Paul Scholes on Barcelona When they were at their best, playing against Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona could be a soul-destroying experience, and I should know: I played in two Champions League finals against them and lost both times. It was not only the fact that we lost a European Cup final, although that still hurts, it was also that at times you did not feel you were in a position to do the things that came naturally as a Manchester United footballer. By that I mean having plenty of the possession, setting the tempo and controlling the match. When you played Barcelona, they did all that themselves. I watch Barça as much as I can on television, and this was just a snapshot of their season so far, but for much of the game I felt they were a ghost of the side they had once been. They still pass the ball relentlessly, but that old drive and tempo are not nearly as urgent. The breathtaking speed and penetration have gone. They won the game in injury time but even in those final stages they hardly created chances. -Abbas
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 09:43:48 +0000