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Barcelona won their 13th Euro Cup/Champions League victory with a dominating performance over Manchester United.
The first half of the 2011 UEFA Champions League final has lived up to the excitement that surround the pre-match hype as Barcelona took a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute behind the foot of Pedro, who pushed a goal past Edwin Van der Sar. Barca's Xavi advanced past Man U's Michael Carrick before passing the ball to the Pedro on the right for the score.
With Barcelona looking superior through the first 30 minutes, Manchester United's Wayne Rooney answered in the 34th minute, as Rooney passed the ball to Ryan Giggs, who tapped it back to Rooney for the equalizer just inside the box, chipping the ball past Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes. The goal seemingly turned the match back into a slugfest as the United fans became quite loud and sparked Sir Alex Ferguson's squad.
Barca had a chance in the 42rd minute as David Villa crossed a pass in the box in front of the goal that went just wide of Lionel Messi and out of bounds.
Halftime Stats
Shots (On Goal) Barcelona 10 (3) Manchester United 2 (1)
Fouls Barcelona 2 Manchester United 5
Corner Kicks Barcelona 1 Manchester United 0
Offsides Barcelona 0 Manchester United 4
Time Of Possession Barcelona 70% Manchester United 30%
Yellow Cards Barcelona 0 Manchester United 0
Red Cards Barcelona 0 Manchester United 0
Saves Barcelona 0 Manchester United 2
GOALS
Barcelona Pedro 27th minute
Manchester United Wayne Rooney 34th minute
If you're a soccer fan, today is the day for you as Manchester United and Barcelona are set to square off at London's historic Wembley Stadium for the title of the 2010-2011 UEFA Champions League top team. The winner receives the coveted European cup. This will be the first UEFA title match for the new version of Wembley, though the prior stadium held the finals five different teams, as recently as 1992.
The Man U versus Barca final is a repeat of the 2009 final, which Barca won 2-0, behind goals from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi. To reach the finals this year, Manchester United defeated Schalke 04, while Barcelona defeated rival Real Madrid.
Both team feature a host of great players, but Barca is seemingly lead by Messi, the Argentinian who is arguably the top player in the world at the age of 23. Messi has been named the top player by FIFA each of the past two seasons. Sir Alex Ferguson's Man U squad is lead by the the play of forward and England native, Wayne Rooney. Saturday's match will truly be a showcase of some of the world's premier players.
What a way to go out it will be for United's goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who at the age of 40 will be retiring after the match. The Dutchman already has won Champions League titles with both Man U and Ajax.
So there you have it, "The Flea" (Messi) versus the guy who looks like Flea. What a great final it shall be, with coverage beginning at 1 pm CST on Fox. This marks the second year in a row the match will be broadcast live on national television in the United States.
Barcelona Absolutely Dominates Manchester United In Every Way At UEFA Champions League Final
The historic match-up ended up a bit more lopsided than probably most would have dreamed between Manchester United and Barcelona for the UEFA Champions League Final. The match, at London’s Wembley Stadium, featured a dominant Barcelona team that simply outplayed the English champions at every level, winning 3-1.
For Barcelona, this becomes the 13th win in the Champions League/Euro Cup and puts them above Italy at 12 for the overall lead. And it’s this last victory that was the most convincing. The score didn’t reflect the opposing performances on the field, where Barca outshot and outplayed Manchester in every statistic.
United only managed four shots total in only one on goal. To contrast, Barcelona had 22 total and 12 on goal. Barca had six corner kicks to zero for ManU, and also won the overall time of possession at 68 percent. Barca’s goals came from Pedro, Lionel Messi and David Villa. Manchester’s lone goal came from Wayne Rooney in the first half.
ESPN’s John Brewin perhaps sums it up best concerning Barcelona’s continued dominance:
At this point, the best guess is that no one can.
May 28 6:05p by Matt Conner