Barcelona - Champions League Winners 2006
I don't normally do reviews of other teams besides Liverpool, but the Champions League Final 2006 is a special occassion.
Following the dramatic comeback from Liverpool in the 2005 final, where they drew 3-3 with AC Milan and went on to win the cup on penalties, everyone was expecting this to be a fantastic final, especially with two teams that had the flair and passion for fast-paced attacking and counter-attacking football: Arsenal and Barcelona.
Arsenal had defied all the odds to reach their first ever Champions League Final. They were the underdogs to Barcelona, who had rightly taken their place in this grand event after establishing themselves as worthy champions of Spain, retaining the La Liga title for a second time this season.
The main focus leading up to this event was the clash of the two greats: Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho, arguably the two most influential players in the beautiful game today. Who would step up and lead their team to glory?
The match started off very tentatively, as do all finals. However Arsenal were the quicker team off the starting blocks, and with Thierry Henry leading the Gunners, they laid siege to Victor Valdes' goal. Thierry Henry came close twice in the early stages, first with a wonderful turn past his defender, only to see his shot pushed away by Victor Valdes for a corner. From the corner, Henry took control again and fired a curling shot from outside the box but Valdes was equal to it once more.
Barcelona took a much longer time to settle into the game and by the time they did, Arsenal were red-hot and Henry always looked a threat with the fast running Eboue, Fabregas and Ljungberg to support him. Barcelona finally had their first shot of the game after 9 minutes, but Giuly shot from a tight angle when he really shouldn't have and saw his shot saved easily by Lehmann. Barca had a free kick just outside the box later but Ronaldinho shot it just wide of the post.
Then came the first real incident of the night. After just 17 minutes, a ball was played for Eto'o down the middle. Lehmann rushed off his line quickly to get the ball away, but ended up tackling the player badly outside the box. Giuly stuck the ball into the back of the net, but the referee had already blown his whistle. Moments later, he drew the red card out of his pocket. Lehmann had been sent off!
Wenger had to take an outfield player off for another goalkeeper, and poor Robert Pires, who will be leaving Arsenal in the summer, was sacrificed. Ronaldinho made a mess of the resulting free kick and Barcelona did not get the goal they wanted so badly. Arsenal were a man down, the odds were stacked against them. They had to play Henry as a lone striker and rely counter-attacking if they wanted to win.
After 35 minutes, Eboue is played through and he goes down on the right-edge of the area after a soft challenge from Carlos Puyol. Definitely a dive, but Arsenal have the free kick. Thierry Henry steps up and chips it into the box, Sol Campbell is left unmarked, and he heads the ball into the back of the net. 1-0 to Arsenal!
They hung on to the lead until half time despite Barcelona's best efforts to get back into the game. Eto'o had a shot that was deflected onto the post by Almunia and that was the closest they got to an equaliser. Ronaldinho looked off-form and playing Samuel Eto'o on the left was not doing Barcelona any good. Frank Rijkaard had some serious work on his hands.
After half-time however, Frank Rijkaard put on Andres Iniesta for Edmilson, hoping to inject some creativity to his flat midfield. Why he did not start with Iniesta is beyond me. I have no idea why he did not start with Belletti as well, choosing Oleguer instead.
Barcelona looked much livelier after Iniesta was substituted on, with the creative youngster pulling the strings in midfield, taking over from the clearly off-colour Ronaldinho. They attacked and attacked, coming close many times but failing to find an equaliser. At the other side of the pitch, Thierry Henry looked lost and lonely playing as a lone striker, and he was continually being shut out by the brilliant Carlos Puyol. From what started as a promising performance from the French maestro, he looked desolate and miserable.
After Ronaldinho fluffed another free-kick, hitting it into the wall, Arsenal looked destined for the win. They began to slow down play whenever they could, wasting time so that Barcelona had no chance to get back into the game. Barcelona were getting desperate now, and Rijkaard played his second card, subbing on the prolific Swedish striker Henrik Larsson for the Dutch midfielder Mark Van Bommel. Moments later, Ronaldinho confirms that he really is off-form in this match of all matches as he tries to sidefoot a shot to the Arsenal goal, but gets it horribly wrong, scuffing it and mishitting wide and out. Woeful!
Meanwhile Henry is creating magic on his own up front, with a mazy dribble he made Carlos Puyol and Marquez look like fools but one-on-one with Valdes, he overhits the ball and it is smothered easily by the keeper. Henry then had a marvelous chance to make it 2-0 to Arsenal as he broke and went one-on-one again, but Valdes blocked the shot brilliantly.
Finally, the substitution I was waiting for. Belletti had finally come on for the ineffective Oleguer. Minutes later, Barcelona had the breakthrough. A sweeping move from midfield sees Iniesta playing a brilliant throughball for Samuel Eto'o, and with a deft touch from Larsson, the ball went through to the Cameroonian. He made no mistake, sliding it past Almunia for the equaliser. He may have been offside, but hey, Arsenal's first goal came from a dive.
Just 4 minutes later, Larsson played a beautiful pass for the onrushing Belletti, who hit the shot between Almunia's legs to score his first ever goal for Barcelona, and to make the score 2-1 to Barcelona in the Champions League Final 2006. They had done it.
Barcelona hung on for a deserved victory. Ronaldinho may have been disappointing, but the brilliance of Larsson with two assists, and the sheer intensity of the Barcelona attack overwhelmed the Arsenal defence. They could not handle the pressure and crumbled. A well-taken victory for the Spanish giants.
Final Score: Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal
Archangel's Man of the Match: Henrik Larsson
"You'll Never Walk Alone"
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