The pre-match feeling had Manchester United as slight favourites owing to a far superior defence and an abilty to strike in seconds, see their semi-final against Arsenal.
Suspension and injury to key defenders put paid to any defensive stability Barcelona may have had, aligned with moving Toure from a holding midfield role to central defence.
So the ball arrives at Evra's feet on the edge of the area, the next moment a wonderful cross is met with a remarkable header at full stretch from the world's best player, albeit assited by some ''shoddy'' defending, and the ball is nestled in the net.
Only, the shoddy defending belonged to Manchester United. The lack of tracking back also belonged to the champions. And when the ball arrived at Evra's feet, he panicked and his unnecessarily rushed clearance went straight to Xavi. He in turn was left way too much time and space to deliver a chipped cross which Messi expertly headed home.
Oh how Ferguson must have wished for injury-prone Hargreaves or the suspended Fletcher to have been available for this game. Their absence was sorely felt but, to be fair, United were outclassed all over the pitch and in a season of facts we are left with an undeniable one- Barcelona stand alone at the pinnacle of Europe's tree- and that's a fact!
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