The Biggest Collision in Wembley As Seen from Estonia

2010-2011 UEFA Champions League: FC Barcelona 3, Manchester United 1

On May 28^th, 2011, there was one of the biggest soccer matches ever in London, England. The final match of the 2010-2011 UEFA Champions League was held in Wembley stadium, London. A total of 76 teams of the 52 European football associations participated in this season of the UEFA champions League. Only FC Barcelona from Spain and Manchester United from England were able to go to final round. The match attracted universal attention because each team has been known as two iconic giants of world soccer. Moreover, each team won the champion title of their national league, which are currently the strongest domestic leagues in the world. FC Barcelona won the champion title of Spanish Première League, and Manchester United won the champion title of English premier league of this season.

            

Unfortunately we did not have tickets to the match, but neither did the hundreds of millions who watched the match in Europe and around the world. The global audience for this game was the second largest in recent history, only surpassed by last year’s World Cup final between Spain and The Netherlands. Like millions of Europeans we gathered wherever we were that day to watch the game in a Super Bowl-like atmosphere though no Super Bowl I have seen seems to have been watched with as much passion or intensity. We were on a side tour to Tallin, Estonia which as you have read is a ferry ride away from southern Finland. When the time came for the match we gathered with hundreds of fans from Estonia and other parts of the world to watch the match – and what a display of soocer brilliance it was, especially from the winning team.

The Argentinian superstar Messi showed why he is the best soccer player in the world. When people talk about the best soccer player of today, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are always mentioned. It was always a hard to choose one player. However, this year Messi has been showing spectacular moves during the season, and he scored 11 goals just in the UEFA champion’s league matches before the final game. Finally, he scored one more goal during the final game, and he equaled Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s record of 12 goals in a single season. In addition, he selected  “Man of the Match” and won the MVP of the whole season.

FC Barcelona proved they are the current best soccer club team of the world. With new manager Guardiola, FC Barcelona becomes a best current team of the world. They absolutely try not to show themselves on the field. They always work as a team. Especially, the center midfielder Xavi and Iniesta combination conquered the field by passing to each other. The percentage of ball possession of each team in the game was 63% by FC Barcelona and only 37% to Manchester United. In addition, FC Barcelona’s success 662 passes out of 772 attempts (86%), however, Manchester United was only able to make 301 passes out of 419 attempts (72%). All the statistic results showed how well the FC Barcelona’s players controlled the match on the field.

Manchester United couldn’t win the battle of revenge. The two teams met in the 2008-2009 UEFA champions league’s final match. On May 27^th, 2009, Manchester United lost the match 0-2 in Stadio Olimpico, Rome. They had been waiting for two years to have their revenge. They finally got the exact same situation to take their revenge on May 28^th, 2011. Unfortunately, the manager and the players couldn’t do anything to win. Although the 1-1 tied scored by Wayne Rooney of Manchester United in the first half, they lost the match 3-1 because of the two goals by David Villa and L. Messi in second half of the match.

The biggest European soccer match was ended with FC Barcelona raising the Champion’s Trophy. Sir Alex Ferguson, the team manager of Manchester United, admitted the that FC Barcelona was the best team he has ever been matched against. After the match, FC Barcelona’s players rejoiced their victory while raising their champion cup, and we also celebrated their victory in an English pub in Tallinn, Estonia. I don’t understand any Estonian, yet we all understood the magic of the Barcelona team that night and did not need anything but the language of soccer to express our feelings. Of course some people were supporting Manchester United, but even they had to admit that Barcelona were easily the better team and deserved to win.