Justice

In a late, late reference to the Champions League I think it is fair to say: Justice Prevailed. Barcelona showed last wednesday in Rome that they are, by a considerable margin, the best team in Europe and perhaps one of the best attacking forces ever assembled in the domestic game. Chelsea fans laughably pointed to the fact that they had come relatively close to beating the Spaniards and therefore, by some proxy bereft of logic, would have beat Manchester United. The problem with that theory is that they only beat Barcelona because they were so keen not to score throughout the two legs. Apart from Mikel Essien's left foot shin-volley that acted as an unexpected bolt from a blue shirt Chelsea were content not to attack for two whole games. United's fate shows that unless you commit to such tactics the "Holy Trinity" will tear you apart.

I am not sure whether to respect or deride Fergie an United. They did come to Rome looking to play attacking football and win the game of their own accord but I'm not sure this attitude is correct. Although in some respects they should be lauded (they played far more football in the little time they had the ball than Chelsea did) perhaps they should also be ridiculed for having the temerity to try and beat Barcelona at their own game with a midfield of an aging Welshman, an inexperienced and inconsistent Brazilian, England's 4th or 5th best midfielder, a lightweight Korean and an Angry scouser being played way out of position. This left Iniesta and Xavi free to orchestrate the type of football that United don't usually have to contend with and their army of bruising robo athletes were made to look pedestrian by two men with the combined height of 4 and a half feet. Messi, although over shadowed by Man of the Match Iniesta, was superb and shut the mouths of every jingoistic tabloid journalist that was adamant he couldn't cut it against our vastly superior football teams (it may have been his first goal against an English club but a statistic that isn't as often repeated is that Ronaldo is yet to score against a Spanish team).

United were hammered. Ronaldo will leave. Fergie will get an even redder visage. Guardiola will plan for world domination. Iniesta will get sharper. Fletcher will get vengeful. Barcelona will get bet better and Barcelona will win - again.