LONDON: Lionel Messi refused to take the credit for Barcelona’s 3-1 Champions League final win against Manchester United even though the Argentine maestro stole the show at Wembley with a sublime display.

Messi cemented his status as the best player of his generation with a fine goal to restore Barca’s lead in the second half and then played a key role in David Villa’s decisive third goal.

The 23-year-old was named man of the match as Barca celebrated their fourth European Cup and third in six years.

But the humble forward was keen to share the praise with his team-mates.

“To be the man of the match is the least important thing, because it was incredible how we played. We were very good in all areas,” he said.

“We’re very happy to lift another trophy. It was a difficult season but we showed who we are. We were the better team.”

Messi’s 12th goal of this season’s competition equalled Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Champions League record and team-mate Xavi added: “He is the number one, he makes the difference — he is just the best player in the world.”

There was an emotional moment for everyone connected with Barca when French international Eric Abidal was given the honour of lifting the European Cup two months after undergoing surgery to remove a liver tumour.

Abidal gave a superb display at left-back and fellow defender Daniel Alves said: “Even before all of this, we said our biggest victory, our most important trophy, was the recovery of Abi.

“We put on a spectacle for everyone who is passionate about football and who loves football. And I think that people who really like football will be very happy today because they have seen a great match.”

Brilliant Barca lift Champions title

London: Barcelona confirmed their place in the pantheon of football’s greatest sides here, outclassing Manchester United 3-1 at Wembley to claim their second Champions League crown in three years.

Goals from Pedro, Lionel Messi and David Villa secured a deserved victory for the Catalan magicians after England international Wayne Rooney had raised United’s hopes with a well-taken first-half equaliser.

The star of an electrifying team performance was Argentinian striker Messi, the 23-year-old maestro whose brilliant effort on 54 minutes saw him equal Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of 12 goals in a single Champions League campaign.

It also took Messi’s tally for the season to an astonishing 56 goals in 62 games for club and country, and propelled Barcelona towards their fourth victory in club football’s most prestigious competition.

“On the day they were a better team,” disappointed United defender Rio Ferdinand said afterward as Barcelona celebrated.

“I think they are a great side. They’ve got a way of playing they all know. Tonight maybe a couple of times we got caught. Give credit where credit’s due – they were the better team.”

United, lining up in an aggressive 4-4-2 formation, had harried Barcelona relentlessly in the early exchanges as they sought to prevent the Catalans from settling into their flowing passing rhythm.

It was not long before Barcelona found their feet and United were to spend much of the opening half an hour, and the match, firmly on the back foot.

A jinking run by Messi set alarm bells jangling in the Manchester United defence before the striker threaded a lovely pass to Pedro only for United skipper Nemanja Vidic to slide in with an important block.

But on 27 minutes, Barcelona’s relentless pressure finally reaped its reward. An exquisite pass from Xavi struck with the outside of the boot picked out Pedro and the winger coolly clipped his shot beyond van der Sar.

But crucially, United were able to find an equaliser within seven minutes. (AFP)

MILAN: Giro d’Italia organisers apologised to overall winner Alberto Contador after playing the wrong anthem for his victory celebrations on Sunday. Rather than the current Spanish national anthem, the organisers played one commissioned in 1928 by General Primo de Rivera. Contador had a similar experience when he won the 2009 Tour de France. The organisers had played the Danish anthem during his victory celebrations. (Reuters)

Wujiang (China): Triple jumper Mayookha Johny on Sunday became the first Indian woman to breach 14m mark while creating a new national record en-route to winning bronze in the third and final leg of the Asian Athletics Grand Prix here. Mayookha produced a big leap of 14.02m to finish third behind two Chinese Xie Limei (14.16m) and Li Yanmei (14.05m). She bettered Kerala state-mate M A Prajusha’s earlier national record of 13.72m set in the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi last year. Mayookha, who had a disappointing season last year after improving Anju Bobby George’s 2002 national record of 13.67m by just 1 cm at Patiala.

Guwahati: A fierce battle is on the card when 30-time winners Bengal take on underdogs Manipur in the final of the 65th Santosh Trophy at the Nehru Stadium here on Monday. Bengal under coaching of Sabbir Ali are looking for back to back win for the latest edition of the national football championship as they edged past Punjab 2-1 in last summit clash. Manipur, the winners of 2002-2003 edition at their home ground against Kerala, also set to look to make 100 per cent success in all final appearance on Monday after their last successful summit clash. Besides 30 times trophy win, Bengal took runner up trophy for 12 times, an enviable honour for any state in the country. An identical 1-0 win saw both the teams getting better of their opponents in the semifinals. Manipur left it late against Services only for Thoiba Singh to convert from the spot, Bengal proved to be good for Railways, who once again failed to live up to the expectations when it mattered.

By Sunil Gavaskar

The Chennai Super Kings did them selves a huge favour by winning the first qualifier. In doing so they gave themselves three crucial days of rest before they defend their crown against the winners of the match between the Royal Challengers and the Mumbai Indians. In the heat and humidity of the summer it is essential to have a team with well rested bodies than a team which has players who will be a bit sore after the previous day’s efforts.
Yes, the T20 format is a quickfire one but as someone hugely experienced like Jacques Kallis has stated that it is far easier on the body than the other formats. After all it is only a 20 overs match so even the running between the wickets or fielding will not be as tiring as say a 50 overs game.
As for the bowling it is a maximum of 4 overs and that too split in two or three spells, so while the pressure to perform and deliver is intense it is more so in the temperamental sense than the physical one.
The Chennai Super Kings have been in the knockouts of the tournament on all three occasions so far and have experienced both winning and losing so they will know what it entails and what pitfalls to avoid. They are also pretty much the same team over the years so not only do they know each other well and understand what their strengths and weaknesses are there is also an understanding of the reaction to pressure situations that confront a player.
The reason why the players react positively to a pressure point is simply because they have a skipper who is not going to fly off the handle if they fail.  Not only that but the skipper himself has walked out to combat a tense moment and has triumphed more often than not and that makes the Super Kings believe nothing is impossible. When a skipper leads by example then the others can follow blindly knowing they are not being asked to do anything that the skipper himself won’t do.
If there is any team that has been rewarded for showing faith in its players it is the Chennai Super Kings with the Mumbai Indians not too far behind. The players retained by the Super Kings have all delivered at crunch time and it is here that the sagacity of those that made the retention call that needs to be appreciated. In doing so they halved the budget to get the other 20 odd players in their squad but how well the team has responded to the faith and confidence shown in them.
The Mumbai Indians too have had good results from their retained players with Lasith Malinga once again getting the Purple Cap for the most wickets in the tournament. Harbhajan has come to the party with some daring batting and though Tendulkar has played a supporting role, his influence on the team has been vast. The only disappointment is Kieron Pollard who hasn’t quite hit the big ones but has been outstanding in the field.
It will be a sea of yellow at the MA Chidambaram stadium and it will take something really special to have another colour flying in the breeze on Saturday.

Guwahati: Having already won the trophy for 30 times, defending champions Bengal now stay on course for another title as they take on strong Railways in the second semi-final of the 65th Santosh Trophy here on Friday. Bengal, much alike the last edition, finished second in their quarter-final group, something which coach Sabbir Ali did not like but at the same time he believed in his boys capability to win the trophy. ”There are two ways of looking at it for sure. But in both cases, you ought to win the semis and the final. There’s no room for complacency,” Ali said. ”We have to play well and win the match. There is no other alternative. 

Monaco: Force India, desperately seeking points after drawing a blank in the last three races, will look to make the most of the qualifying session going into Sunday’s Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix held on the challenging street circuit in Monte Carlo. The 3.3 km Circuit de Monaco is considered one of the toughest on the calendar for overtaking manoeuvres with the presence of narrow streets and tight corners. The track also has the famous hairpin bend, the slowest corner with the drivers running at an average speed of 50 kmph, leading to the tunnel in which the car zips at 280 kmph. Force India would take confidence from their last year’s performance here. Both their drivers finished amongst the points. Adrian Sutil, who finished eighth, said the team aims to better the past show and a good finish in qualifying will be critical.  “Monaco has no margin for error,” said Sutil.(IANS)

Sydney: Former Australian Test spinner and coach of spin legend Shane Warne, Terry Jenner, has passed away at the age of 66. Jenner, known as the ‘Spin Doctor’, coached Warne throughout his illustrious career. A veteran of nine Tests, he was battling a long illness. His wife Ann announced the news on his blog. “Terry passed away peacefully today just a month and a half after the anniversary of his heart attack,” she was quoted as saying in Daily Telegraph. “He wanted to be at home with his family and we were able to share the last few days with him.” Former Test captain Allan Border said “the spin bowling fraternity has lost a brother”.(IANS)