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Fresh from clinching their domestic league titles, Manchester United and Barcelona were set to meet in what fans have been calling a "dream final" between the top two teams in Europe. With the benefit of hindsight, it might have been more aptly described as a matchup between the best in Europe and the best of the rest.

Manchester United were simply out-manoeuvred and out-thought by a Barcelona team steeped in the art of passing. Indeed, the two stand-out pass-masters in the form of Xavi and Iniesta played as though losing the ball was a sin. This was all the more impressive considering that Barcelona ply their trade in the Spanish league where players are widely considered to have more time on the ball compared to those in the English league.

Other than the first ten minutes of the game in which United threaten to explode in the face of a weakened Barcelona defence, the red devils were left chasing the ball for much of the game. After shrugging off a tentative start, the Barcelona players grew in stature as the game went on, using their wit on the ball to drain their opposition of energy. When the United players managed to win the ball, all they could muster were feeble attempts at forming some semblance of an attacking threat, made all the more difficult by the Barcelona players who were quick to smother the opposition. It turned out that Barcelona's inadequacies in defence were greatly exaggerated. To the keen observer, the fact that Barcelona's defenders do not match up with those of United's is a moot point. Barcelona press from the front; the attackers form the first line of defence by quickly closing down the opposition's defenders and midfielders.

Cristiano Ronaldo bemoaned about the wrong tactics being used after the match. In all honesty, when Barcelona are in the mood to play keep-ball, the opposition's tactics are rendered irrelevant. Moreover, the men in blue and red showed much more hunger and desire. Too many of United's players failed to turned up at an occasion that called for more care in possession. Too few were willing to scrap in the face of superior opposition.

As United slogged to get the ball off their opponents, Darren Fletcher's stock steadily rose. Just as Barcelona's defensive absentees were overstated, Fletcher's absence was understated. The tenacious Scot thrives in the biggest occasions and this was a game where he could have made a difference.

Despite the disappointment, Manchester United fans can take heart from the fact that this is a team that learns from failures. This is the club's first major final defeat in Europe and it will hurt. Throughout Ferguson's reign at Manchester United, he has had to constantly figure out the European game. It took him nine years to repeat his previous triumph and he will be hoping that it won't be that long before he takes Europe's biggest prize again.

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