Barcelona 0 – Manchester United 0

By Dennis Neri
for SoccerMyLife.com

Published: September 3, 2010

From then on Barcelona were just content with pedestrian possession without really opening up United throughout whilst United were just content to surrender possession and have not imposed themselves at all.

Frank Rijkaard sprung a big surprise by starting with Deco, who has not played since January if that; and has looked short of match fitness as he has seen a lot of the ball but not done a lot with it whilst Rafael Marquez is lucky to still be on the pitch as he definitely blocked Ronaldo en route to goal and it should have been another penalty for United.

The most disappointing part of the 1st half is that neither goalkeeper has been tested at all. The supposed big match up between Ronaldo and Lionel Messi has not materialized in the 1st half as neither player has done much with a few tricks here and there but nothing to crow about.
The 2nd half was slightly better as Barcelona upped the pace trying to look for the crucial break through. They had a few half chances early on with Etoo having a good chance that he screwed wide when well placed.

As the half wore on Barcelona seemed to lose ideas as the game petered out to a goalless draw. United may think they have the upper hand but it is prudent to always try to score away from home and now they have to win 1 way or the other at Old Trafford which they are capable of doing but it puts more pressure on your side.

A lot of people thought this would be a classic but if viewed on its merits, it is not surprising to see such a game because in truth neither team has played very well for quite a while. We all know how bad Barcelona have been this season but United have been getting good results without really playing well as they were outplayed against Arsenal and Middlesboro; and but for poor finishing by Roma the tie might have been different.

Ratings

Barcelona

Victor Valdes No rating as he had absolutely nothing to do.

Gianluca Zambrotta 6.5 He was excellent in his defending and going forward as he tried to pull his team forward.

Erik Abidal 6 He made some silly decisions like almost gifting United a penalty with a foolish challenge on Ronaldo in the 2nd half but was solid.

Gabriel Milito 6.5 Apart from some silly tackles from behind in the 1st half he was solid and impressive.

Raphael Marquez 5 He is not match fit and it showed as he committed too many silly tackles and his booking means he would miss the 2nd leg. He did not impress in any case so it might not be a big loss as Carlos Puyol would be back.

Yaya Toure 6 He did everything very well until he got into United’s penalty box and then he lacked ideas by either falling down or giving the wrong pass

Xavi 5 He exemplified what was wrong with Barcelona as he was way to pedantic, never seeing the quick ball, holding onto the ball unnecessarily and for me had a poor game.

Deco 6.5 He was a surprise inclusion but he was the best of the midfield bunch as his vision and passing was spot on. He did look sluggish early on but in the 2nd half he got better.

Andres Iniesta 5.5 He was not in the game for most of it and looked lost on the right hand side but he too is another that is not match fit. His dive towards the end of the game was not nice to see.

Lionel Messi 5.5 He did some good things but not enough to raise the temperature as he was well marshaled by Evra and Park but he did have his moments.

Samuel Etoo 6 His game was in and out as he did some good things and then some bad things but he always looked a threat but less apparent in the closing stages.

Substitutes

Bojan Krkic He did not really do anything to warrant any grade
Thierry Henry He came on too late to do anything

Frank Rijkaard 4.5 I have to say to have a former Chelsea player and ex Arsenal player in his team against Manchester United and not make good use of them was poor. Eidur Gudjohnsen and Thierry Henry would have been very up for this game so it was criminal not to use them fully. He has the players but he does not make good use of them and has done so again; I am afraid.

Manchester United

Edwin Van Der Saar 6 He made a few good saves but nothing dramatic as it was fairly comfortable for him throughout. His kicking out was not up to his usual standard though.

Owen Hargreaves 5.5 He was not duly tested and did not impose himself on the match.

Patrice Evra 7 He was very good as he stopped Bojan and Messi from doing much damage even though he offered little going forward

Wes Brown 6.5 He was very solid but not spectacular as he put his body in the way of most things.

Rio Ferdinand 7 He was very cool in the centre of the defense as he stopped most things but in truth Barcelona offered very little going forward.

Michael Carrick 5.5 His defensive play was far better than his passing as it was atrocious. He also had a good chance that he fluffed by shooting to side-netting instead of passing.

Paul Scholes 7 This is the best I have seen him play for a long time even if he got away with some crude tackles and might have been booked on another day but his passing was good and he protected the defense admirably.

Park Ji-Sung 5.5 It is a good thing that he has a lot of energy as he has no quality going forward with some sloppy passes on the ball but he helped to protect his full backs with some impressive ground coverage.

Cristiano Ronaldo 6 His detractors would say he disappeared on the big stage but his performance, though not earth shattering was not so bad as he tried to take the fight to Barcelona but his actions of acting like he was above being tackled was not so good to see.

Wayne Rooney 5.5 Some might think the mark is very generous but he was asked to do a job and he sacrificed for his team as United clearly did not come here to attack.

Carlos Tevez 5 Like Wayne Rooney he would have had a far more lower score if not the fact that his play was tactical as he sacrificed his attacking plays for the sake of the team.

Substitutes

Nani He did not see anything of the ball to be graded

Ryan Giggs I am not sure he touched the ball

Alex Ferguson 5.5 His tactics of not going for an away goal but to strangle the life out of Barcelona might come back to hurt him.

For more Football news visit [http://www.footballclubsblog.com]

My name is Dennis and have written a number of articles on how to make it big online.

Learn more on how to become successful online by going here and clicking on ‘my web page’ NOW

Author: Dennis Neri
Article Source: EzineArticles.com