United outclassed by Barca

The Catalans richly deserved their triumph after producing a mesmeric display United were simply unable to match after Eto'o had given his side a 10th-minute lead.

Messi's looping headed killed the Red Devils off after the interval, with Sir Alex Ferguson's men unable to find a reply despite ending the game with four forwards on the field.

If there is any consolation in failure to become the first side to retain the trophy in the Champions League era, it is that they lost to a side as fluent and brilliant to watch as they are.

The shape of the contest might have been so different had Park Ji-sung been able to snaffle the rebound after Victor Valdes had failed to hold a stinging Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick. Instead, former United man Gerard Pique shot across to block what proved to be his old club's best opportunity of that opening period.

In the twinkling of an eye Andres Iniesta, one of the brightest starts in the Barcelona firmament, slipped a pass to Eto'o. The Cameroon striker cut inside Nemanja Vidic, then held off Michael Carrick as he prodded the ball goalward with enough strength to take it past Edwin van der Sar.

Suddenly the strategy of containment and hitting at pace on the counter-attack suggested by the inclusion of Park and the exclusion of Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov did not look such a good idea. Ferguson's team shot across the pitch, able to do little more than firefight as Messi, Iniesta and Xavi lit bonfires all around.

The arrival of Tevez at half-time had to come, and with it a more overtly offensive approach. Yet in taking such bold action, Ferguson knew he was playing right into Barcelona's hands.

Xavi picked out Thierry Henry with a brilliant pass. The former Arsenal star cut inside Rio Ferdinand with ease but could not find the finish, a similar mistake to the one that proved so costly for Arsenal in Paris three years ago.

The introduction of Berbatov midway through the second half was effectively Sir Alex Ferguson throwing his book of tactics out of the window and not worry about the consequences if it all went wrong. Sadly it did, as Xavi's curling cross dropped perfectly for Messi, who guided his header over Van der Sar to seal the win.