Red Rebels: The New Manchester United

When the Champions League draw was first made, New Manchester United against Barcelona had been billed as a meeting of European heavyweights.

Two of the continent's most exciting sides.

The Premier League against La Liga.

Mourinho against Rijkaard.

Beckham against Ronaldinho.

A tie worthy of the latter stages rather than the round of 16.

A great deal had changed in the month since.

New Manchester United had fallen eight points behind Chelsea in the Premier League and slipped to fourth. Their famous unbeaten league run had ended at sixty matches, and although that remained an extraordinary achievement, football had a short memory.

Recent form mattered more.

The 5-2 comeback against Chelsea had been spectacular.

The 4-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion had suggested that the Red Rebels were finding their rhythm again.

But Barcelona were not West Brom.

And the Camp Nou was not Manchester.

Barcelona were top of La Liga, unbeaten at home and playing with enormous confidence.

The bookmakers reflected that.

Before kick-off, Barcelona were clear favourites.

Injuries had also weakened New Manchester United.

Robben's season was already over.

Beckham's problem was less serious, but even after travelling to Spain there remained considerable doubt over whether he would be fit enough to play.

Messi had performed impressively on the right in Robben's absence, but he was still only seventeen.

Barcelona, meanwhile, arrived at the tie close to full strength.

Víctor Valdés had grown increasingly reliable in goal.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Rafael Márquez, Carles Puyol and Juliano Belletti formed a settled defence.

But it was the midfield and attack that attracted the most attention.

Demetrio Albertini, signed during the winter, would sit deepest in midfield.

Xavi and Andrés Iniesta played ahead of him.

Ronaldinho, Hleb and Samuel Eto'o formed the front three.

Rijkaard had effectively named his strongest available side.

Barcelona's intention was obvious.

Use the Camp Nou.

Control the first leg.

Build a lead large enough to make the return in Manchester irrelevant.

New Manchester United's expected line-up had seemed equally straightforward.

Čech in goal.

Evra on the left of defence.

Terry and Curtis in the middle.

Many expected Kolo Touré at right-back, primarily because his defensive qualities appeared useful against Ronaldinho.

Beckham and Essien were expected in midfield, provided Beckham passed his final fitness checks.

If he did not, Fàbregas seemed the obvious replacement.

The young Spaniard had developed enormously over the previous two seasons. His passing and ability to organise from deep had become increasingly important, and together with Michael Johnson and Mikel he was viewed as part of New Manchester United's next generation of midfield leaders.

The attack seemed even easier to predict.

Drogba through the middle.

Kaká behind him.

Ronaldo on the left.

Messi on the right.

The only real question appeared to be Beckham.

Mourinho encouraged that belief.

For days he repeatedly told reporters that Beckham had not recovered sufficiently and was unlikely to feature.

Then New Manchester United arrived in Barcelona.

Beckham trained.

Not separately.

Not on a bicycle beside the pitch.

With the team.

He moved freely enough, completed the majority of the session and looked far closer to full fitness than Mourinho's comments had suggested.

The Spanish press immediately accused Mourinho of gamesmanship.

Then the training session appeared to confirm another possibility.

Fàbregas repeatedly worked with the presumed first team.

Mourinho stopped drills to correct his positioning, gave him detailed instructions about the tempo of his distribution and applauded several of his passes.

The interpretation seemed obvious.

If Beckham was fit, Beckham would start.

If he was not, Fàbregas would replace him.

Mourinho appeared to be preparing both plans.

Then the official team sheet arrived.

And almost everyone was wrong.

Čech started in goal.

Evra was at left-back.

Terry partnered Curtis in central defence.

Maicon started on the right.

In midfield there was no Beckham.

There was no Fàbregas either.

Mourinho selected De Rossi alongside Essien.

Kaká played ahead of them, with Ronaldo and Messi on the flanks and Drogba at centre-forward.

Fàbregas had not merely been left out of the starting eleven.

He was not even on the bench.

Michael Johnson was.

The substitutes were Almunia, Lahm, Vidić, Michael Johnson, Ribéry, Agüero and Villa.

Mourinho had spent several days constructing an elaborate decoy.

"De Rossi and Essien together," the commentator observed as the players emerged. "That tells you something about Mourinho's approach tonight."

"They're both powerful, aggressive midfielders who can cover enormous amounts of ground. At the Camp Nou, against this Barcelona midfield, you can understand why he's prioritised security."

No visiting side had won there all season.

Barcelona believed the first leg was their opportunity to decide the tie.

The referee blew his whistle.

Barcelona kicked off.

And immediately attacked.

There was no cautious opening period.

Both teams pressed aggressively from the first minute.

Barcelona's football was built around possession.

Iniesta's development had given them another technically exceptional midfielder alongside Xavi, and the understanding between the two had become one of the team's greatest strengths.

Normally, Rijkaard could protect them with players such as Márquez or Motta.

With Edmílson injured and Márquez required in central defence, Albertini occupied the holding role instead.

But Barcelona's pressing began much further forward.

Ronaldinho worked.

Eto'o worked.

Hleb worked.

The front three attacked possession as soon as New Manchester United attempted to play out.

In the second minute, it nearly produced a goal.

Eto'o pressed Kaká from behind and stole the ball in midfield.

Barcelona immediately shifted it towards the left.

Ronaldinho collected, drove inside and attacked Maicon directly.

One feint sent the Brazilian full-back the wrong way.

Ronaldinho opened his body and struck a low right-footed shot across goal.

Just wide.

The Camp Nou erupted in applause.

No goal.

But the warning was clear.

Barcelona were playing quickly and confidently.

The next attack came almost immediately.

Then another.

New Manchester United were being forced backwards.

"Kaká's lost it again!"

Xavi took possession from the Brazilian in the centre and moved the ball quickly into Eto'o.

The striker turned and drove directly towards the penalty area.

Terry stepped across and cleared before Eto'o could shoot.

The home crowd roared again.

New Manchester United's supporters could only watch nervously.

Terry immediately gestured towards Essien and De Rossi.

Stay closer.

Protect the space in front.

Barcelona had identified the problem.

In the opening five minutes, Kaká lost possession three times.

Albertini won it once.

Eto'o once.

Xavi once.

Every turnover led to danger.

"It is unusual," the commentator said. "Kaká is clearly being targeted, but New Manchester United are still trying to build through him."

"At the moment, Barcelona are surrounding him before he can turn."

Mourinho stood motionless near the edge of his technical area.

He watched.

Processed.

Then stepped forward.

He pointed towards De Rossi.

Higher.

The Italian immediately understood.

They had worked on the variation in training.

De Rossi advanced several yards, almost becoming a protective midfielder behind Kaká.

Essien stayed deeper.

The idea was simple.

If Kaká received and lost possession, De Rossi would be close enough to attack the turnover immediately.

Essien would remain behind as the final screen.

The change worked.

Kaká still came under pressure.

He still lost the occasional duel.

But Barcelona no longer had an unobstructed route into space whenever possession changed hands.

De Rossi arrived sooner.

Essien covered behind him.

The dangerous counterattacks began disappearing.

That allowed Kaká to move further forward.

As he advanced, Drogba, Ronaldo and Messi were able to remain closer to Barcelona's back four.

The effect on the press was immediate.

Drogba harassed Márquez and Puyol.

Ronaldo and Messi closed the full-backs.

Kaká hunted Albertini from behind.

Barcelona still controlled possession, but moving the ball forward was becoming more difficult.

Even so, the home side remained dangerous.

In the 15th minute, Xavi advanced through midfield and exchanged possession with Iniesta.

Then he lifted a pass over New Manchester United's defensive line.

Eto'o exploded into the space.

For a moment, he appeared clear.

Curtis recovered astonishingly quickly.

The young centre-back sprinted across, slid at full stretch and knocked the ball behind just as Eto'o entered the penalty area.

The striker went down.

The Camp Nou demanded a penalty.

Eto'o threw both arms into the air and stared at the referee in disbelief.

Corner.

Rijkaard immediately moved towards the fourth official and linesman.

The stadium filled with whistles and boos.

Then the replay appeared.

Curtis had got the ball first.

Perfectly.

"A magnificent tackle," the commentator said. "Absolutely vital, and absolutely clean."

The intensity remained high.

Barcelona attacked.

New Manchester United defended.

Then the Red Rebels tried to break.

Neither side had any interest in slowing the game down.

After twenty-five minutes, the statistics told a clear story.

Barcelona dominated possession.

New Manchester United had managed only two shots, neither particularly threatening.

Barcelona had created several much better opportunities.

Čech had already made one excellent intervention, racing from his line in the 21st minute to prevent Ronaldinho turning another through ball into a one-on-one.

The Red Rebels' defensive shape was holding.

Their attack was not.

Kaká remained the most obvious concern.

The Brazilian looked uncomfortable under the combined pressure of Albertini, Xavi and Iniesta.

By his standards, he was having a poor match.

Drogba had at least made his presence felt physically.

His pressing had already earned him a booking, but his work rate constantly occupied Barcelona's defenders.

Even when New Manchester United did not have the ball, Puyol and Márquez could never entirely ignore him.

Barcelona had prepared specifically for that problem.

They knew aerial defending was not the strongest part of their back line.

Neither Puyol nor Márquez wanted to spend the evening wrestling with Drogba underneath high balls.

Rijkaard had therefore made the Ivorian a priority in his defensive instructions.

Do not allow him to establish position.

Do not allow him clean headers.

Do not switch off when the ball moves wide.

That attention limited Drogba's opportunities.

During New Manchester United's few attacks, he was repeatedly forced to come short simply to touch the ball.

Something else was happening at the same time.

Slowly, almost unnoticed, Kaká was moving closer to him.

And whenever Drogba dropped towards midfield, Ronaldo and Messi did not follow.

They stayed high.

They remained near Barcelona's defensive line, waiting.

Waiting for what?

The answer came when Eto'o tried to carry the ball through midfield.

De Rossi stepped in first.

Essien helped him complete the challenge.

Possession broke towards Kaká.

Iniesta immediately closed him down.

Kaká played forward before the pressure arrived.

Drogba had dropped off the centre-backs.

He received with his back to goal.

Kaká continued his run.

One touch from Drogba returned the ball into his path.

Suddenly Kaká was free.

Iniesta had been left behind.

Albertini was wrong-footed.

Kaká did not stop the ball.

He accelerated.

Straight at Barcelona's back line.

Puyol and Márquez retreated.

They had to.

Kaká was travelling too quickly to confront recklessly.

He carried the ball forward another few yards.

Then saw the space.

A through ball split the right side of Barcelona's defence.

Messi had been waiting for exactly that moment.

The teenager burst beyond Van Bronckhorst, collected the pass inside the penalty area and looked up.

Valdés came rushing from his goal.

Messi was through.

One against one.

(To be continued.)