Rafael

United 'suffer' pain of defeat

Edwin van der Sar admitted that Manchester United FC were made to "suffer" at the hands of FC Barcelona as the goalkeeper reflected on failing to retain the UEFA Champions League trophy for the second time in his career.

Early blow
The 38-year-old was part of the AFC Ajax sides that defeated AC Milan in the 1995 final before losing out to Juventus at the last hurdle the following year. This time around Van der Sar felt his team failed to do enough to become the first team to win the tournament in successive seasons, following their triumph over Chelsea FC in Moscow last May. "We wanted to win and hold on to the trophy," he explained. "In the first ten minutes it looked like we could do that as we had some shots on target while they looked a little nervous. After they scored we stopped playing. They gained in confidence and we never really got hold of the ball in order to play our own game."

Missed chances
The United No1 was picking the ball out of his net after just ten minutes following Samuel Eto'o's near-post strike, while Lionel Messi's second-half header made the game safe for Barcelona's treble winners. "We had a couple of chances and didn't take them," Van der Sar added. "At the end we were chasing the game, but they kept the ball very well and made us suffer. [After the game] the manager told us to look at ourselves and not to complain about other things."

Lost control
Cristiano Ronaldo was quick to agree with his team-mate. "They played better than us and controlled the game," the 24-year-old said. "They created more opportunities and I think they deserved to win. We knew that making bad mistakes tonight would cost us and that proved to be the case. We started very well in the opening minutes but after that I didn't see much more of Manchester United."

No complaints from Rio

Rio Ferdinand says United were simply not good enough on the night as the Reds lost their European crown to a hugely impressive Barcelona side.

Goals from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi in each half secured a deserved victory for the Spaniards. Ferdinand was magnanimous in defeat, but remained hugely disappointed by United's uncharacteristic showing.

"We just didn’t play well as a collective team and we didn’t play well as individuals," he told MUTV. "If you don’t do that at times like this then you don’t deserve to win.

"We’ve got no qualms, we weren’t good enough, we didn’t play the way we can. If you do that in a final, you tend to get beat. You've got to give credit to Barcelona, they played well. We needed to play our best football and we just didn't produce it."

While defeat was hard to take, Ferdinand insists United are proud of the season's achievements and will learn from the experience in Rome.

“We were all aware we’d had a good season up to now and the last day of it would determine how our summer goes," he explained. "It’s a bit of a low point to finish it on but we’ve got strong characters in the squad and I’m sure we’ll be back next season."

Ronaldo: We didn't perform

Cristiano Ronaldo has echoed Sir Alex Ferguson’s opinion that the best team won in Rome on Wednesday night.

Ronaldo and his Reds team-mates were left to watch Barcelona lift the Champions League trophy after a game in which the Catalan side outplayed United for 80 minutes.

United – and Ronaldo, in particular – started the match brightly, but Samuel Eto’o pounced on 10 minutes to send Barcelona into the lead. That, Cristiano admits, was the moment the game turned.

“We started very well but after [the goal] I didn’t see any more of Manchester United," he told MUTV. "Barcelona played better than us, they controlled the game, created more opportunities and they deserved to win.

“You lose games because you make bad mistakes and this is what happened [on Wednesday]. We didn’t play well, we didn’t play compact. “

Despite the disappointment of losing in Rome, Ronaldo is confident United fans will see more European silverware at Old Trafford in the coming years.

“It’s really hard to retain this trophy but I still believe Manchester [United] has the chance to win more in the next [few] seasons.”