Barca 2 Man U 0

Lionel Messi Shows Yet Again That A Small Man Can Be A Great Football Star

The New York Times:

ROME — Patience, flair and a brilliant game of keep-away prevailed over force Wednesday night when Barcelona dominated Manchester United, 2-0, to win the European Champions League title, Europe’s most prestigious club soccer tournament.

Barcelona 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 coach Pep Guardiola has guided his squad 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 fans — seemingly the vast majority among 72,000 at Olympic Stadium — to celebrate with cameras that flashed like fireflies as the trophy was held aloft in a shower of confetti.

I couldn't have said this better myself. Bravo! Viva Barca! Viva Messi!