BARCELONA DEFEAT UNITED TWO-NIL EXPECT BOTH TEAMS TO CONTEST 2010 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Well, it definitely didn't pan out like I thought it would, but congratulations to Barcelona who put together a stellar performance tonight. In my opinion, Sir Alex got the tactics all wrong and the disjointed system he deployed created too much space between the United players. The frustration on Rooney and Ronaldo's faces was obvious for all to see and after Carrick blew that first play to allow Barca to open the scoring, United were never back in it. If you ask me, the central defensive partnership completely fell apart and there was no way you could say that Rio Ferdinand was match-fit. I think having the weekend off hurt the team a lot more than many expected and we simply couldn't play good, flowing football. It looks like it will be some time before another team gets a chance to defend their Champions League title, and I expect Barcelona to be there again next year. They needed the referee's help to get past Chelsea, but they won this one on their own. I expect Barcelona to be listed at around 2/1 to win the 2009/10 Champions League and I could see United with a price of about 9/2. Chelsea should be around 6/1 alongside Liverpool and Arsenal I could see with an 8/1 price. I expect Paddy Power to have their 2009/10 odds up within the next few hours. A frustrating end to the season for United, but the better team won. You can make a case for Barcelona being the best team in the world, but United made them look even better tonight. Lessons learned for Fergie and the boys and I would firmly expect to see both teams facing off for next year's Champions League Final.