Barca triumphs as Manchester lose their way

It was one of the rarest of exhibitions - Manchester United went to a Champions League final and forgot to play. 

This is not a rationalization of a game that was lost, it is an indictment of the worst tactical game Sir Alex Ferguson ever devised. There is such a thing as too much respect and clearly Ferguson read every report on the might of Barcelona. After all this time, after reaching the summit for consecutive years, after a decade of revamping his squad, Sir Alex reverted to 1997, playing away from his team’s strength, right into those of his opponent. He out-clevered himself.

Please don’t think this is a slight on Barcelona. They came, they saw, they conquered. There is no doubt that the Catalans are worthy champions. They played the way they could, the way they know how, and dared Manchester to match them on the pitch. It was a stage set for a grand finale, but only Barca showed up.

The first 10 minutes held great promise. United blazed into Barcelona’s half, pinning the Catalans on their heels. A vicious spot kick from Ronaldo forced Valdes to parry it, so forceful was the shot. On another day, the follow-up from Park would have scored a goal. As it was, it went for a goal kick and the first sign that it was not Manchester’s day.

And then, out of nothing, Barca’s first venture forward, and then Vidic was spun around, and Eto’o slotted past van der Sar. 1-nil and essentially, the whole match, over by the 10th minute.

Manchester deflated and couldn’t do anything right the rest of the match. No pressure, no sustained attacks, unable to put together anything together. 

Many will say that it was Barcelona that took Manchester out of the match, but that’s not right. Barcelona just played, but United defeated themselves. That’s not being disingenuous - Manchester tried to contain Barcelona but this is a club that does not have containment in its DNA. Manchester contain by attacking, flowing, moving the ball across the pitch. Instead, the players tried short passes, pointless crosses and static play. 

Barcelona were a club to be respected but none of the English clubs that made the semi-finals would have had to fear Barca. Top Four matches in England provide plenty of opportunity to play against the highest caliber players and tactics (especially after Hiddink joined Chelsea).

In fact, it wasn’t as if Barcelona put on a master class. That is not to say they could have been beaten, and CounterAttack does want to make that clear. But there was nothing on display that should have troubled United. Messi played his usual match but it wasn’t streets beyond anything United have seen before. His header to clinch the match, though - now there was a sublime moment. How he could have shot that across goal, while falling back and mis-hittting the ball of the side of his head…. well, it’s moments like those that indicate whose day it’s going to be. All champions need the Fates to smile on them as much as they need talent to carry the team through the match. Usually, one squad has less of one than the other. Yesterday, it was Barcelona that had both in spades. 

One thing - Gerard Pique had the match of his life. It must have been sweet for him. Pique played well above himself, at least above what was expected, according to all pre-match scouting reports. For the CounterAttack, because we try to see beyond the obvious, Pique saved several crosses from becoming shots on goal, was always in the right place, and never missed a step in the biggest match of his career. There is no doubt that he deserves Man of the Match honors. 

For Manchester, they are not so far off that a return to the final is unthinkable. The talent is there - although we don't think Ronaldo will return. What became obvious during the match is that he imposes too much of himself into the match, and not in a good way. We're not talking about injections of energy, as Tevez does. The problem with Ronaldo is that when he's off, he does not have much else to offer. But since the focus of the offense continues to revolve around him, the rest of the team become wasted talent. Then again, how do you substitute him in an important match? The headaches continue, and CounterAttack thinks that if Real come a'courtin' again, that United should take the money, re-sign Tevez and start him in the midfield, move Berbatov to the clear #9, Rooney to the #10 and find a hard midfielder to win balls and track back when necessary. Ribery has been mentioned but CounterAttack has a predilection for Dutch players and thinks that Wesley Sneijder would be a wonderful presence at Old Trafford. We'll see what happens.

So hats off to Barca, worthy winners, best in Europe, clearly got it done all season. We only wish that Manchester United had bothered to show up for the match to at least provide some entertainment to the night. It's what everyone had expected, and the worst possible time for Manchester to disappoint.