Champions League final: As gladiators clash, Messi is the champion

The clash of the world’s two best teams and the two most gifted footballers on the globe ended with Manchester United losing a European Cup final for the first time in four appearances, and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi asserting his domination over the Premier League’s Cristiano Ronaldo. With Barça’s emphatic 2-0 victory over the defending champions, Sir Alex Ferguson was outshone by a coach 29 years his junior, who claimed the club game’s most prestigious prize at his first attempt. Josep “Pep” Guardiola earned instant Catalan sainthood and Messi can claim to be the winner in his own duel with Ronaldo, who beat him to the title of Fifa world player of the year. Messi was a constant bustling menace down the centre of the pitch and scored Barcelona’s second goal with a header: a rare aerial flourish from the smallest man on the field. Rome’s Stadio Olimpico was a suitably imperial venue to show whether Ronaldo or Messi was the most illustrious player of this campaign, and place the champions of England and Spain in the right artistic order. In the event Barça broke United’s record-breaking 25 match unbeaten run in the competition and thwarted their quest to hold the… Read full this story

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