Barcelona won the European Cup for the third time with a classy 2-0 victory over Manchester United in the Champions League final at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Wednesday.
Striker Samuel Eto'o struck the opener on 10 minutes when he cut in from the right past Nemanja Vidic and his low shot beat United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar at his near post. Xavi cracked a free kick against the United post at the start of the second half before Lionel Messi sealed the win on 70 minutes when he headed home Xavi's cross.
Barcelona, also winners of Europe's premier club competition in 1992 and 2006, controlled the game against a curiously subdued Manchester United for all but the first 10 minutes. Early in the game, United's Cristiano Ronaldo cracked in a free kick that Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes could not hold. Park Ji-sung just failed to convert the loose ball.
Ronaldo continued to look lively right up until Barcelona took the lead against the run of play, with Eto'o showing great pace, control and skill to beat the United keeper.
From then it was Barcelona's game with United giving the ball away regularly and the Catalans kept control.
The second goal came 20 minutes from time when Messi showed great timing to nod in Xavi's hanging cross.
United had isolated chances to get back into the match but could not build any sustained pressure and Barcelona killed the game off with ruthless skill.
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