What happened in UEFA Champions League
2008-09 ?
The talk before the final was of a final showdown between
Europe's two great young attacking talents, FC Barcelona's
Lionel Messi and Manchester United FC's Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, it was to be something of a no-contest, with the
English side's dream of becoming the first side to win back-to-back
titles in the UEFA Champions League era ending meekly, as
Josep Guardiola became the sixth person to win the European
Champion Clubs' Cup as a coach and a player.
'I expected better'
"It was a big opportunity for us and with our players
I expected better, but we couldn't recover from losing the
first goal," conceded a disappointed Sir Alex Ferguson
after the match. Ronaldo had threatened with two early efforts,
but the deadlock was broken after just ten minutes by Samuel
Eto'o, who collected the ball from Andrés Iniesta
and turned defender Nemanja Vidic before beating Edwin van
der Sar.
Famous treble
The holders eventually muscled their way back into the game,
but 20 minutes from the end it was all over as Xavi Hernández's
pinpoint ball picked out Messi, who had space to score his
ninth goal of the competition – a rare header for
the diminutive Argentinian. Ronaldo had another good effort
shortly afterwards, but there was no stopping Barça
becoming the first Spanish side to win league, cup and UEFA
Champions League in the same season.
'Something magnificent'
"We're very happy, delirious," said Guardiola,
in his first season as the club's coach having won the 1992
European Cup with Barcelona as a midfielder. "We're
aware that we've done something magnificent. I'd like to
congratulate the whole club and the fans. We're not the
best team in Barça history but we've had the best
season. We've won three trophies but it's also about how
we've won them."
New names
The 2008/09 group stage was notable for the presence of
four rank outsiders: Denmark's Aalborg BK, Cyprus' Anorthosis
Famagusta FC, Romania's CFR 1907 Cluj and FC BATE Borisov
of Belarus, all of whom exited the competition with their
dignity intact. The same could hardly be said of Sporting
Clube de Portugal who lost 5-0 at home and 7-1 to FC Bayern
München in the first knockout round, with the latter
result – and the 12-1 aggregate scoreline –
a post-group stage record.
Final path
Bayern were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Barça,
who had accounted for Olympique Lyonnais in the Round of
16, while Iniesta's late goal at Chelsea FC earned them
a 1-1 draw, following a goalless home leg, to seal their
passage to Rome on away goals. United's knockout stage path
had seen them overcome FC Internazionale Milano, FC Porto
and, in the last four, Arsenal FC. |
