A victory for sheer class of Catalans

DO BELIEVE the hype. Barcelona did not merely justify their pre-match billing but set a standard that should see them rated by the history books as one of the truly great sides of European football.

Anyone not ready to sing the praises of Pep Guardiola’s side must have been wearing Real Madrid white for even the Manchester United faithful in Rome in such numbers had to applaud the sheer quality of Barca’s play.

The prevailing wisdom before kick-off was that Barcelona’s makeshift defence would be found wanting yet after a nervous opening few minutes Gerard Pique and Yaya Toure were barely flustered by United’s much-vaunted attack.