Manchester United v Barcelona Live Updates
Manchester United 1-0 Barcelona - Final
And that’s it the match is over and Manchester United are going on to Moscow and will play either Chelsea or Liverpool in the first ever all English Champions League Final
Barcelona are unable to score a goal in their fourth straight match and changes are likely and very necessary after the clubs second year without any hardware
90′ One last chance for Barcelona but the free kick is cleared away
90′ Manchester is awarded a free kick and they will look to milk the clock all the way down
90′ Messi found Gudjohnson but his shot attempt is blocked away by Ferdinand
90′ Evra will finally come off for Silvestre
90′ Three minutes have been added on but Patrice Evra is down and the clock continues to run
90′ Messi goes down inside the box but the official gives him no call
88′ Bojan received the ball from Xavi behind the United defense but Wes Brown catches him and knocks the ball away
88′ Gudjohnson comes on for Toure
88′ Old Trafford is singing and expecting this match to end shortly with United going on to the UEFA Champions League Final in Moscow
87′ Barcelona need to create something here as they won’t have much stoppage time to get that all important away goal
84′ Barcelona continue to have possessions in the box but Manchester will not allow them a clear chance on goal
83′ Manchester United can taste the final, I’ve yet to see a United player take it easy here even with this late lead
81′ Henry creates another shot for himself but Van der Sar is again in qonderful position and easily makes the catch
81′ Ronaldo makes a nice run on the ball and has a shot from the top of the box but it is just wide
80′ Barca were pushing forward nicely but United are able to get back on defense and shut the Catalan giants away once more
78′ Xavi’s corner is right on Henry’s head but Van der Sar is right there to keep it out.
78′ Messi gets around Fletcher but his cross is deflected out for a corner
76′ Nani and Scholes will be coming off with Ryan Giggs and Darren Fletcher take their spots
75′ Messi had the ball in space but three Manchester defenders are able to wrestle it away
73′ Messi sends a wonderful through ball to Xavi but he is a step too close, that ball should have been put in for Barca
73′ Deco did well to steal it away from Ronaldo but his centering pass is headed away by Ferdinand
72′ Eto’o is coming off and 17 year old Bojan Krkic has come on to try and add a spark to the Barcelona attack
70′ Henry comes all the way back to win the ball but he puts it out for a Manchester Corner
70′ Yaya Toure is booked for a hard tackle on Park, and Toure would miss the final if Barca were to advance
68′ Messi gets the ball to Eto’o in the box but Eto’o looks like a shell of his former self as he is unable to turn the possession into anything substantial
67′ Zambrotta and Ronaldo tangle once again and Ronaldo is booked for taking him down from behind, that’s the type of play that dosn’t deserve a call
66′ Ronaldo whislted for an elbow on Zambrotta and Christiano isn’t happy with Zambrotta’s theatrics
64′ Barcelona have earned a fair amount of corner kicks but have been unable to create any chances out of them
64′ Deco takes the free kick and Van der Sar does well to knock it out for a corner
60′ Henry has come on for Iniesta
63′ Carrick has now been booked for a tackle from behind on Messi, but it was a smart foul from Carrick as Messi had some space in front of him
60′ Nani had a chance with some fancy footwork but is unable to hit the net
59′ Iniesta gets by Evra but Deco’s shot is deflected out for a corner
58′ Despite Manchester being up 1-0 they are definitely the more aggressive side so far in this second half
57′ A nice one two by Ronaldo and Tevez but an Excellent save by Valdes keeps the score 1-0
56′ Messi makes a run right at the center of the defense but his shot is seriously miss hit and goes out for a goal kick
55′ A long ball to Ronaldo and he sends a cross in and Valdes is able to field it off of an Abidal header
53′ Another yellow this time it’s for Deco
53′ Ronaldo puts a nice through ball to Nani but he just misses it and Manchester has a corner kick
52′ Zambrotta is given a yellow card for a late tackle from behind on Evra
51′ Park sends a nice ball into the box but Milito is just able to knock it off target
50′ a chance for Man U here as Evra earns a corner kick off of Zambrotta
48′ Messi sends a ball into Xavi but it deflects dangerously off of Ferdinand and out for a corner but nothing comes from the corner as Manchester are able to use their height advantage to clear the ball away
47′ Messi sends a ball to Eto’o but he is unable to get a foot to the ball
46′ The second half is on with Barcelona kicking it off
As the teams come out for the second half I think we can expect Barcelona to push forward with more urgency and possibly some subs with Henry and Bojan still on the bench for Frank Rijkaard’s side. Manchester United may do well so sit back as they did at the Nou Camp but their attack hasn’t been lacking so far in this match so perhaps they won’t drop all the way back too early. Barcelona have to be careful of giving up a second goal in their quest to even the score. At 1-0 this match won’t be going to extra time, either Manchester move on with this score or Barcelona can tie it up and move themselves on to the final.
And there’s the whistle, Manchester United head into the half with an advantage from the Paul Scholes goal. It was an especially tough goal for Barca to give up since it came off of a bad clearing pass from captain Puyol and no one could get within 5 yards of Scholes. A player as talented as Scholes will not miss often with that much space to work
45′ Another bad shot selection from Barcelona this time it’s Abidal
45′ One minute of added time
45′ Iniesta had Messi and Xavi in the box with him instead he takes a shot that he had no business taking and Barca miss out on another opportunity
44′ Xavi’s free kick is right at Milito but he couldn’t reach the ball to get enough head on itand it rolls wide of goal
44′ Deco earns a free kick a few yards outside of the area
43′ Barcelona have been creating chances but Manchester continue to do just enough to keep them out of the goal
42′ Barcelona had something going there but Eto’o’s last pass to Messi is just behind him
41′ Park sends a nice cross to Nani but heis header is just wide, he surely should have put that one in
38′ Van der Sar may have hurt himself, it looks as though Wes Brown may have caught him with a knee to the head. He appears to be fine now
37′ Messi plays a ball into a dangerous spot and Van der Sar caught and then dropped the ball, but Barca are unable to get to the ball before it is cleared away
37′ Deco has another chance but he puts it wide again
35′ Messi has made a few runs through the defense but he is lacking that extra gear that only Messi could get to. I don’t know if he lost a step through the injury or if if is just his conditioning
33′ Eto’o feeds Deco at the top of the box but his shot curves over the corner of the goal
32′ Barcelona may have gotten their concentration back as they look settled after the first goal
31′ Valdes has to come out and make a great punch out to clear the ball out of the box on the corner kick
30′ Tevez made a run on the touch line but Zambrotta is able to knock it out for a corner kick, and the danger is still alive
29′ It looks like Puyol took a shot to the mouth as he spits out some blood. he may have banged heads with Milito
28′ Manchester had several chances as Barcelona’s defense couldn’t clear the ball out, but finally Puyol is able to head the ball away
26′ Barcelona look lost out there right now as they are unable to latch up on their passes and Manchester continues to apply pressure on every touch of the ball
25′ Deco sends in for Zambrotta but Brown holds him off just enough for Van der Sar to get to eat
24′ Carrick tries for Wes Brown but Brown didn’t make good contact with it and it goes out for a goal kick
23′ United has something developing here as Ronaldo earns a free kick off of Zambrotta
22′ Dangerous play at the back between Valdes and Puyol but Tevez is called for a hard tackle on Puyol
21′ Ronaldo leads Park with a beautiful ball but Park pushes it wide
21′ Carrick sends Ronaldo forward and he is able to take it from Zambrotta
19′ Leo Messi has a shot after getting through two defenders but Van der Sar makes an excellent save to keep Barca off the board
17 Off of a free kick Valdes almost made a huge mistake but Man U was unable to put it into the net
16′ Barcelona really need a goal now, but Manchester look energized by the score and are pushing harder for a second
14′ Scholes scores on a long shot from about 30 yards out. Valdes had no chance to get to the ball as it was perfectly placed into the upper right 90
14′ Milito sends a long ball to Eto’o and he is able to get a head to it
13′ Long ball to Messi but again Van der Sar is there to take it away
12′ Abidal sends a long ball into the box, I’m not sure if it was a pass or a shot but it hit the top side of the net and is out for a goal kick for Manchester
11′ Messi made a hard run up the center but decided to give the ball up to Eto’o and he gave it away to Manchester
10′ Xavi sends Eto’o into the box but a great read from Van Der Sar beats him to the ball
8′ Man U had something developing but a nice read from Abidal and he is able to snuff out the attack
7′ Van Der Sar came out for a clearence but he miss hit it, Barca are unable to make Manchester pay for the mistake
7′ Manchester United has come out much more aggressive than the first leg in Barcelona
4′ Man U had something going and Tevez went down but there was no call from the German ref
3′ Barcelona have started this match much the same way as the last one ended, with lots of possession in the early going
2′ Barcelona earn another free kick this time it’s Tevez who takes down Puyol near mid field
2′ Messi’s free kick is low to the ground and easily knocked away
1′ Messi takes the ball off of a bad pass and Scholes takes Messi down hard but he is just outside of the box
1′ And we’re off
0′ The teams are finishing their warm ups at Old Trafford and the match should begin shortly.
With Man U. being the home side much of an advantage lies with them at Old Trafford, however Barcelona need only to earn a scoring draw to advance. Scoring is easier said then done against Manchester, especially with the way Barca have played in recent weeks. But one thing is for sure Manchester United should come out and play a more aggressive match rather than hanging so far back.
Starting Lineups
Manchester United
- 1 Van der Sar
- 4 Hargreaves
- 6 Brown
- 5 Ferdinand
- 3 Evra
- 16 Carrick
- 18 Scholes
- 13 Park
- 17 Nani
- 32 Tevez
- 7 Ronaldo
FC Barcelona
- 1 Valdes
- 11 Zambrotta
- 5 Puyol
- 3 Milito
- 22 Abidal
- 24 Toure Yaya
- 6 Xavi
- 20 Deco
- 19 Messi
- 8 Iniesta
- 9 Eto’o
