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Barcelona defeat Manchester United in 2009 Champions League Final

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Friday, May 29, 2009

May 27, 2009
20:45
(UTC+1)
FC Barcelona 2 – 0 Manchester United F.C. Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Attendance: 62,467
Referee: Massimo Busacca
Scored after 10 minutes 10' Samuel Eto'o
Booked after 16 minutes 16' Gerard Piqué
Scored after 70 minutes 70' Lionel Messi
Substituted off after 72 minutes 72' Thierry Henry
Substituted on after 72 minutes 72' Seydou Keita
Substituted off after 90+2 minutes 90+2' Andrés Iniesta
Substituted on after 90+2 minutes 90+2' Pedro Rodríguez
Substituted off after 46 minutes 46' Anderson
Substituted on after 46 minutes 46' Carlos Tévez
Substituted off after 66 minutes 66' Ji-Sung Park
Substituted on after 66 minutes 66' Dimitar Berbatov
Substituted off after 75 minutes 75' Ryan Giggs
Substituted on after 75 minutes 75' Paul Scholes
Booked after 78 minutes 78' Cristiano Ronaldo
Booked after 80 minutes 80' Paul Scholes
Booked after 90+3 minutes 90+3' Nemanja Vidić


Claiming their major trophy of the season, FC Barcelona dominated reigning champions Manchester United F.C. at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome Wednesday to win the 2009 Champions League Final 2 – 0.

Samuel Eto'o.

After a shaky start, Samuel Eto'o shot the ball past Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar in the tenth minute, the only goal Barcelona would need.

Manchester had several great chances in the opening ten minutes, with Christiano Ronaldo forcing a save from Barca keeper Víctor Valdés in the second minute. However it was Eto'o who capitalized on his teams first real chance striking a low ball that van der Sar could get hands to.

After the goal, Barcelona settled into a smooth passing game dominating long stretches in the remainder of the first half.

At the start of the second half, United looked to be on the offensive substituting Argentinian Carlos Tévez for the Brazilian Anderson and the Red Devils looked to have gained a boost for the first ten minutes of the half, but again Barcelona settled into a passing rhythm United could not break. In the 53rd minute, Xavi Hernández's free kick hit the crossbar, which proved to be Barca's best chance early in the half.

Halfway into the second half, Dimitar Berbatov came on for Ji-Sung Park, but Berbatov proved no better and in the 70th minute Lionel Messi headed in a cross from Hernández, giving Barca an insurance goal. Four minutes later, Barca captain Carles Puyol has a great chance on goal, but van der Saar in the United goal is equal to the task. In the next minute, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, makes his third and final change, subbing in Paul Scholes for Ryan Giggs.

Scholes scored the lone goal in last season's semi-final to put United into the final, but could not do so and as the minutes ticked off, United got increasingly desperate, earning three yellow cards in the final 12 minutes, but could not score and Barcelona took their second Champions League title since the 2005–06.

Barcelona also earned two domestic trophies, earning both the La Liga and the Copa del Rey titles.

Manchester United also earned three major trophies, earning the Premier League title, the League Cup title and the Community shield. In addition United defeated the best international club teams in 2008 Club World Cup.

Both teams will be eligible for the Champions League 2009–10, with Barcelona as title holders and winners of La Liga and Manchester United as the winners of the Premier League.

Other domestic club champions qualifying for the group state of next season's competition include Italy's Internazionale, France's Bordeaux, Germany's Wolfsburg, Russia's Rubin Kazan, Portugal's Porto, the Netherlands' Alkmaar Zaanstreek, Scotland's Rangers, the Ukraine's Dynamo Kyiv, and Belgium's Standard Liège. Champions of Romania and Turkey have yet to be determined and will join the group stage.


Sources