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by Philipina A. Marcelo
And they did it! They are the 2011 European Champions! Woohoo!! Woot-woot!
They battled the Kings of English Football, Manchester United, and the Kings of Spanish Football prevailed, 3-1!! Hail the Kings of European Football! Barҫa, Barҫa... Barҫaaaaaaaaa!!
Greatness in all three Barҫa goals: Uno, after a wonderfully orchestrated play that almost culminated to a Pedro Rodríguez
goal, the smooth Xavi Hernandez orchestrated another one... and Pedro Rodríguez completed it to a fantastic first goal! Sweet! A few minutes later, down but not (yet) out, Wayne Rooney exchanged a pass with Ryan Giggs, which momentarily sliced up the Barcelona defense as Gerard Piqué barred Giggs who was dangerously close to the goal. Wayne Rooney quickly took advantage and kicked an equalizer past Victor Valdes who was still eyeing Javier Hernandez and closely watching Ryan Giggs. That brought both Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola on their feet! And so, the first half closed with the two sides even on goals. Moving on... Dos, after a series of Barҫa attempts that scattered the Manchester defense to 
desperate disarray, bringing down Lionel Messi on the grass a number of times to cut the amazing thread of magic the little genius was weaving, Xavi "called things to order" with the ball. Andrés Iniesta received and passed, and Lionel Messi smashed the second goal in a flash around three stunned Manchester defenders - his first on English soil, and the one that dampened Manchester's spirit! Brilliant!! Of course, it smelled like a win from then on. Tres, Messi set it up, Sergio Busquets picked up and made a brilliant turn around to safety, passed it, David Villa received and kicked it - into the Manchester goal, over the stretched Edwin van der Sar! The third Barҫa goal that sealed the European championship! And there were many, many more fantastic attempts (16 total, 12 on target) with Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Dani Alves, Ibrahim Afellay, Sergio Busquets and Gerard Piqué taking a shot, and a few more, at the Manchester goal coming out from some exquisite build ups via tiki-taka vs. meager attempts (three to be exact, only one on target) from the English Premier League's best. Edwin van der Sar was
ManU's hero... the score would've been 3++ to 1 if not for his incredible focus and valiant saves.It was a beautiful match. Barҫa playing their mesmerizing fast-paced football of lyrical beauty that involved every single body in Blaugrana jerseys on the pitch moving in such incredible synchronicity, and ManU trying to keep up with a lot of personality, too. Without a Mourinho hand anywhere in the New Wembley, there were no silliness nor ugliness... only mutual respect, brilliance, fun and excitement... and engaging football wholesomeness in a breathtaking "big boys' play" at the very apex of football beauty. Pep Guardiola once again showed the world that in football, the tiki-taka beauty can be both a delight and a formidable tactical offense - unbeatable, in fact.
People will continue putting "Pep Guardiola's Barҫa" and "the greatest football team ever" in the same sentence when they talk of the beautiful sport that's football, and the gentleman and ever humble Pep will continue to discourage such talk. But after being beaten - and beaten well - by Barҫa
in the biggest football stage in Europe, Sir Alex Ferguson - himself, one of football's biggest fans - recognizes Guardiola's Barҫa as "the best in Europe, there's no question of that." And as the Catalans savored their moment of triumph in New Wembley, Sir Alex saluted them with a "they're enjoying the moment... and they deserve to because they are playing football the right way." As for me, words are not enough to describe any part of Barcelona's wonderful 2011 Champions League final showpiece. It's disrespectful to even try! Therefore, I'll leave it at that for now, with a simple CONGRATULATIONS!!! :) I'm a VERY PROUD fan!!! Woohoo! Visca, el Barҫa!!!
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