Ronaldo and Nani make Champions League final

Manchester United 1-0 Barcelona
(Man Utd win 1–0 on aggregate)

Manchester United booked their place in the Champions League final in Moscow after a Paul Scholes goal gave them a narrow win over Barcelona on a tense night at Old Trafford.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani, along with Portuguese assistant boss Carlos Queiroz, will partake in their first European Cup final next month, but it meant the end of this season’s campaign for Barca’s two-time winner Deco.

The match itself was enthralling, with a desperately out of form Barcelona settling well and once again controlling possession for large parts of the night. United, who handed Nani a start on the right flank, did have the better of the opportunities as they were roared on by the passionate home crowd.

The opening stages were ominous for United, with a mistake inside the first minute from Patrice Evra forcing Scholes to bring Messi down on the edge of the box, and Barca looked bright and positive in the opening ten minutes.

However, the hosts broke the deadlock somewhat out of the blue, with Scholes producing a moment of brilliance on 14 minutes. Gianluca Zambrotta’s poor clearance under pressure from Ronaldo fell at the feet of the little midfielder over twenty meters from goal and Scholes took a touch before hitting a sensational right-footed drive into the top corner.

Ronaldo brilliance

The goal marked the beginning of a good spell for United, during which they forced Barca back and created good chances to increase their lead, the best of which coming when some brilliant set-up play from Ronaldo saw the Portuguese find Park inside the area, but the winger shot wide.

Lionel Messi was proving Barca’s biggest threat, forcing a stop from Edwin van Der Sar after a weaving run, while Deco went close with two efforts from the edge of the box and Gabriel Milito headed wide as the La Liga side weathered the United storm and began to re-establish their rhythm in the build-up to half time.

United could have snatched a second shortly before the break, though, when Park created a good headed chance for Nani. The Korean sidestepped Zambrotta to deliver an inch-perfect cross for Nani, who had picked up a good position inside the area, but the former Sporting man did not get enough on his header and the ball flew narrowly wide of Valdes’ post.

The second half began ominously for United, with Barca again settling well and quickly resuming their precise and incisive passing game. However, after a worrisome five minutes, the Red Devils managed to resume some good pressure on the Barca defence, with Ronaldo’s driven low cross seeing Nani beaten to the ball by Eric Abidal from close-range.

Although Barcelona were once again enjoying the better of the possession, the English side continued to look the more dangerous side and created the better opportunities. Ronaldo, who has drawn much praise for the more mature and subtle nature of his contribution, partook in an excellent one-two with Carlos Tevez, who drew a save from Valdes with a fierce left-footed shot.

Nani escape

Barca offered a mild threat as the match headed towards the closing stages, but were largely reduced to long-range efforts from Yaya Toure and Deco, while Ronaldo was issued a hugely unjust booking after a tangle with Zambrotta. Meanwhile, Nani escaped a booking that would have seen him ruled out of the final, and was substituted along with Scholes.

Barca threw on a trio of forwards, Thierry Henry, Bojan Krkic and Eidur Gudjohnsen, but United ultimately held Los Cules at bay and now await tonight’s other semi-final between Chelsea and Liverpool to determine the other participant in the first ever all-English European Cup final.

Goals:
[1-0] Scholes, 14