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:
It is over, and it was some time ago. United were taken apart by a team of the very highest quality. In that there is no disgrace, But disappointment is wracked on their faces. Goodbye to Van Der Sar, Scholes and probably some others. Barcelona? Same again next year. Who can stop them?
At this point, the best guess is that no one can.