Oliver Kay in Barcelona
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Cristiano Ronaldo fluffed his lines in one of the great theatres of world football last night but, after his team-mates held firm to earn a goalless draw with Barcelona in the Nou Camp, the forward promised to atone for his third-minute penalty miss by scoring the goal on Tuesday that would take Manchester United to the Champions League final in Moscow next month.
It seemed that Ronaldo’s early aberration would come at a heavy price as Barcelona produced some beautiful football but, with Frank Rijkaard’s team lacking the penetration to match their approach work, United survived with a clean sheet.
Barcelona can progress with a win or a scoring draw at Old Trafford in the second leg of the semi-final but Ronaldo is confident that, despite his loss of nerve, as he lifted his penalty and shot wide, United will be in the final against Chelsea or Liverpool in Moscow on May 21.
“I didn’t change my style,” Ronaldo said. “I have scored a few penalties on that side of the goal before. It is no problem. I will score at Old Trafford. It was a tough game. Barcelona played very well and kept the ball a lot but we defended well. I think we’re going to win. Barcelona had a lot of the ball but we created more chances and that makes me feel very confident.”
Sir Alex Ferguson, three times a losing semi-finalist with United in the competition, was more cautious, preferring to say that his team have a “good” chance. He refused to criticise Ronaldo for the miss, saying that the penalty, awarded when the forward’s header was blocked by the hands of Gabriel Milito, may have come too early in the game for United.
“I would have backed Cristiano to score,” the United manager said. “He was a bit unlucky and maybe it came too early for us. But it was a professional performance from us. They had a little spell after half-time where Samuel Eto’o had a good chance but, other than that, I don’t think they had many opportunities.”
Ferguson’s satisfaction was increased by the way that a makeshift United defence coped in the absence of Nemanja Vidic, who had a stomach infection that forced him to spend Tuesday evening in hospital.
Vidic was taken to the nearby Hospital de Bellvitge for assessment on Tuesday afternoon, shortly after speaking at the pre-match press conference, and although a spokesman for the hospital said that his condition was “not serious”, Ferguson said that he feared that the Serbia defender would not be well enough to play in the much-hyped Barclays Premier League title “decider” away to Chelsea at lunchtime on Saturday.
“Vidic had some very severe stomach pains on Tuesday afternoon and we felt that the hospital was the best place for him to go,” Ferguson said. “We know that it was an infection, but we don’t know what kind. The only thing he has eaten for 36 hours is some soup during the afternoon. I don’t think he will be ready for Saturday, but we will give him every chance to be.”
Vidic watched the game at the hotel in the city centre, where, in a change of routine for Ferguson’s team, they returned after the match last night rather than fly straight back to Manchester. Instead, they will fly to London this afternoon to prepare for their important encounter with Chelsea, whom they could yet meet in Moscow on May 21.
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I think we don't have it easy but we can beat Man U in Old Trafford and win this Champions League. However whatever it happens in Manchester as we saw last wednesday a great spectacle of european football in Nou Camp . This cannot be experimented by Real Madrid.
Visca el Barça for ever.
josep, barcelona, spain
United v Barcelona will be a completely different game. Although Barcelona had a lot of possesion they had no real clear cut chance. Similar to Arsenal, nice looking football but lacking a cutting edge. I can see Barcelona falling apart once United take the lead.
Al, Ealing , UK
a lot of you are way too critical on this forum. Maybe not a classic game last night, but still solid performances by 2 of Europe's best. First of all, when was the last time these 2 teams have met? Maybe you all prefer Man u beating up on Mediocre EPL teams week in and week out. cant wait 4 tues!
Poster, Blue Ash, USA
A dull performance but a great result. Better than losing 3-0 in Milan.
I think United will prove to be a far better, and more dynamic, side than Barcelona next Tuesday, and all last night's fancy passing will count for nothing.
Giordano Bennetti, Swindon,
Italian teams are not the only ones to defend all game! Finally Man utd has followed them in the catenaccio..
Maybe they'll win in this way.
Good luck red devils
Ferrouge, Cesena, Italy
I'm sorry for you, but Barcelona will be the Champion
VISCA EL BARÇA i VISCA CATALUNYA
C.P.G-MANRESA
CARLES, manresa,
Glad to see Ronaldo choke - he is arrogant & a really unpleasant child. Hopefully United make the final & Ronaldo has a 'shocker' & costs Utd the game!
Adrian, Hatfield, UK
Fantastic night, just what was needed. Thankfully, this turned into a training exercise - no passion, very little effort really. No drama, no injuries. We can't win the Champions League this week, but we can win the Premiership on Saturday.
Chelsea on Saturday, Barcelona can wait till next week.
STE, manchester,
long, you are a strange utd fan if you would rather have seen them lose......
ray (manc)
ray kay, manchester, uk
it was funny to see Utd playing "catenaccio" more than any other italian team this year....not just yesterday but against Roma too. And it works
raf, Milan,
Barcelona could not beat Man U even when they did not play well. There is no chance for Barcelona FC to reach Moscow via Manchester. Dream on
RP, Cleveland,
ronaldo proved last night that he is a very long way short of being the best player in the world. his proformance reminded you of a spoilt child stamping his foot and flapping his arms when things did not go his way. where as scoles played like a truly great player should
seamus , dublin, ireland
Lets give Utd some credit here. Agreed that they gave the ball away too much, agreed that they were done 2-1 on possession., But they still got a result. Vander Saar was never really troubled. The Utd defence played well -- and to defend is part of football.
Its still game on.
Ian, Dongguan, China
Ronaldo chickened out. As simple as that. Nothing to be ashamed of as long as you don't brag to be one of the best. A lot of players come to Camp Nou, see 100k people and get scared. However, I was expecting a lto more form him and ManU in general lines. Barcelona might end up in Moscow after all...
Raul, Barcelona, Spain
in 2007: Milan 3 - 0 Man. United. in 2006: Germany 0 - 2 Italy... (where was England in world cup, by the way?). please reflect upon some expressions. things change...
go Barcelona!
Antonio, Rome,
Sir Ferguson is excellent at making excuses whenever it comes to evaluating a his team's performance in CL. A year ago they gave a truly dreatful performance against Milan becouse of "a plague of injures" (and apparently it was the reason for not marking Kaka througout the whole game at San Siro).
Piotr, Wroclaw, Poland
Delighted to hear Eamon Dunphy on RTE television last night speak the truth about Ronaldo.Described him as a disgrace to the professional game with his diving, moaning, petulance, gesturing, blatant cheating and disgusting attitude towards his own and opposition players.So true and a waste of talent
Wayne, Dublin, Ireland
Fergie is getting old and english footbal is not getting better:a lot of spirit but no real class - no skill, no drible, no creativity. Ronaldo, please go to barcelona, im sure you wouldn't be left alone up front by a senil manager and a bunch of ordinary players
patrick, london,
As a Utd fan, I must say that Utd played a stupid "Italianized" football, or maybe it was just a scared outclassed team that clinging onto the defence with the hope of keeping clean sheet, which they did. I'd rather Utd lost by a goal rather than seeing such negative football.
Long , Oxford,
Liverpool's luck? Chelsea had a soft group, Olympiakos and Fenerbahce to get this far. 'Course they also had QPR, Huddersfield, Wigan and Barnsley in the FA Cup. Somebody up there likes them, whatever Grant says.
Johnny McIntyre, Rotherham, England