Barcelona wins Champions League title

associated Press

Barcelona Wins Champions League Title

Shaka Hislop breaks down Barcelona's third Champions League title in six yearsTags: Shaka Hislop, Champions League, Lionel Messi, Messi, Patrice Evra, Barcelona, analysis, Manchester United, Wayne Rooney

WEMBLEY, England -- The debate is over now. Barcelona is on the list of soccer's all-time greatest teams.

Led by another dominant performance from Lionel Messi, the Catalan club beat Manchester United 3-1 on Saturday to earn its third Champions League title in six seasons and No. 4 overall.

"I feel privileged," Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said. "You always want to win, but the way we have won is what I am most proud of. This is the way we want to play football.

"Lionel is the best player I have seen and probably the best I will ever see."

Messi was typically subdued in his celebration.

"I'm very happy about the match," Messi said. "We were the better team. We deserved to win."

Messi put Barcelona ahead to stay with his 53rd goal and helped create another score to give the Spanish league champion some breathing room.

Barcelona dominated play at Wembley Stadium with its trademark one-touch passing, but it needed the Argentine striker to conjure a 54th-minute solo strike from the edge of the penalty area to take the lead for the second time.

There seemed to be no space as Messi was tracked by fullback Patrice Evra. But the two-time world player of the year spotted a gap between the central defenders and hit a shot down the middle, beating goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

Messi added a fake and run that led to David Villa taking possession on the edge of the area. From there, the Spain striker curled a shot into the top corner of the net.

"They do mesmerize you with their passing and we never really did control Messi," United manager Alex Ferguson said. "But many people have said that.

"In my time as manager, it's the best team I've faced."

Soccer commentators had said before the game that Barcelona, which already had won a third straight Spanish league title, would be ranked among the sport's truly great teams with a victory over United. Now, with four European titles, only Liverpool, AC Milan and Barcelona's fierce rival Real Madrid have won more.

With Pedro Rodriguez scoring the opening goal midway through the first half on an imaginative through ball from Xavi Hernandez, the win was as comprehensive as Barcelona's 2-0 victory over United in the 2009 final in Rome.

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LLUIS GENE/AFP/Getty ImagesLionel Messi was the star of the show as Barcelona dominated Manchester United to win its third Champions League title in six years.

"When Rome finished, I thought we had played a good game, but when I looked at it again I wasn't that impressed," Guardiola said. "But it has served its purpose.

"I think we played much better than the game two years ago."

Guardiola now has won 10 titles -- including two European Cups -- in three years.

Wayne Rooney's goal in the 34th minute left it tied at 1 at halftime. Rooney carried the ball to the edge of the area, slipping it to Ryan Giggs. Giggs knocked it back, giving Rooney the perfect opportunity to curl a shot past goalkeeper Victor Valdes at the far post.

Barcelona's performance was so comfortable that Guardiola was able to bring on regular captain Carles Puyol for the last few moments, giving the oft-injured defender the chance to play a part in a memorable triumph.

But in a gesture symbolizing Barcelona's team ethic, Puyol handed the armband over to Eric Abidal. His place on the team had been in doubt after he had surgery this season to remove a liver tumor -- and the France defender lifted the famous trophy.

"Players are human beings," Guardiola said. "Carles has made a great gesture and it has made us stronger."

After a shaky opening, Barcelona simply outclassed the English champions. Xavi, standing in as captain for Puyol, orchestrated play from in front of Sergio Busquets, while Andres Iniesta and Messi hurt United with pinpoint passing.

"This is the reason I came to Barcelona," Villa said. "I'm very happy, very satisfied. We have a team with ambition, a team with the will to win."

United could do little to disrupt Barcelona, the prevailing force of European soccer.

"They were the better team so we can't really argue," United's Rio Ferdinand said. "They're a great side with great players."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Barça crowned as Messi and Villa shoot down United

Published: Saturday 28 May 2011, 23.30CET

FC Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United FC
Second-half goals from Lionel Messi and David Villa ended United's challenge at Wembley and earned a fourth European title for Barça.

by Simon Hart

Just as in 1992, Wembley provided the setting for a Catalan celebration as FC Barcelona turned on the style to beat Manchester United FC 3-1 and claim their fourth European crown. Barcelona were worthy winners, taking the lead through Pedro Rodríguez and responding to Wayne Rooney’s equaliser with two superb second-half strikes from Lionel Messi and David Villa.

If Barcelona’s triumph at the old Wembley broke down a barrier, this underlined the Spanish titleholders’ status as the continent’s dominant force, this third UEFA Champions League in six seasons conferring the stamp of greatness on Josep Guardiola’s side. For United, this was a sorry repeat of their Rome defeat by Barcelona two years ago. There were dancers with umbrellas on the pitch in the opening ceremony and even the simulated sounds of a storm but it was on the pitch that lightning eventually struck twice.

For a short while, it looked like things might turn out differently for the English champions. Sir Alex selected an attacking formation, resisting the temptation to pack his midfield and instead fielding both Javier Hernández and Rooney in attack. His team raced out of the starting blocks, pushing up and aiming to deny Barcelona the time and space to find their stride, and briefly the ploy worked. Barcelona looked edgy as Hernández hustled a defender into losing the ball on the edge of his area; Javier Mascherano, starting in central defence in place of Carles Puyol then failed to deal with Edwin van der Sar’s punt down the middle, forcing Valdés into urgent action to deny Rooney.

Inevitably, though, Barcelona clicked into gear, and they fashioned the first clear opening on the quarter-hour as Xavi Hernández drove in a low cross that Pedro, drifting free of Fabio, turned wide. Barcelona soon had United pinned back as more chances came. Villa flashed a shot narrowly wide before forcing a low save out of Edwin van der Sar. A superb Nemanja Vidić challenge then foiled Messi but, in the 27th minute, United were undone.

Xavi was the architect, advancing into United territory and picking out Pedro with a diagonal pass. The winger’s movement had carried him clear of Vidić on the right side of the box and he applied a cool finish, sidefooting the ball into the near corner with Van der Sar wrongfooted.

Amid the many predictions about this contest the general consensus seemed to be that United needed the first goal. Yet they responded seven minutes later with a fine equaliser, their first attempt on target. After Barcelona had lost the ball from an Abidal throw-in, Rooney surged forward on a one-two with Michael Carrick. He then slipped a pass to Ryan Giggs inside the box and met the Welshman’s return ball with a superb curled finish into the far corner.

Sir Alex Ferguson had predicted “the final of the decade” and an absorbing first half almost produced another goal when Messi drove forward and after feeding Pedro on the right, was just a whisker away from meeting the return.

United’s respite was short-lived as Barcelona resumed their control after the restart. Although Van der Sar saved from Daniel Alves, Messi restored their lead after 54 minutes. Collecting a pass from Messi, the Argentinian cut inside Patrice Evra and punished Vidić’s failure to close him down by sweeping the ball past Van der Sar from 20 metres. Messi’s subsequent explosion of emotion showed just what the goal – his first on English soil but 12th in this season’s competition – meant.

The little magician could have had more goals as Barcelona went for the kill. Van der Sar denied him with his legs before Fabio denied his back-heeled effort with a goalline block. Van der Sar, on his final appearance, offered a fitting reminder of his class with a full-length dive to foil Xavi but he had no chance with Villa’s third goal after 69 minutes. Although United stopped Messi’s surge into the box, substitute Nani lost out to Sergio Busquets who teed up the Spain striker to curl an exquisite finish into the top corner.

uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/matches/season=2011/round=2000122/match=2003352/postmatch/report/index.html