Dejected United leave Rome in ruins | Night to remember for Barcelona | Ronaldo and Co lose their way | Debate: Did Ferguson get his tactics wrong? | How Barcelona rated | How United rated | How the action unfolded | Rooney: we lost to best team | Henry reaps reward with new friends | Simon Barnes | Patrick Barclay | Giles Smith | Tony Cascarino | Key moments | Graphic: errors cost United dear

2 minutes: Manchester United open brightly and win a free kick after Yaya Touré’s foul on Anderson. Víctor Valdés cannot hold Cristiano Ronaldo’s dipping 30-yard shot and Park Ji Sung follows up to try to guide in the loose ball. Out of nowhere, Gerard Piqué, the former United defender, hurls himself forward to deflect Park’s effort over the crossbar.

10 minutes: A catalogue of United errors as Barcelona take the lead. Anderson fails to cut out Andrés Iniesta’s run, Nemanja Vidic fails to tackle Samuel Eto’o and Edwin van der Sar fails to stop the striker’s prod at goal, which was no more than a half-struck toe-poke. Before the restart, Rio Ferdinand tries to rouse his crestfallen colleagues.

16 minutes: Ronaldo pushes the ball past Piqué and is blatantly obstructed by the centre back. The Portuguese had work to do, but would have had a clear run on Valdés. However, Massimo Busacca, the Swiss referee, is in a benevolent mood and only cautions Piqué. A man down, Barcelona would have had to be less adventurous in their approach.

49 minutes: Little had been seen of Thierry Henry, the former Arsenal striker, but he is afforded too much space on the left flank. The France forward cuts in and bamboozles Ferdinand before shaping to caress the ball into the net, in a throwback from his Highbury days — trying to score the perfect goal. But Van der Sar is able to smother the shot.

53 minutes: Barcelona’s pressure intensifies as Iniesta makes another of his raking runs deep into enemy territory and is brought down on the edge of the United area by Vidic. Xavi steps up to take the free kick. His shot narrowly misses the head of Vidic, standing to the left of the United wall, and thumps against Van der Sar’s left-hand post.

70 minutes: United’s brief rally comes to an end. Patrice Evra gives away the ball with the laziest of clearances, Xavi sends it back into the area and Messi scores with an uncontested yet sublimely controlled header. Van der Sar stands stock still, witnessing the moment that United’s dream of winning the quadruple expired.

Words by Russell Kempson