Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United

Back in London Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink says he is still hurting from the manner of the Blues' exit from the Champions League but he can at least take comfort from the fact he got his tactics right against Barcelona. Quite clearly, Sir Alex Ferguson didn't.

United came to Rome looking to make history yet the defeat could have left the confidence of this team in ruins.

The dour looks on the players' faces after the final whistle betrayed not just their disappointment at failing to become the first team to retain the Champions League trophy but was also a damning realisation that they're not as good as they thought.

The scoreline may have only read 2-0 but the gulf in class made it feel like a much larger margin. The simple truth is that once Barcelona took the lead in the 10th minute, Ferguson's side were chasing shadows and he could do nothing to stop it.

It was remarkable to watch his players, the ones he describes as the best he has ever worked with and who had gone 25 games unbeaten in this competition, look so ordinary.

If you believe Cristiano Ronaldo, then it was Ferguson to blame and the 67-year-old did seem to have made a massive mistake by not paying Barcelona's midfield, in particular Xavi and Andres Iniesta, more respect.

He had been offered a massive clue as to the danger they represent not just by their outstanding form for their club all season but by their performance in Spain's victory over England in a friendly three months ago.

On that night they made a mockery of Michael Carrick, who was bamboozled by their passing and swift movement and never got close to them.

The Manchester United midfielder spoke with confidence as to how things would be different this time, yet it was more of the same. While the stats showed he ran the furthest of any United player, the majority of his effort was spent in failing to get the ball off the talented duo.

Carrick wasn't helped by Ferguson's strange decision to push Ryan Giggs to play in the hole behind Ronaldo, meaning his only assistance came from Anderson, who looked outclassed.

All the talk was of how much Barcelona would miss their suspended full- backs Daniel Alves and Eric Abidal but it was United midfielder Darren Fletcher's ban that proved the most crucial.

Chelsea may have received a lot of criticism for their negative style in the semi-final against the Catalans but Hiddink figured out the key to stopping them was not to stifle the front three of Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry but to cut the supply from Xavi and Iniesta. For 180 minutes it worked a treat and Barcelona had to rely on a moment of magic, not to mention a lot of luck, to reach the final.

There was no good fortune required in last night's win over United as Xavi and Iniesta appeared to have the freedom of the pitch to do whatever they wanted. The opening 10 minutes had been promising for Ferguson's men, although most of the good work came from Ronaldo and he seemed determined to take the game to Barca.

Keeper Victor Valdes saved his long-range free kick nervously and was also relieved to see his volley go wide of the post but the fight went out of United the moment they went behind.

Iniesta breezed past Carrick and Anderson before finding Eto'o, who cut past Nemanja Vidic far too easily and beat keeper Edwin van der Sar with a toe poke toward the near post. Even though they were up against ageing full-backs in Carles Puyol and Sylvinho, Wayne Rooney and Park Ji-Sung carried no threat on the flanks and were largely anonymous. In fact, their opponents saw more of the ball and Ferguson's decision to swap them over at half time failed to come off either.

He sent on Carlos Tevez for the ailing Anderson at the break to lend more support to Ronaldo and Barcelona took advantage of the even bigger gap that was left in the middle of the pitch.

Messi had already moved into the centre behind Eto'o early in the first half and while he was still not at his best, he was enjoying himself far more than he did against Chelsea.

Ferguson's changes just made Barcelona more dangerous rather than the other way round and Henry forced a good save out of Van der Sar while a Xavi free kick hit the post.

The dice was rolled again as Dimitar Berbatov came on for Park to add more firepower up front but four minutes later the game was over.

A sublime cross from Xavi floated beautifully over to Messi at the back post and he sent a fine header into the far corner. It broke his duck against English teams having previously gone 10 games without scoring.

The Barcelona fans knew the game was over as did the men sitting in the United dug-out, even though they sent on Paul Scholes.

For Barca and their coach Pep Guardiola, who only took charge last summer, the final whistle brought the curtain down on an amazing season where they have become the first team to win La Liga, the Spanish Cup and the Champions League.

The result clearly gave UEFA President Michel Platini great pleasure, his smirk at half-time betrayed his joy at seeing Barcelona 1-0 up, not to mention his celebratory demeanor as he handed the Spanish team their winners' medals.

United's Premier League rivals may have enjoyed it, too, for this shattered the air of invincibility in recent months and maybe, just maybe, it could have repercussions next term.