I'm not going to jump on the media bandwagon of firing a series of plaudits at the Barcelona team. They played well. Not as well as the BBC's Phil McNulty would have you believe - describing Barca's display as a "footballing masterclass" - but even the most ardent Red cannot deny that the Catalan giants were worthy winners on Wednesday evening.

As expected, Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez were both on the bench. Cristiano Ronaldo was pushed forward with Wayne Rooney and Ji-Sung Park taking the flanks. Michael Carrick, Anderson and Ryan Giggs sat in the middle of the park.

For ten minutes, United bossed proceedings. Barca 'keeper Victor Valdes fumbled Ronaldo's free-kick after only two minutes and Park came close to bundling home the rebound. The Portuguese winger, rather greedily, then fired two long-range efforts inches wide as the Reds aimed to stamp their authority on the game.

However, Barca grabbed the lead on ten minutes against the run of play and, from there, controlled the game. Eto'o easily beat Nemanja Vidic before brushing his shot passed Edwin van der Sar. The defender and 'keeper should probably have done better - but Barca had their lead and never looked back.

United seemed to run out of ideas very quickly. Michael Carrick was charged with the responsibility of driving play forward - but his long passes were too often snuffed out by Barca's makeshift backline. Ronaldo was soon pushed out wide and Rooney forward but, at the break, it was clear that a change of tact and Fergie's famous hairdryer were both necessary.

Tevez was thrown on for Anderson - again ineffective - at the break as United pushed men forward; but it was to no avail. Barca, however, looked far more likely to score with Thierry Henry and Xavi both going close. Desperation started to set in and Berbatov was thrown on from the bench with Ferguson left hoping his famous attacking quarter could conjure up a special moment.

The result was sealed with twenty minutes to go as Messi met Xavi's long chip with a superb header that gave Edwin van der Sar no chance. United's travelling army kept singing - hoping for a comeback in Rome that would probably even have eclipsed the heroics of '99 but it simply wasn't to be as Swiss official Massimo Busacca brought an end to proceedings after three minutes of frustrating injury-time.

I'm gutted. Barcelona deserved it and United's performance was well below-par from the rest of the season. We've lost a European final and it hurts - but the Reds can have no complaints. It's so easy to forget that United have secured a memorable Treble this season; winning the league championship, the League Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup but that won't quell any disappointment in the United ranks following this bitterly disappointing display.

Roll on the summer.

Full Time - Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United
Attendance - 72,700

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