Manchester United must learn lessons from 2009 Champions League final defeat to Barcelona

Edwin van der Sar branded Manchester United’s 6-1 aggregate semi-final victory over Schalke as a “perfect” result but urged his team to learn the lessons of their 2009 Champions League defeat to Barcelona if they are to win the competition.

The Red Devils cruised into the final and a date with Pep Guardiola’s men at Wembley after a comfortable victory at Old Trafford, despite making major changes to their team with the likes of Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez, Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand all rested.

Yet goals from Antonio Valencia, Darron Gibson and a brace from Anderson helped secure the victory, which Van der Sar believed was a comfortable win.

“[It was] perfect, of course after the first leg we were quite well set up so we were able to make some changes and keep the majority of players fresh for Sunday,” he told ITV.

“You saw the emotion from Barcelona yesterday and maybe our celebrations were more subdued, it’s a big rivalry of course Madrid and Barca. This was a game we comfortably won in the end.”

The win sets up a repeat of the 2009 final in Rome which Barcelona won 2-0 and the Dutchman urged his team-mates to learn the lessons from that defeat.

“They [Barcelona] play extremely well and it going to be difficult,” he explained.

“They showed that in the final in 2009 and we have to make sure we learn our lesson from that and deal with that in a different way.”

The veteran, who is set to play his last game for Manchester United in the final, also admitted it would be a great occasion and he was hoping to sign off on a high.

“I think it means a lot for the club, for the players and the fans and for Sir Bobby [Charlton] of course and for the manager," he added.

"It will be a great occasion and to play at Wembley it's going to be great and hopefully with a better outcome that a couple of years ago.”

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Benedikt Howedes: Manchester United & Barcelona deserve to be in Champions League final

Schalke defender Benedikt Howedes admits that Manchester United were deserved winners of the Champions League semi-final tie between the two teams.

The German side lost the second-leg 4-1 at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening to be knocked out 6-1 on aggregate, and Howedes concedes that the English side are worthy finalists of Europe’s premier club competition.

"We played a great Champions League season,” Howedes told Sky Germany after the match. “In the last two matches you could see that Man United were better and deserved to reach the final.

“Man United were more active than [quarter-final opponents] Inter. They switched much more quickly. Inter let us combine a lot more, Man United defended with ten men and attacked with ten men very quickly - that made them very strong.

“I'm looking forward to the final between Barcelona and Manchester [United],” added the 23-year-old. “We would have liked to be there, for sure, but these teams deserve to be there. They're the best teams in Europe."

The final between Barcelona and United is at Wembley in London on May 28.

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Barcelona & Manchester United to contest 2010-11 Champions League final

Barcelona and Manchester United will confront each other in the final of the Champions League for the second time in three years.

While the Spanish champions got the better of their arch-rivals Real Madrid 3-1 on aggregate in the first semi-finals, the Red Devils swept aside German opposition Schalke in the last four 6-1 over the two legs.

Pep Guardiola and Sir Alex Ferguson met each other in the finale of Europe’s premier club competition in 2008-09 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome where Barca ran out comfortable 2-0 winners, with Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi etching their names on the scoresheet.

This time the final is at Wembley in London on May 28. Barcelona won their first European Cup in 1991-1992 at the old Wembley stadium and will be hoping to conquer Europe for the fourth time in their history.

As for United, it will be their third appearance in the final in four years and Sir Alex will aspire to win his third Champions League trophy following successes in 1999 and 2008.

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Manuel Neuer: I don't want to talk about my future now

Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer believes his team's failure to play at their best is the reason for their 4-1 defeat to Manchester United in the second-leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday evening.

The German side were unable to overturn their 2-0 deficit from the home leg with United choosing to rest several first team stars.

Neuer, who performed heroics to keep his team in the tie in the first leg was unable to repeat his goalkeeping heroics at Old Trafford.

"Again, this wasn't our day today. It was the same performance as the first leg and that's hard. We needed to show a top performance to beat United and reach the final but we didn't succeed," the keeper told Sky after the game.

The Germany No. 1 also refused to concede that Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to rest players had an impact on the match.

"We can't talk about Manchester [United] playing a 'B' team. They have included players who would be in the first teams of Bundesliga clubs.

"We have had a great season in the Champions League and we reached the semi-final. We can be proud of this but we need to forget the games againt Manchester United," he added.

There has been much speculation in regards to Neuer's future but the player himself refused to talk about it despite admitting he wants to play Champions League football next season.

"I don't want to talk about my future now. The Champions League is a great plateau and I want to play in it again next season," Neuer concluded.

Schalke are currently 10th in the Bundesliga and unable to qualify for next term's Champions League with Neuer's comments a further indication of his desire to leave the club.

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Jose Mourinho has damaged Real Madrid

Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon believes Jose Mourinho has damaged the reputation of the club with his comments and actions following their elimination at the hands of Barcelona in the Champions League. 

Madrid were dumped from Europe following the 1-1 draw at Camp Nou (3-1 on aggregate), in a game in which Mourinho was not present following his sending off last week.

Plenty of growls followed the first-leg, with both Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo suggesting there were sinister forces working against their team. 

The coach was filmed by Spanish media making a hand gesture on their return from last night's game, suggesting they had been robbed.

Calderon is not impressed by the talk, nor by Madrid's wavering form, and he believes the mess has stemmed from Mourinho's ruling circle.

"To talk like that has been harmful for Real Madrid," Calderon told BBC Sport. "Big clubs should not blame the referee for their mistakes or their defeats.

"We invested £400 million in the last two years to be a very important and strong team so if you lose you cannot blame injuries, bad luck, referees or nothing. 

"If you lose you have to congratulate the rival and that is all. What he did in terms of talking about Uefa and referees is not acceptable at all," Calderon concluded.

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Cristiano Ronaldo Biography

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro,  born 5 February 1985), commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or a forward for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and is the captain of the Portuguese national team. Ronaldo is the most expensive player in football history after moving from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer deal worth £80 million (€94m, US$132m). In addition, his contract with Real Madrid, in which he is to be paid £11 million per year over the following six years, makes him the highest-paid football player in the world, and values him at €1 billion as per his buyout clause.

 

Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for two years, then moved to Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting Clube de Portugal. Ronaldo's precocious talent caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and signed the 18-year-old for £12.24 million in 2003. The following season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the FA Cup and played at Euro 2004 with Portugal.

Ronaldo scored his first international goal in the opening game of the tournament against Greece, although Greece won 2-1. Portugal reached the final, which they again lost to Greece. In 2008, Ronaldo won the Champions League with United, and was named player of the tournament. He was named the FIFPro World Player of the Year and the FIFA World Player of the Year, in addition to becoming Manchester United's first Ballon d'Or winner in 40 years. Ronaldo holds the distinction of being the first player to win the FIFA Puskás Award, an honour handed by FIFA to the best goal of the year. He scored that goal from 40 yards out against FC Porto in a UEFA Champions League quarter-final match, while playing for Manchester United. Three-time Ballon d'Or winner Johan Cruyff said in an interview on 2 April 2008, "Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United."

^Clubs 

^{Sporting CP}

^{Manchester United 2003-2009}

^{Real Madrid 2009-20xx}

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Henrik Larsson Biography

Henrik Larsson (born September 20, 1971 in Helsingborg, Sweden) is a Swedish international football player.

Having completed seven very successful years with Celtic in Glasgow, Scotland, after the end of the 2003/04 season he signed a 1 year contract with an option for a second year for Spanish giants FC Barcelona.

He started his professional career playing for Högaborg at the age of 17. He subsequently played for Helsingsborgs IF and Feyenoord. He was signed by Celtic in July 1997 for a fee of £650,000. His debut, playing Hibernian at Easter Road, was less than spectacular; he inadvertently passed the ball to the other side, resulting in a 2-1 loss for Celtic.

Larsson scored 242 goals for Celtic, in 315 matches, and in 2001 he won the "Golden Shoe" award for being Europe's top goal scorer. In 2003 Sweden nominated Larsson as the greatest Swedish football player of the last 50 years.

His decision to retire from international football met with much dismay in his homeland and there was much clamouring for him to return to the team for their campaign at the 2004 European Championships in Portugal. Despite initially maintaining his decision to retire, turning down overtures from UEFA President Lennart Johannsen and the Swedish Prime Minister in the process, he eventually returned to the national side to great effect, scoring 3 goals in 4 matches and leading Sweden to the quarterfinals, where they were defeated in a penalty shootout by the Dutch.

Larsson's international record is impressive with 27 goals in 77 games, many of which he played in midfield or as a winger. He has always made his mark on big occasions and has scored at 2 World Cups (1994 at which Sweden came 3rd, and 2002), and 2 European Championships (2000 and 2004). For Celtic his finest moment (if not his happiest) came in the UEFA Cup final of 2003 in which he scored two goals in a 3-2 extra time defeat to Porto of Portugal. His goalscoring feats on the contintent for Celtic mean he holds the record for number of goals scored for a British club in European matches.

He is married, and has two children, Jordan (born 1997) and Janine (born 2002).

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