Found this on a Manchester United Fan's blog...very nicely put, definitely worth reading!
I agree it is a United blog and it should be about United alone. But what happened last night at the Nou Camp deserves some thought. 11 men Barca had no answer to a man down Inter. To some, it was boring, annoying and frustrating. And I would agree with them. It wasn’t the best football games I have seen in my life.
I am not here to praise inter, I am not here to say Barca didn’t show up. We have had enough reviews of the matches. Possession (86% vs 14%), Territorial Advantage (78% vs 22%), Completed Passes (555 vs 67), Shots on Target (11 vs 0) are some of the stats you would’ve come across.
To me, European games have always been tactical. They are like wars. Strategies. Played more by the manager than by the players. And over the two games, Barca played a more beautiful game. Barca played football. But over the two games, Inter’s tactics were spot on. Completely opposite strategies in both the legs and yet both positive results. Last night, it was crazy.
"We didn't want the ball because when Barcelona press and win the ball back, we lose our position - I never want to lose position on the pitch so I didn't want us to have the ball, we gave it away," Jose said.
When was the last time we heard someone say something like that? Before the match, you would’ve called him insane. But that’s what makes him one of the greatest tactician in Football. Last night, Beautiful Football lost to Ugly Football. But if you ask me, if I had to play beautiful football, I’d play on my PS3. If I had to watch beautiful football, I’d ask some animations expert to make a video for me. Unfortunately, the ‘Champions of Europe’ title is not about Beautiful game, it’s about Glory. So, fair play to Inter, they are one step closer to achieving that by beating the beautiful game with ugly effective tactics. And when the world says “Football lost, Jose won!”, he would reply with his arrogant smile “I am the Special One!”
POSTED BY RED DEVIL AT 3:00 AM