Barca gun down the Gunners

After having missed last year's Champions League final (though in retrospect, it's good I missed it since I'm an AC fan) there was no way in which I was going to miss this year's final. Even though none of the teams playing were amongst my favourites, I was praying for a Barca victory. And I was vindicated. Here's the match in brief:

The Shock before the kickoff:
This was more of a shock for the TV viewers in India. I know that ESPN has taken it's Indianisation process very seriously, but for god's sake, why the hell do you need Hindi commentary for the Champions League final? It's not as if there's any Indian playing. But still all of us had to suffer the terrible Hindi commentary throughout the match. And to just annoy you a bit more, they don't turn off the english commentary entirely, they just attenuate it. Hence there's always a hum going on in the background. Many a times I tried to catch it but was largely unsuccessful. And here are some golden nuggets from the Hindi commentary:
1. Aajka yeh antim SANGRAM Arsenal aur Barcelona ke beech: The guy used this phrase so many times that it reminded me of the freedom struggle. Can't you just say 'Champions League final' instead? Nobody's gonna sue you.
2. Arsenal ke subsitute goalkeeper hai Manuel ALUMINA: I guess the guy must be a metallurgy student or something. It's ALMUNIA for God's sake!!! He kept pronouncing it incorrectly during the first half. Thankfully somebody told him about it in the half time interval & hence the correct pronounciation in the second half.
3. Aur ab ball hai Oliver Giuly ke paas: Duh, I thought Giuly's first name was Ludovic. And I'm not even mentioning his constant reference to Giuly as the 'Prince of Monaco'. Hmmm, a sequel to 'Prince of Persia' maybe?
4. Is match ke vijeta to milega UEFA Super Cup me Seville ke khilaf khelne ka mauka: Oh & I thought winning the Champions League was the ultimate aim. Well, then why the hell are all the best players playing? I mean it's not like it's the Super Cup or something.
There was another shock for me before the kickoff. I was expecting to see Lionel Messi playing but suddenly found him missing from the squad. And the commentator refused to shed any light on it. But I guess he must be injured or something. Too sad.

The early chances:
For the first few minutes of the match, I was only half awake. And so it seemed was the Barca defence. And both of us were rudely awakened by two early attempts on goal by Thierry Henry within the first three minutes. They were pretty good chances too, the first one from close in & the other from long range. But Victor Valdes, the Barca keeper, prevented both. A good start for the Gunners.

The no-goal & the sending off:
Samuel Eto'o received a brilliant through pass & just before he could shoot from the edge of the penaly box, Jens Lehmann brought him down. The ball rolled to Ludovic Giuly who slotted it in coolly. Barca fans started celebrating but the referee had already blown the whistle - the goal was disallowed & instead Lehmann was sent off for his horrible tackle and Barca got a free kick. Almunia came on to replace Pires & Ronaldinho took the free-kick There was nothing special about the free-kick though - it was well wide of the goal. The only slightly amusing thing was Ashley Cole's sideways dive to stop the ball from going in. Well worth a second look.

Eboue's dive & the goal:
Emmanuel Eboue, the young Ivory Coast defender, does know a bit or two about acting. He was dribbling outside Barca's penalty box when he suddenly lost control of the ball. So what does he do? He stretches his arm out to make contact with Carlos Puyol's shoulder & immediately falls to the ground. And he does all this in one fluid motion so that the Linesman is totally fooled. Result: A free kick for Arsenal. Henry whips in a cross & Campbell heads it in, totally unmarked. Where was the Barca defence?

Halftime score : Arsenal 1 - Barcelona 0

The second half:
It was pretty predictable. Arsenal went back to what they did best - defending & waiting for a chance to counterattack while Barca went on total attack mode. The stage was set - Arsenal's defence v/s Barca's attack. Barca got a few good shots on goal but Almunia ensured that none got in. He did a good job for a second choice goalkeeper. But it has to be said that Barca's attack lacked that sting which usually characterises them. And both Ronaldinho & especially Deco seemed a bit off-colour

The turning point:
This according to me was Henrik Larsson's introduction. In big finals, experience counts big time & Larsson had a huge impact on Barca's attack. Suddenly Barca seemed like scoring a goal every minute.

The equaliser:
A long ball played into the box, a slight deflection provided by Larsson & a cool finish by Eto'o who had timed his run to perfection. Larsson's touch was so slight that at first I mistook it for a dummy. It was only in the reverse angle that the touch - and it's significance showed. So after 76 minutes it's 1-1. Match on.

The winner:
Barca kept on attacking after the equaliser & in the 81st minute, Larsson once again provided a perfect pass, this time for defender Belletti who converted it. This one though, should have been saved. It went from between the feet of Almunia. I guess second-choices are after all second-choices.

The end:
You'd expect Arsenal to make a final struggle to win towards the end. But such was Barca's dominance that Arsenal had no chance of equalising. In fact Barca had a few chances more but couldn't covert. And then came the referee's whistle & it was all over.
Barca had won the Champions League after a gap of 14 years & their fans went crazy with joy. In fact so did their manager Frank Rijkaard who became the 5th player to win the Champions League as both player & manager. Arsenal could only look on in despair as Barca added the Champions League trophy to their La Liga title. I guess on current form, they are the best team in the world. AC Milan, Juve & Chelsea are close behind but Barca's consistency & attacking style of play puts them ahead. As for Arsenal, Man U & Liverpool - only in your dreams. Which is where I'm going to now.