What had gone all so wrong for United?

BARCELONA proved to be worthy winners of the European Cup this season with a mesmerising display that all but crushed Manchester United early this morning in Rome.

It was supposed to be a match between two of the world’s best sides, famed for their free-flowing attacking football, but as we all saw, only one side turned up. It wasn’t even a boring game where United played to negate the Barca triumvirate of Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o.

It just was simply a one-sided game with mesmerising (did I say that already?) football played by the Catalans.

In his post game comments, Sir Alex Ferguson said that the absence of the suspended Darren Fletcher had robbed United of its steel in midfield, although he freely admitted that Barca were the better side.

But what do you think went all so wrong for United, after a bright first 10 minutes?

What would be the key clash in the Champs League final tomorrow morning?

ONE OF the most eagerly anticipated games of the season will take place later tomorrow morning, as Manchester United face Barcelona in the Champions League final in Rome.

Both sides boasts of top players – such as Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney – and reputations of playing beautiful, free-flowing football, even though United seems likely to adopt a defensive stance to frustrate Barcelona’s awesome strike-force (read Soccernet story on Sir Alex Ferguson’s comments here).

Looking at the possible line-ups for both teams, the clash between which two players is most likely to affect the outcome of the final?

Is it the midfield battle between Michael Carrick and Andreas Iniesta? Or is it the duel between Patrice Evra and Messi? Or maybe it’s between the determined British bulldog Rooney and the ageing but experience Carlos Puyol?

What are your thoughts?

How would you stop the Barca juggernaut?

How to stop Lionel Messi? (Picture: AP)

CHELSEA face an in-form Barcelona tomorrow morning (Singapore time) in the Champions League semi-final at the Nou Camp, and for the Blues, the match could not come at a worse time.

While the Premiership club have been revitalised with the appointment of interim coach Guus Hiddink, chalking up 11 victories in the Dutchman’s 15 games in charge, they face a Barcelona that had all but swept aside Bayern Munich in the previous stage of the competition.

A particular area to note would be Chelsea’s left flank.

Leftback Ashley Cole is suspended for the first-leg, after receiving a yellow card in the second-leg quarter-final against Liverpool. That flank just so happens to be the favourite hunting ground for Barca’s wonderboy Lionel Messi, who has grown from strength to strength this season, and surely a shoo-in for one of the contenders for the World Player of the Year award this season.

Without Wayne Bridge, who has since departed for Manchester City, Hiddink seems to be thinking of using Bosingwa to keep the mercurial Argentinian in check.

Problem is, Messi isn’t the only problem that Chelsea have to face. Strike partners Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry have been prolific in front of goal this season as well, scoring 27 and 17 goals respectively.

Given the situation, what would be your strategy if you were Guus Hiddink?

Ronaldo bags World Player of the Year award, but…

AS EXPECTED, Cristiano Ronaldo picked up the Fifa World Player of the Year award last night, with his impressive contributions for Manchester United last season.

But what is more interesting is that with the win, Ronaldo becomes the first-ever Premiership player to win the award, while previous winners – such as Kaka, Ronaldinho and Luis Figo – all hail from the Spanish or Italian leagues.

While the likes of David Beckham, Frank Lampard and Thierry Henry have come close to winning, none of the players who hail from the EPL has clinched the award since its inception in 1991.

Why is it that despite being the most popular league in the world, the Premiership has not produced or attracted the world’s finest players?

Is it because the frenetic pace at which Premiership games are played discourages flair players – which makes up most of the World Player of the Year winners – from playing their Beautiful Game?