Well Played

Just got back from watching the Champions League final, and I'll blather on for what I hope is enough time that you'll skip this by now if you haven't seen it yet.

Are we good? Good.

And, wow. The conventional wisdom either had a tight game with United prevailing, a shootout that could be anybody's match, or the English game validating all the talk of being head and shoulders above La Liga. Instead, we saw a methodical defeat of a team that was said to be one of the best ever.

Don't get me wrong, I wanted Barcelona to win. I just didn't think they'd be able to. Looking more closely, I think I bought into the narrative that the Spanish club didn't have the skill in the back four to deal with United's offensive weapons, but that almost entirely missed the point. This game was won by Barcelona in the midfield, where Xavi and Iniesta absolutely dominated, while Anderson and Park were in way over their heads, and Wayne Rooney couldn't buy a touch on the ball.

For Barca, that's pretty much how they had to do it, since Eto'o and Henry didn't see much of the ball at all up top. Although the back four certainly held up their end of the bargain. I don't think United were as close to a first goal as Barca were to a third.

What was maybe more surprising was the degree to which United sort of lost their shit after that early Samuel Eto'o goal, which seemed like his only touch on the ball through the first 75 minutes or so. Lots of unforced errors, including a horrible attempt at a clearance that Puyol was able to intercept easily, ultimately leading to Barcelona's insurance tally.

I would also be remiss if I didn't point out how nearly invisible the referee was in this match. For all the talk of the missed calls in the Chelsea-Barcelona semi-final second leg, the Swiss official performed, dare I say it, like clockwork. He took control early, settling things down with a quick yellow card and then just staying out of the way. There was no controversy here, just one team beating another, and doing it convincingly.