Barcenal Final

It was billed as one of the most spectacular match-ups in Champions League history. A showcase of attacking and flowing football. Some may even call it a spectacle, where two of the world's greatest footballers take centre stage. Ronaldinho, in Barcelona colours, was the epitome of Joga Bonito. He showed the world how the game could still be played beautifully even as defences continue to tighten and formations become more defensive, in a bid by managers to safely secure league points. Then there is Thierry Henry, a masterclass act in the English Football League whose pace and attacking flair is surpassed by few in the world. The media and pundits thought that these 2 men were crucial in dictating whose hands the Cup would land into, but in fact it was the referee, 2 defenders and a certain Henrik Larsson who would prove decisive in determining the outcome of the match.

The red card given to Lehmann close to the quarter-hour mark. No doubt it was a professional foul by the Arsenal goalkeeper on Samuel Eto'o, who had a perfect goalscoring opportunity, but the referee's decision to stop play and award Barca a free-kick on the edge of the box did not go down too well with many. Perhaps the referee should have just awarded Barcelona the goal and cautioned Lehmann instead of sending him off? Some thought that this was a anti-climax and it was going to dull the occasion, affecting the fluidity of the match. This was especially true if you were tuning in to the match from ESPN, whose commentators were clearly catered for the English crowd. (The one with the scottish accent, who keeps lamenting on how the referee should just get on with the game. Like a child receiving a candy whenever Arsenal obtained possesion of the ball and went forward on an attacking move.)

Biased commentators aside, Arsenal amazingly took the lead minutes later, when Sol Campbell headed into the net after Henry had accurately curled the ball into the six-yard box. From then onwards it was all Barcelona. Ten men were leading the proceedings against 11, confirm Barcelona "buay lun". So they decided to set up camp in the Arsenal half for the remainder of the first half, retaining possession of the ball and trying to carve Arsenal's tight defence apart.
The Gunners were happy just to pump long balls to lone striker Henry, or take speculative shots at goal from long range whenever they had the chance. In the end, they only just managed to hold on to the lead at the break.

After the break, Arsenal played with much more focus, but they were unable to prevent Barcelona from scoring two goals, as the Gunners tired out from closing down the opposition (I think Arsenal were playing almost like a 4-5-0 formation, with Henry being slightly forward in the middle). The two goals came courtesy of Henrik Larsson, the former Celtic war horse, who despite nearing the end of his career, still showed deft touches to lay the ball off to Samuel Eto'o and Juliano Belleti respectively for them to finish off. To be fair to Arsenal, the winning goal from Belleti came off Manuel Almunia's legs and deflected into goal after he had shot from a tight angle. To me, that was more of a good fortune than a good finish, but like they say "the ball is round". Tough luck for Arsenal.

I hope the referee won't receive bullets in his mailbox. The way he oversaw the match was pretty appalling. No issue about the sending off of Lehmann, but he should really be prescribed a pair of spectacles. Henry clearly got the ball when he slid and tackled near the 65th minute mark. Some of the players on the pitch (Mark van Bommel, Deco) clearly play-acted or even dived in a bid to win free-kicks, yet the referee payed no attention to them. Henry was even yellow-carded for his cause. Still, the match managed to deliver excitement and stir the crowd at the Stade de France even though it was 10 men versus 11. Credit to Arsenal, who hung on for 50 minutes and looked on the verge of claiming their first ever Champions League trophy in years.
(I wonder if Henry will be at Ashburton Grove next season, after he said he would "think about it" when a reporter asked him if he would stay or move on to another club...). Congratulations to Barcelona, on being the best in Europe again after 14 long years (according to the commentators, the last time they won it was back in 1992). Campeón de Europa Barca!