Barcelona: As Expected

As I said on Twitter last night, anybody who though that Man Utd would win this final are idiots. That was put bluntly, but when you look at the past it really does make sense. 2009, Barcelona win comfortably, 2008 Final, Man Utd only win because John Terry doesn't know how to take a penalty, and 1998, Man Utd only win because for some reason, Bayern switch off in the last 3 minutes, potentially allowing even a group of small children to score against them twice.

So when you looked at Man Utd's odds, they were really very low, them going up against unarguably the best club side in the world in a Champions League Final. Barcelona completely outplayed Man Utd as expected, with Messi of course being at the centre of it all. However what Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro and Villa did was also incredible, so it was a team effort. Barcelona outplayed Man Utd man for man.

I also totally agree with Harry Redknapp: Man Utd are far from being a great team, but they won the Premier League. This fact was shown by them getting destroyed by Barcelona. Furthermore, I think that teams like Chelsea and Arsenal at their best can comfortably beat Man Utd and are better than them. However the problem is that Man Utd are a juggernaut and are a solid , consistent team. Chelsea and Arsenal on the other hand are quite inconsistent, and over a season, that's why Man Utd win.

Finally, a lot of people say this Barcelona side are the best team ever. I disagree. They are without doubt the team of the decade, but not the best team of all time. The Real Madrid team of the 50s and 60s is still better in my opinion, and other great teams like the Ajax of Cruyff and the AC Milan of 1989 are also, in my opinion, slightly superior. However Barcelona are, nobody can deny it, one of the best teams ever, and the question now is, how long can they keep going?