Israel Saria
Eurosport –
Reaction from the players after Barcelona stunned holders Manchester United to win their third Champions League crown with a 2-0 victory.
Cristiano Ronaldo: “The tactics were not good, everything went wrong. We have to give credit to Barcelona, but they were a bit lucky to be here because Chelsea did not deserve to lose and no-one has mentioned that. I have to congratulate Barcelona, they were better but only the winners get talked about.”
Rio Ferdinand: “I don’t think there’s one of us out there can say we played well to be honest, as individuals or collectively. (The first goal) was a bit of a sucker punch, we’d had a few good chances before that. But no excuses, not on today’s performance they were the better team. Special moments decide these games and they were deserved winners today.”
Wayne Rooney: “Barcelona are a brilliant team and in my opinion Andres Iniesta is the best player in the world. Against a team like that if you don’t take your chances, they will punish you. That is what happened. It is very disappointing and the feeling at the moment is not a good one. We are hurting. But we have to forget it and look forward to next season.”
Ryan Giggs: “We are disappointed with the result and the performance. We didn’t turn up tonight. They turned up, they played some great football. We didn’t really. At times Barcelona can make you look silly because they keep the ball so well. At times we maybe chased it and didn’t keep our shape as we should have.”
Edwin van der Sar: “Rome doesn’t bring me luck. We started well then after the first goal we suffered and we didn’t play at the level we are used to.”
Lionel Messi: “This is the most important win of my life. I am the happiest man alive and I am happy for myself, for my family and for my country.”
Thierry Henry: “I’ve been waiting so long to get this title and finally today. The last five minutes were the longest of my life. You never know what can happen – we were playing against best team in the world. It’s amazing. All year we played the same way, we wanted to play football. I don’t think we started well. We had to play better, then we passed the ball the way we can. It’s my daughter’s birthday today so it’s a double celebration.”
Andres Iniesta: “I am speechless, the Cup is so beautiful. It’s the perfect ending to a spectacular season.”
Samuel Eto’o: “What we have done is historic, this is fantastic. I’m not sure that my goal was crucial for us to win the Champions League but it was certainly important. The whole team played fantastic, from Xavi to Iniesta, who was coming back from injury. It’s been a great team effort from the start of the season.”
****Compiled from RTP, AFP, Reuters, PA Sport, Sky Sports and ITV****
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