During this difficult time, while we all stay inside, why not watch one of the greatest soccer teams to ever play? This is the day Lionel Messi absolutely annihilated or toyed with Manchester United, and in London no less. Barcelona came to England for the Champions League final and really embarrassed Manchester United.
The Champions League and English Premier League will return, perhaps not until next year, but until then why not enjoy this incredible performance online.
Barcelona versus Manchester United: Watch the 2011 Champions League Final. This was the year of Tiki Taka football at its highest level, where Barcelona would average 73% of ball possession against ever team they faced. And really, this was the year that Messi came into his own. This was the year that the world would see that he was the greatest player to ever play the game.
Widely considered one of the greatest team performances of all-time join us as we watch again the 2011 Champions League final. With Pep Guardiola and Leo Messi both at the peak of their powers, Barcelona put on a true masterclass against Manchester United at Wembley.
From GiveMeSport, Rio Ferdinand talks about trying to stop Lionel Messi. Actually, he says they couldn’t stop him!
During his Wembley performance in 2011, Ferdinand reveals that “he doesn’t even come near you” and that he and Vidic just stood on the halfway line, looked at each other and shook their heads at the brilliance going on.
He goes on to mention that when he did get near Messi, his small stature meant that when he tried to be physical, he simply slipped underneath him.
And Ferdinand went on to talk about how he disagreed with the tactics for the game set out by manager Alex Ferguson. Barcelona had the best midfield in the world at that time and they could stop them. Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets controlled the entire game.
“The plan was to really to go and meet them high,” Ferdinand told BT Sport.
“Meet them, press them high and try and win the ball early and then obviously go for the jugular.
“We done that, to be fair, with the goal we scored, but in the main we didn’t have the ball in the midfield area.
“This area is key in big games, you need to dominate that area and then you’ve got a good chance of winning it. And they outnumbered us.”
Alex Ferguson said this about the 2011 Barcelona team.
“Barcelona were the best team ever to line up against my Manchester United sides,” he said. “The accomplishments of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta were amazing to me.”