SIR Alex Ferguson slammed his Manchester United side's "shoddy defending" after their dreams of making history were shattered when they were beaten 2-0 by Barcelona in the Champions League final at the Stadio Olimpico.
Goals from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi gave the Spanish side their third Champions Cup and stopped United from becoming the first club to retain the trophy in its current format. But it was the first goal after nine minutes when Eto'o was allowed t
o turn inside Nemanja Vidic and plant a right-foot shot past goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar which angered Ferguson most.
Ferguson said: "In our best performances this season we have defended very well, but the defending tonight was shoddy.
"The first goal didn't help. It gave them the opportunity to keep possession. We didn't plan to lose a goal early and we didn't deal with it well enough. That was the story. To lose a goal like that was a bad goal. It was a disappointing performance and some individuals will feel it themselves."
Ferguson threw on Carlos Tevez for Anderson and Dimitar Berbatov for Ji-Sung Park in a bid to turn around the match in the second half, but United's hopes were shattered when Xavi Hernandez crossed for Messi to send a looping header beyond Van der Sar for his ninth goal in the competition this season.
Ferguson claimed he was not surprised with the way Barcelona approached the game, even when they swapped Messi from a wide position up front into midfield. And he put the blame for the loss squarely on his own players.
Ferguson said: "The disappointment was the use of the ball when we got possession. You have to wait minutes to get it back off them. Could be it was an off night. Could be it was a mountain too big to climb.
"We knew what a good football team they were. We had difficulty in defending against them. Messi dropped into midfield and they kept possession and made it difficult for us."
Ferguson also admitted United missed the protective presence of Darren Fletcher in midfield, who was suspended after being sent off harshly against Arsenal in the semi-final. "He is one big-game player," said Ferguson. "It was a loss but they had losses also. And it is difficult to measure how big a loss it was.
"We've done well to get to the final, but we had to win it. It was a big opportunity for us. With the players we have we expected better, but losing the first goal was decisive for us. We couldn't recover from that."
Ferguson, however, was generous in his praise of Barcelona and their manager, Pep Guardiola, who also won the Champions League as a player with Barcelona.
"You have to give credit to a very good Barcelona team," said Ferguson. "If they get in front of you they are very difficult to beat. They kept possession of the ball and made it very difficult to get back.
"When we did get possession we didn't do well with it. Credit to them, the better team won."
On Guardiola, who has guided Barcelona to a treble of league title, domestic cup and Champions League, he added: "It is a great achievement as a coach in his first year. Well done. Fantastic. Everybody enjoys their football and it is great credit to him."
Cristiano Ronaldo admitted last night's defeat was one of the biggest disappointments of his career. Ronaldo did cause Barca some early problems, but ultimately the Portuguese winger faded like his team, with Messi now set to claim the World Player of the Year prize he has cherished.
"This is one of the biggest disappointments of my career," said Ronaldo. "We were always confident before the game but unfortunately we couldn't do it."
Speculation is now bound to surface once more about whether the 24-year-old has played his final game for the Old Trafford outfit. It was not a subject up for discussion last night as Ronaldo came to terms with the defeat.
"It is always bad when you lose a final," said Ronaldo. "But we didn't play well. We did okay in the first ten minutes but you have to say Barcelona deserved to win."
Wayne Rooney was equally distressed at United's first European Cup final defeat, although few would argue Barcelona fully deserved their victory.
"It is a big disappointment but Barcelona were the better team," said the England forward. "Barcelona scored two good goals and unfortunately for us, they came at good times. That made it very difficult for us. Barcelona are a brilliant team. Andres Iniesta is the best player in the world in my opinion. If you don't take your chances against them, they will punish you and that is what has happened. It is very disappointing and the feeling at the moment is not a good one. We are hurting. But we have to forget it and look forward to next season."
Meanwhile, Guardiola said: "We have done something magnificent. We attacked, we defended and we won. We are the best team in the world. We wanted to say we played and were not cowards and the players have done a great job."
The Barcelona coach also insisted Messi had proved he was the best footballer in the world for a goalscoring performance which eclipsed Ronaldo.
Guardiola said: "I think he is the best player and he should add his name to the gold ball (world player of the year). We didn't need to win to know he is the best."
Catalan artists fully justify their hype as Xavi and Iniesta deliver master-classDO BELIEVE the hype. Barcelona did not merely justify their pre-match billing but set a standard that should see them rated by the history books as one of the truly great sides of European football.
Anyone not ready to sing the praises of Pep Guardiola's side must have been wearing Real Madrid white, for even the Manchester United faithful who had descended on Rome in such numbers had to applaud the sheer quality of Barca's play.
There had been some prevailing wisdom before kick-off that Barcelona's makeshift defence would be found wanting yet after a nervous opening few minutes Gerard Pique and Yaya Toure were barely flustered by United's much-vaunted attack.
Those early exchanges inside Rome's Olympic Stadium proved deceptive – early on it had appeared that the individual contest between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to seize the world player of the year crown was heading once more toward the Portuguese.
Ronaldo, who had so devastated Arsenal from the centre-forward spot in the semi-final, looked set up for a repeat performance as Barcelona's defenders made the mistake of standing off him.
Five efforts at the Barcelona goal in the first eight minutes – most of them by Ronaldo – made it appear that this game was as good as over.
Possession may be nine-tenths of the law, but not in this case.
One attack by Barcelona, their first, led to a goal for Samuel Eto'o and from then on the Catalans were able to develop their game to such an extent that they stifled United and were able to thrillingly demonstrate their famed passing game.
Messi emerged from ten minutes of relative anonymity to torment the United defenders with his ball-tied-to-boot dribbling.
But it was not Messi but Xavi and Andres Iniesta who made the difference, the creative core of the Spanish national side proving again why they are the best midfield partnership in the world.
It was Iniesta's run and astute pass that created Eto'o's goal though the Cameroon striker still had plenty to do, cutting inside Nemanja Vidic and toe-poking the ball inside the near-post as Michael Carrick slid in.
United's almost-arrogant control of the match slowly but surely evaporated, eventually to disappear altogether.
Ferguson's tactical response was obvious but not altogether successful as Carlos Tevez came on for Anderson at the break. The Argentine, perhaps only in response to Barcelona's domination of possession, spent too much time in his own half – indeed it was his foul on the marvellous Iniesta on the edge of the United box that led to Xavi striking the post with a terrific bending free-kick.
Ferguson's second move, also predictable, saw Dimitar Berbatov replace Park Ji-Sung, but it merely heralded Barcelona finally pressing home their advantage.
Xavi's cross was mouthwatering, and Messi's header back across and over Edwin van der Sar was straightforward – though the absence of a challenge from either Vidic or Rio Ferdinand was mystifying – to lead to a richly-deserved goal to reward one of the great European final individual performances.
Martyn Ziegler The full article contains 1467 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
