Personally I thought the two teams would have been a lot closer but Barca were streaks ahead of United in a fantastic match.
It wasn't that United were that bad - in my opinion - it was that Barcelona were outstanding. Iniesta and Xavi, how good are these two players? Although with the midfield United had they were always going to win this battle. Park, Anderson, Carrick and Giggs, is not 'world-class', whereas Barca's was and is.
In all fairness United did dominate; but only for the first 9 or so minutes. Goal-greedy Ronaldo probably costed United victory in this spell because Barca looked vunerable at the back but the 'world's best player' decided to go for himself when Wayne Rooney was in a better position.
When I say better position, however it wasn't as forward as I'd like him to be. They, at times were playing 4-6-0, which is risky as it isn't going to score. I have seen that formation too often as a fan of the Rovers, and I've learnt that it doesn't work, and Sir Alex has so many years worth of expierence more than me.
There were two lovely goals. Eto'o escaped the challenge of United's wonderful centre back pairing to slot beneath Van Der Sar. The ex-Fulham keeper probably should have done better but he didn't.
The second goal was magical. A wonderful looping cross was a symbol of what Xavi was doing all night. And Messi, who is a short as he is to get his head to the ball and knock it into the corner was great. I have seen so many players head over, wide or straight at the 'keeper in those situations. Poor marking could also be blamed for the amount of space the wonderkid was given and Ferdinand & Vidic should really be doing better.
To sum up, it was a deserved victory for the Spanish champions.
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DONCASTER ROVERS PREDICTION LEAGUE CHAMPION 2008
