especially the midfield. A good part of this was a product of Barcelona keeping the pressure up and never allowing United a lifeline. The miracle of 1999 would not be repeated 10 years later, as United were denied a chance to repeat.

Now the questions turn to the future.

Was this the last match for Ronaldo and Tevez in Manchester United shirts?

Will Barcelona -- and in turn, Spain's dominance on the world of football -- carry over into next year and the 2010 World Cup?

In the end It all boiled down to pure dominance by Pep Guardiola's men plain and simple. Barcelona Wednesday proved they were by a good margin the best team in the world this season.