The last 10 historic clashes between Barcelona and Manchester United – Part 5
UEFA Champions League 2008 – Semifinal: Manchester United 1-0 Barcelona (aggregate score)
It must be said that not many clubs are capable of coming out of the Nou Camp with a clean sheet. But Manchester United achieved it in the semifinal first-leg in 2008. They gave themselves a real chance of playing the final, provided they overcome the Catalans
in their own back yard.
And this is what exactly happened. 14 minutes into the match, the veteran http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Victor-c36011 Valdes. He was 25 yards from goal with no Barcelona player near him. He put his foot through the ball and the
long strike ended in the top left corner of the Catalan show.
A single goal should have been enough for qualification and this is exactly how the match panned out. However, it must be said that it was a very fragile lead because the Barcelona attack was too hot to handle for the Red Devils at times. The United defense
stood the barrage and United at times pushed through a counter attack missing some glorious chances of their own.
The Red Devils left the Catalans with a bad taste in their mouths and frowns on their faces as they went through to the final and ultimately won the Champions League title.
UEFA Champions League 2009 – Final: Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United
2009 saw another monumental clash between the two European giants. The match went back and forth and the momentum swung on numerous occasions during the match. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cristiano-Ronaldo-c9629 was in what to be his final year in a United jersey.
The match was started brightly by the Red Devils with Ronaldo missing several chances during the earlier exchanges. This was to prove very costly as Samuel Eto’o came out of the blocks and scored a goal from nowhere, firing a low shot which powered its way
past Edwin Van Der Sar.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 were pushing forward through Xavi and Messi, both of whom saw their shots at a hairsbreadths distance from the crossbar. Xavi later saw his free kick rebound back off the goal post and onto safety. Barcelona at this time were pushing for a killer
second goal.
Ji Sung Park came almost within touching distance of an equalizer. His out stretched leg almost connected to a cross with the goal begging.
The ex-Arsenal striker, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Thierry-Henry-c34918 wriggled and wiggled before letting a shot fly which was saved easily by the veteran Van Der Sar.
Messi ended the match with the second goal for the Catalans. The Argentine, who was unmarked, rose high and almost floated in the air for a few seconds before heading the ball over a hopeless United keeper and into the back of the net. The goal was greeted
by ballistic Barcelona fans.
Manchester United still pushed forward trying to make a match out of this but their efforts yielded no fruit as the game neared the 90-minute mark.
It was the perfect revenge for their semifinal loss a year ago. Barcelona were the new UEFA Champions League Champions.
What happens this May 28, when the two sides meet for another Champions League Final, is anyone’s guess but what is sure is that this will turn out to be another historic clash.
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