Barca 2, Manchester United 0, a.k.a. “Three is a magic number.”

By: Kevin | May 27th, 2009

I didn’t expect this. I just didn’t. I’m speechless. I’ve watched the match and I am absolutely staggered. Does anyone recall the Chelsea post-match, in which every last member of the ESPN broadcasting crew agreed on the Final prediction:

“No chance” was the consensus. We were going to get killed.

But we, and our beautiful, beautiful game were the killers. No refereeing decisions, no last-minute shots, no nonsense, and no doubt. It was a fairly easy match that showed why Chelsea didn’t come out to play football against us. Because you die. It’s just that simple.

Everyone heard the starting lineups, and the grumbles began: “Yaya has to be in the midfield,” “Sylvinho is going to get killed by Ronaldo,” “Busquets is going to die,” etc, etc. But as some of us said, “In Pep We Trust.”

Busquets played well beyond his tender years, Sylvinho turned back the clock and Puyol….I know that Xavi was voted official man of the match, but my vote goes to Puyol. He reduced Ronaldo to petulant fouls after controlling both he and Rooney. He kept the ball alive twice for the second goal and was only a chip away from really putting the icing on a magnificent cake.

The treble. No Spanish team has ever done the treble. Should I bother repeating that? We also broke the record for Champions League goals, held by one Evil Empire, Messi scored his first goal against English opposition, the list goes on. But what is more important is this:

BARCELONA ARE CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE!!!!

How in the hell did that happen? We might as well not even have bothered to show up, if you believe the press predictions and reports, right? United fans figured that the folks might as well go ahead and engrave their name on the trophy before the match even started, because our Mighty Mites didn’t have a chance.

We showed them. Showed them all. No refereeing contentions, no nothing, just a dominant performance that can’t be taken away from us. We deserved this Champions League. Yes, you heard right: We deserved it. After a season of playing football that took everyone’s breath away, suffused with beauty, elegance and goal after goal after goal, playing the game the way that it should be played, the Footy Gods said “Yes, that is good. Give it to them.”

But how did it happen, really? Three of our first-choice back line were out, through injury or suspension. Though I say two, because Marquez probably wouldn’t have started. Iniesta and Henry were just coming back from injury. We had a back line staffed by two old dudes, a midfielder and a young’un.

So how did it happen? The same that it did all season, death by possession. The longer we have the ball, the more the other side has to chase it, the more tired they get, until a passing lane opens up and the dagger goes in. We’ve seen it happen time and again this magical season, so who was really surprised when it happened once again.

But let’s take a moment to savor….

Guardiola rolled out a starting XI of Valdes, Puyol, Pique, The Yaya, Sylvinho, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Henry and Eto’o. The reasons that this wasn’t going to work were numerous, and we’d read them all.

And it almost didn’t, as United came out to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and they were all out of bubble gum. We spent the first 10 minutes on the back foot, with a trio of great chances for United to score. First Valdes spills a Thong Boy free kick but Park put it over the top. Then Ronaldo, close as can be, controlled and spanked a shot that went just wide. And by just wide I mean my heart stopped beating just wide. The defense was bumbling and stumbling as the ball pinged around, and we looked to be in trouble. Serious trouble.

If Ronaldo converts either of those, it’s a very different match. But then the magic happened. We gained possession, Messi worked a little space-freeing one-two with Iniesta, who began one of those little squirreling runs of his that we’ve all seen, and every defense thinks that it should be able to stop. Iniesta slotted a ball through, and Samuel Eto’o (as many of us predicted he would) took those personalized boots of his and toe-poked one past Van der Saar.

Just like that it was 1-0, and United were gutted. They never recovered from that goal, which was so devastating because it came against the run of play. United had the momentum, they were all over us, and we couldn’t even get the ball to begin our possession game. But patience won this match. Patience, and the most clinical finishing I have seen from Eto’o. Our first foray into their end of the pitch, our first shot, and it was 1-0. And it wasn’t just the pass from Iniesta. Eto’o’s first touch was exquisite, and the move he put on Vidic turned the defender inside out and left Van der Saar at his mercy. Eto’o wasn’t going to miss. Not at that moment. It was Supposed To Be. And so it was.

We all know how it goes when we get an early goal, and need to win a match. It’s over. Put a fork in it. But I wasn’t relaxed, because this we were playing the best team in the world. We didn’t have a chance. One goal wasn’t going to be enough, right?

Wrong. It didn’t take a footballing genius to see what was happening, as we parked the bus, Barca-style. Pass after pass, delicate little run after delicate little run had United chasing the ball. And when they got it, a triangle of attackers became a triangle of defenders. The back line recovered the wayward or too-heavy pass, and back to the midfield it went, for Xavi and Iniesta to play “Neener, neener” as they scurried around with the ball.

And we almost had a second goal quickly after the first as Xavi rolled a corner kick to Messi who, let’s face it, whiffed on the one-timer. We ran out the first half with control of the ball and the match, as the United defenders huffed and puffed.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Sure, we could boss the Liga, but this was United, Premiership champions and defending European champions.

But geometry is geometry, and the rule is simple: You can’t hit what you can’t catch. When Xavi and Iniesta are moving as they were, as if joined by a rod as they passed the ball back and forth, it just isn’t going to happen for the other side, no matter who it is.

To start the second half, Ferguson brought on Tevez, a man who many want to see in the colors, a man who had a little bit of an effect before we picked up right where we left off, passing the match into oblivion.

And then came Captain Caveman, charging up the pitch from the back on an improbable run, a muscular, sweaty, mop-topped Alves wannabe, who fed Eto’o for a pass that didn’t get through. Puyol helped work it loose again to Xavi, who lofted an inch-perfect ball for Messi, even taking into account his wee-ness. Messi side-headed it home, and 71 minutes in it was 2-0.

It might as well have been 10-0, because United just didn’t look like scoring off the run of play, mostly because they didn’t have the ball. One great sequence, for those who have access to the match, is worth watching. It runs from about 82:30-83:45, more than a minute of uninterrupted possession for us, more than 20 passes that ended in a great chance on goal for our Captain, who must not have had his chipping boots on today.

And even after getting fouled by Ronaldo, he runs back down to the other end, injured, and heads the ball away on a United attack. We could all see him motioning to the bench that he needed to come out, and the bench said “No, stick it out. We need you out there.” And he stayed.

Yes, Xavi had a great match. So did Pique. Iniesta was spectacular. But no single player embodied everything that has happened this season, the grit and determination, the ripping your heart out for the side, more than Puyol.

But how in the hell did we beat United with a makeshift back line? Again, as many here predicted (why doesn’t the rest of the world visit this blog?), Sylvinho and Puyol stayed home early, enough to frustrate Rooney and Ronaldo into arm-waving impotence. Rather than the space created by Alves’ runs, Puyol was a rock. And Sylvinho played his position exquisitely, and used his passing and ball control skills become a left midfielder, facilitating up keeping the ball and in effect killing the match with passing. No 10 men behind the ball, though for a while we were packed pretty far back. It’s move up, pass and attack and play defense from the front.

And we are Champions of Europe.

I, for one, don’t want this season to end. Let’s draw up the Liga schedule for next year and start right now. I think that I can safely speak for Isaiah when I say that I am too happy for words, giddy with the rapture elicited by the side’s excellence. And while I have a captive audience, I want to thank every last person who has come to this blog, from regulars to recent or intermittent visitors. Our little penya here has made supporting our beautiful side a delight.

And special thanks to Hector and Ramzi, who brought a level of tactical discussion that elevated the comments here, to the most thoughtful footy blog on the Web. Period.

With that, for the pentultimate time….

Team: 10 Unrelenting and universally supportive, they constantly went to mat for each other time and again, from Busquets tackling the ball back after Xavi lost it, to Yaya trying some mid-air karate kick thing to try a clearance.

Guardiola: 10 He knew. He absolutely knew. He knew that Sylvinho had one more great one in him, that Busquets was ready, that The Yaya could do it. He just knew.

Valdes: 8 Ye gods, he almost killed me when he spilled that ball, but that was his moment. He was perfect after that, even stonewalling Ronaldo at almost point-blank range. And he did it while injured.

Puyol: 9 He would have gotten a 10 had he chipped Van der Saar. I said it before and will say it again: I like Puyol as a wing back, because of his discipline. Give him a zone to play, and he’s great. None of that roaming around in the middle of the defense. He locked down Rooney, then Ronaldo.

Pique: 10 Clearance after clearance, header after header, he continued to show why he has become our best back line player. And what passes out of the back.

The Yaya: 7 A little funky at first, then found his rhythm. Was at his best when pushing up the pitch to add to our attack and ball control game.

Sylvinho: 8 Excellent match from a man who deserved to go out in style, with confetti raining down on him. He’s been a delight for the side, and saved one of his best matches for last.

Busquets: 8 He was tireless, running around, legs flying to win or deflect balls, doing everything that he had to do for the side. He was crucial to the ball control, as well.

Xavi: 10 Even without the free kick that didn’t go in (smacked the crap out of the post), he was spectacular today. His intelligence with the ball is beautiful to watch, unless you’re trying to chase him down to get it from him. He lost one ball. One. And Busquets got it right back for him.

Iniesta: 10 Can I give an 11? Whether it was Rooney or Ronaldo who called him the best player in the world doesn’t matter. They’re pretty close to right. He was amazing today, and looked to be moving a lot better than Henry was.

Messi: 7 Wasn’t as influential as he could have been. The second goal was great, but 90% of that was the pass from Xavi. He was focussed and very good, and his movement with and without the ball was excellent. But he’s been better.

Henry: 6 He was clearly hampered, and except for that charge into the box off of the great feed from Xavi, he was very, very quiet. Which doesn’t matter a whole lot, because the look on his face as he lofted the CL trophy was one for the ages. It was why he came to us, and I’m glad he played such a crucial part in the run up to the Final.

Eto’o: 8 Mad Sammy was in full effect today, and what a goal. Became less influential as the match progressed, but he was killing himself for the side. To think, he was all but sold this last summer, and there he was, scoring the winning goal in the Champions League final.

Substitutes

Keita (for Henry): 6 He was brought in for his pace and physical abilities, and he fulfilled the bill admirably.

Pedro!!! (for Iniesta): incomplete Yes, he can say that he played, but he didn’t really.

So that’s really it, everyone, except for a meaningless match against Deportivo this weekend. Once, twice, three times a Champion. We even led ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”

How ’bout that?