2009 Champions League Final, Barcelona’s Treble Win and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Bad Memories

DBasia.news – On May 27, 2009, Barcelona made a history. At the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, the Blaugrana defeated Manchester United with goals from Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi in the Champions League final. Barcelona won treble for the first time in history after winning LaLiga and the Copa del Rey. Barcelona became the fifth successful club to win the treble and the first in Spain.

All praise rained down on Pep Guardiola’s squad. Lionel Messi and his friends not only dominated Spain and Europe, but they did it in a beautiful soccer style. The flow of football based on Johan Cruyff which has been perfected by Guardiola bewitched the world.

In that final match, Barcelona reinforced by Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto’o, Sergio Busquets, and Pedro Rodriguez made Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils not move. Xavi who was chosen as the best performer appeared like an orchestra conductor who set the tempo with his stick. Barcelona finally dispelled Manchester United’s dream of defending the trophy.

“We were in a good position, but to be honest, we were beaten by a better team,” Sir Alex said after the match, as quoted by The Guardian at the time.

“Sir Alex Ferguson’s hopes of repeating last year’s achievements failed, even United did not move at all from the runway and were defeated by Barcelona who appeared with the inspiration of an Argentine star genius Lionel Messi,” the BBC began the match report.

The match at the Stadio Olimpico was predicted to be a means of proving who was the best between Ronaldo and Messi. Ronaldo was a star when United won the Champions League a year earlier. But on the pitch and the final results showed who won.

“The war between two of the world’s best players was won convincingly by Barcelona star and goal scorer in this fight, Lionel Messi,” wrote The Guardian.

For Ronaldo, the match in Rome is a memory he doesn’t want to keep. Ronaldo failed to mark the end of his era at Man United by lifting the Champions League trophy. Yes, the match in Rome was Ronaldo’s closing match with United before leaving for Real Madrid and continuing his rivalry against Messi.

If for Ronaldo the 2009 Champions League final gives him bad memories, certainly not for Messi. Conversely, Messi to date calls the match at the Stadio Olimpico a perfect performance for Barcelona.

“There is a match where the opponent cannot possibly bring damage to us. The Champions League Final in Rome is one such match. The game when the team displays the perfect game,” Messi told The Sun in 2016.

Barcelona does dominate the world. After successfully winning LaLiga, Copa del Rey and Champions League titles, Guardiola’s fleet then won three other trophies, the European Super Cup, the Spanish Super Cup, and the Club World Cup. Barcelona became the first club in history to win trophies in the six events that followed.