[130] Both teams attempted to settle into their customary passing rhythms, but unlike the first half it was Barcelona who settled first; Manchester United's passes in their attacking third of the field failed to find their targets, and Iniesta eventually came away with the ball before flicking a pass through to Xavi, who played a through-ball to Henry on the left wing. [176] Other dignitaries present included Manchester United chief executive David Gill; The Football Association's president Prince William, and chairman Lord Triesman; Barcelona president Joan Laporta; Juan Carlos I of Spain; Royal Spanish Football Federation president ngel Mara Villar; and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. [35], As the reigning champions of the UEFA Champions League, Manchester United began their title defence at the group stage, for which they were given the top seed. [78], Manchester United's starting right-winger from the 2008 final, Owen Hargreaves, missed the match as he was still in rehabilitation after a double knee operation to cure his tendinitis problems that had seen him play little part in the 200809 Champions League campaign. Finally, we have realized that Manchester Unitedwants to play in the final in Rome more than Chelsea, and if they put up this result next Tuesday at the Emirates, then they will. [79] Both Henry and Iniesta returned to light training on 22 May, but they had not yet resumed training with the main squad and remained doubts for the final. Also, Arsenal will need to find an attack in the next game, and if they do, this series will get very interesting. [131] The French forward turned Ferdinand inside-out, but his shot from a narrow angle was straight at Van der Sar and ended up going out for a throw-in. [197] According to a survey, global viewing figures for the match averaged 109million; this put the UEFA Champions League final above the Super Bowl (106million viewers in 2009) as the most-watched annual sporting event in the world. [42] Those away goals meant that United travelled to the Estdio do Drago in Porto needing a win or a score-draw of 22 or higher to remain in the competition. [118] Precise passing from the Barcelona midfield got the Catalans moving upfield until a shoulder charge from Anderson sent Iniesta stumbling to the ground in the inside-left channel 30yards from goal. Also, the defense played a terrible game for Arsenal, and they definitely should have lost by a size able amount if it weren't for Manuel Almunia playing one of the greatest games of his career in the net. [110] Ronaldo shaped to take the free kick himself, but it was Giggs who shot for goal, only to curl the ball just over the bar. [193][194] After announcing his intention to leave Manchester United, Tevez criticised Ferguson's team selection for the 2009 Champions League final, saying that Ferguson should have included him in the starting line-up, with the rationale that the match was the only final that Manchester United had lost in his time at the club. Fans' Man of the Match: [51], A trophy handover ceremony was held in Rome on 21 April 2009, at which Ole Gunnar Solskjr, representing Manchester United as the previous season's champions, returned the trophy to UEFA president Michel Platini. Only 6.55million people watched the match on Germany's Sat.1 channel. [104] Nevertheless, Bara retained possession through some sharp inter-passing involving Xavi and Iniesta. [67][68], The referee for the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final was Massimo Busacca, representing the Swiss Football Association. Learn more. [121], With tenminutes left until half-time, the Manchester United defence effectively switched off and allowed Tour to dribble unopposed to within 15yards of their penalty area before slipping the ball out wide to Puyol, whose low cross was diverted behind by Vidi. Third parties use cookies for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalised ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. [25] They needed a win or a no-score draw to guarantee passage, but a 41 half-time lead set the stage for a convincing 52 win. [65][66], The official match ball for the 2009 Champions League final was the adidas Finale Rome. [167] Rooney took the corner short to Tevez, whose cross was just beyond the reach of Berbatov and diverted behind again by Puyol. [113] A quick-passing move from United followed, culminating with a through-ball to Park in the inside right channel, only for Valds to cut out the pass, taking out the South Korean in the process. Amount of Possession: Manchester United 52 percent, Arsenal 48 percent. [140], United responded with their first extended period of possession of the half, working the ball into wide areas to be crossed into the middle, but Rooney's first couple of attempted centres were well cleared by Piqu. [153] Immediately after the goal, Henry was replaced by Seydou Keita, allowing Barcelona to adopt a more defensive stance. [15] Both Manchester United and Barcelona were also looking for another Champions League title to cap a season in which they had won multiple trophies: Manchester United had already won four out of a possible seven trophies in 200809 and were playing for the possibility of becoming the third team to retain the European double (the domestic league and the European Cup), while Barcelona were aiming to become the first Spanish club to win a treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. "[94] By upholding the suspensions, UEFA made Abidal, Alves and Fletcher the first players to miss a Champions League final through suspension since Juventus' Pavel Nedvd sat out the 2003 final at Old Trafford. The match turned out to be the last for Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez as Manchester United players, as Ronaldo completed a world record 80million transfer to Real Madrid on 1 July,[192] while Tevez chose not to make his loan spell with the club permanent and joined their local rivals, Manchester City. [169], As the match entered its closing stages, the referee allotted a minimum of threeminutes of injury time. United Review - Man Utd v Arsenal Champions League Semi Final 2009, Champions league football programme man utd v Arsenal 24th April 2009 champions league semi final 1st leg. Ladbrokes also took a bet of 10,000 on a Barcelona win, but bookmakers reported that most of the money was put on Manchester United. 1996-2022, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. Manchester United, on the other hand, had a losing record against Spanish teams; they had lost 11 and won 10 of their 37 matches. [30], The quarter-final draw also determined the teams' routes to the final, with Barcelona facing the prospect of meeting either Chelsea or Liverpool in the semi-finals. Sorry, there was a problem saving your cookie preferences. A fourth-minute headed goal from Nemanja Vidi, however, got the home side off to a good start, and Cristiano Ronaldo doubled United's lead fourminutes into the second half.

[155] The Bulgarian forward's low cross found Giggs in the centre, and the United captain's shot was deflected to Ronaldo on the far side of the goal, only for the Portuguese's shot to be blocked by Valds. [138] A period of sustained pressure from Barcelona followed, culminating with a run from Iniesta, who could only be stopped by a foul from Tevez on the edge of the Manchester United penalty area. [71], The 2009 UEFA Champions League Final officially opened with the opening of the UEFA Champions Festival at Rome's Arco di Costantino and the Parco di Colle Oppio above the Colosseum. The ball used the same panel configuration as the Adidas Europass and the Adidas Teamgeist before it, and the same thermal bonding process was used to adhere the panels to each other, while the surface of the ball featured the same "PSC-Texture" as was debuted with the Europass; the surface of the ball was covered with thousands of tiny pimples, which was designed to improve the grip between boot and ball. [38], United started the first leg the better of the two sides, and although Inter improved in the second half, neither side was able to find the net during the match, and United took a 00 draw back to Old Trafford. [70] Busacca also refereed at both the 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2008, and took charge of the 2007 UEFA Cup Final between Espanyol and Sevilla at Hampden Park, Glasgow, on 16 May 2007. [27][28] However, despite Bayern's impressive scoring record, goals from Messi and Eto'o gave Barcelona a 20 lead within the first 12minutes. [4], Having been designated as the official "home" team, Barcelona were given the first choice of kits for the final and opted to wear their traditional red and blue shirts in a halved design.

[63] After the match, UEFA president Michel Platini praised the Rome police for their arrangement of security for the final. [13] Despite their record against Manchester United, Barcelona had an overall winning record against English clubs, having won 20 and lost 15 of their 52 matches against English opposition. However, several goods chances from Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez should have found the back of the net, and given United an even bigger lead in the game. [151] However, United's numbers up front in search of another goal left them wanting in defence; a weak clearance from Van der Sar was cut out by Puyol who played the ball to Eto'o on the right side of the penalty area. [23] The draw eventually paired them with Lyon and, as group winners, they would play the second leg at home. [74] At the culmination of the routine, the players emerged from the tunnel, accompanied by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli singing Il Gladiatore a song based on Earth from the soundtrack to the film Gladiator before Bocelli sang supporting vocals to the UEFA Champions League Anthem. [177], After offering his commiserations to Manchester United's players,[178] Joan Laporta then joined the Barcelona team to lead them up the podium, closely followed by manager Guardiola. [48], The Stadio Olimpico in Rome was selected as the venue for the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final at a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 4 October 2006. [108], The quality of the teams' passing remained the main difference between them; however, in the 16th minute, Barcelona lost the ball and Ryan Giggs sent a long ball forward to Ronaldo. The 2009 UEFA Champions League Final was played on 27 May 2009 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. [123] The second corner was crossed in towards Piqu, but he was unable to make contact with the ball. Despite this, they found themselves guilty of several fouls, while Chelsea made four unsuccessful penalty appeals during the match. However, two of their European Cup final defeats came against teams wearing white against Steaua Bucureti in 1986 and against A.C. Milan in 1994. The draw also determined the semi-final pairings, with United or Porto drawn to play against Arsenal or Villarreal. We're not the best team in Bara history but we've had the best season. [152] The ball broke to Xavi on the edge of the area, who crossed for Messi to send a looping header over the United goalkeeper and into the far side of the goal for a two-goal lead. A 40-yard goal from Ronaldo in the sixthminute put United into the lead, and although both sides pressed for another goal, it proved to be the only one of the game, making Manchester United the first English side to win in Porto.

However, it was United who scored the next goal, as they hit Arsenal on the break and Ronaldo scored within 15 seconds of Arsenal losing the ball at the other end of the pitch. [64], More than 3,000 Manchester United fans congregated just outside the city in a field that came to be known as "Fergie's Field". [98] The resulting corner was cleared, but only as far as Wayne Rooney, whose snap-shot was wayward and went out for a goal kick. [83] Rio Ferdinand was also a doubt following a calf injury that has kept him out of the United side since the semi-final second leg against Arsenal; Alex Ferguson had said that Ferdinand might not start in Rome if he was not fit to play against Hull,[84] but he later admitted that Ferdinand was on course to recover in time to play in the match. [117] The corner, taken by Giggs, found Ronaldo, but the Portuguese got too far under the ball and headed over. [137] He cut in from the right wing and played a through-ball just out of reach of Messi, who went to ground after O'Shea had put his hand on Messi's shoulder. However, with only oneminute left in the game, United suffered a defensive lapse, allowing Mariano Gonzlez to score Porto's second away goal. You have to give credit to a very good Barcelona team the better team won. Fabregas, Adebayor and Bendtner all took their fair share of opportunities, but they weren't able to beat Edwin van de Sar and the great Manchester United defense. Fans of both teams form club-specific mosaics in the build-up to the match. [120] Another free kick followed, as Messi was bundled over by a double-challenge from Vidi and Carrick, but it came to nothing. The entire theme was based on a colour scheme of deep red and silver-white. An alternative logo consisting of the UEFA Champions League logo surrounded by a laurel wreath was also released. [39] The lack of an away goal at the San Siro meant that United could not afford to concede a goal in the event of a draw. [187] Barcelona's victory also made Guardiola only the sixth man to win the competition as both a player and a manager, following in the footsteps of Miguel Muoz, Giovanni Trapattoni, Johan Cruyff, Carlo Ancelotti and, most recently, Frank Rijkaard, who also won the Champions League as Barcelona manager.[191]. With two away goals on the United scoreboard, Arsenal now had to score four goals to reach the final. [101], Despite United's early pressure, it was Barcelona who scored the first goal of the match. [26], In the quarter-finals, Barcelona were drawn against their fellow leading-scorers in the competition, Bayern Munich, who had beaten Barcelona's group stage opposition, Sporting CP, 121 on aggregate in the previous round. [135] A scrappy few moments in and around the centre circle followed, but Manchester United eventually came away with the ball. Also,Manchester United legendRyan Giggs made his 800th appearance with the club during the match, and United are another step closer to solidifying a spot in the final in Rome. Based on the "Starball" design that has been used for the Champions League final since 2001 and become synonymous with the UEFA Champions League, the Finale Rome was unveiled on 16 March 2009.