Newspaper headlines and reaction reaction to Barcelona's 2-0 victory over Manchester United in the Champions League final in Rome on Wednesday.
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ENGLAND
The Times
UNITED LEAVE ROME IN RUINS
"They were outclassed by an outstanding Barcelona team -- a group of players who showed what grace, elegance and class of the highest order still exist far beyond the Elysian fields of the Barclays Premier League." - Oliver Kay
The Daily Mail
HUMBLED
"Manchester United's dream of a second successive Champions League triumph was shattered by the genius of Lionel Messi."
"United were passed to death by the seductive brilliance of Barcelona." - Martin Samuel
The Independent
BEAUTIFUL BARCA STRIP THE FALLEN OF THEIR CROWN
"To call Barcelona the champions of Europe this morning is to give them their lesser title. The one they demand, unquestionably, is champions of football." - James Lawton
Daily Telegraph
BARCELONA FLATTEN UNITED'S EMPIRE
"Messi, so small of frame yet so immense a talent, industrious as well as inventive, ended the debate over who was the best player on the planet." - Henry Winter.
REALITY CHECK TOUGH TO ACCEPT
"Barcelona's geometric wizardry was a ligature that squeezed the life out of United's challenge." - Kevin Garside
The Guardian
AS GLADIATORS CLASH, MESSI IS THE CHAMPION
"The clash of the world's two best teams and the two most gifted footballers on the globe ended with Manchester United losing a European Cup final for the first time in four appearances and Barcelona's Lionel Messi asserting his domination over the Premier League's Cristiano Ronaldo."
Daily Mirror
"Manchester United were on the wrong end of one of the most one-sided Champions League finals there has ever been last night. They marched into the Stadio Olimpico with dreams of becoming the first team to retain the trophy but they were sent away with a flea in their ear for their impudence."
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SPAIN
El Periodico
TOUCHING HEAVEN
"This resounding victory is a message to those who only believe in results and winning. Barca have imposed a style of play that has earned millions of eulogies from every corner of the world.
"The most widely-broadcasted text message of 2009 has now been sent, in large, golden letters: It is possible to win playing well and putting on a spectacle. Copy this model. Be daring." - Johan Cruyff column
Marca
THIS TEAM IS A WORK OF ART
"Barca were brave in the face of adversity and stayed true to their convictions. To the exceptional merit of the players needs to be added the mark of their coach. Guardiola has overtaken the legendary Cruyff to become the principle reference in the history of Barcelona." - Santiago Segurola.
AS
"There is no antidote to Barcelona's football. A treble, exquisite play, youth-team players, Guardiola... Perfection. Well yes, it turns out perfection does exist." - Alfredo Relano
Mundo Deportivo
"Pep knew he had to convert this team into a historical one. Before the start of the game he showed the players a video with examples of each one's best moves, interspersed with images of gladiators. Yesterday the best players in the world were artists when they had to be, and gladiators when required." - Santi Nolla
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ITALY
Gazetta
STUPENDOUS BARCA
"The King Juan Carlos was in the stands, the queen Barcelona was on the pitch. Come the final whistle, they all celebrated a third, deserved, 'Blaugrana' Champions League, after sinking ex-champions Manchester United.
"A true final and a true lesson from the debutante Guardiola, who celebrates his third title after the league and King's Cup."
PORT
HARCOURT, Nigeria - A Manchester United fan in Nigeria killed four
people when he drove his minibus into a crowd of Barcelona supporters
after his team lost the Champions League final, police said on Thursday.
The crowd in the town of Ogbo were celebrating Barcelona's victory
after Wednesday night's match when the bus drove into them. A police
spokeswoman said 10 people were injured and the driver was arrested.
"The driver had passed the crowd then made a U-turn and ran into them," she said.
Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0 in what was hailed as a "dream
final" between two of Europe's best clubs. Both teams have large fan
bases in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation.
Earlier this month in Nairobi, an Arsenal fan in football-mad Kenya hanged himself wearing his beloved team's shirt after their defeat to Manchester United in the Champions League semi-finals.
u bitch
knn this moron still alive , we thought this moron already hanged himself at Shankly's Gate yesterday .... Talk only No actions .
Anyway , this moron . it is a pussy anyway .
It will be dead and buried one day .