ROME (AP)—Barcelona gave an emphatic answer to who is the best soccer team in Europe, dispatching Manchester United with a dazzling and dominating display to win the Champions League title for the second time in four seasons.Samuel Eto’o scored 10 minutes in and Lionel Messi connected in the 70th, leading the Spanish champions to a one-sided 2-0 victory Wednesday night that prevented the English power from becoming the first team in 19 years to win consecutive European titles.
“This is the most important victory of my life,” Messi said. “When the second goal came, that calmed us down a lot.”
Eto’o took a pass from Andres Iniesta, cut around defender Nemanja Vidic and beat Edwin van der Sar from 8 yards. The goalkeeper got a touch on the right-footed shot but couldn’t keep it from going in at the near post.
“The victory is much more important than the goal,” said Eto’o, a three-time African player of the year from Cameroon.
Messi, a 21-year-old star of Argentina’s national team, easily won the glamour duel with reigning FIFA player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi, who is 5-foot-7, was wide open when he scored on a header from about 6 yards off a cross from Xavi Hernandez, who had hit a post with a free kick 17 minutes earlier. It was Messi’s tournament-high ninth goal and his first in 11 games against English opponents.
Lionel Messi produced something special to help Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0 in the Champions League final and establish itself as the unofficial best team on the planet.
Messi usually uses his head to send instructions to his feet on how to humble defenders, and the combination brought him a season-high nine Champions League goals and 38 in total for Barca.
"This is the most important victory of my life," Messi said. 'When the second goal came that calmed us down a lot."
"When I won as a player I was young and it was magnificent," Guardiola said of his 1992 triumph at Wembley against Sampdoria. "But now winning the treble at the first attempt is marvelous."
United was chasing its fourth European Cup title, and fourth trophy this season after winning the Premier League, FIFA Club World Cup and League Cup.
But United was thoroughly outplayed by the Spanish side, which has 153 league and cup goals this season.
source : sports.yahoo.com
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