Messi nips in after Evra’s loose pass and is fouled right on the edge of the box by a Scholes-style lunge, earning Barcelona a dangerous early free kick on the right.

From the resulting free kick, Messi blasts his effort into the wall, with Scholes coming close to conceding a penalty with his challenge.

Barcelona break at pace with Messi carrying the ball to the edge of United’s area before Ferdinand steps in, and Hargreaves’ sliding tackle on Iniesta ends the move amid a roar from Old Trafford.

A flowing Barcelona move ends with Xavi lofting a ball toward Eto’o, but his layoff is too far ahead of Messi for him to latch onto it.

Messi embarks on another dribble and curls a dipping shot toward the bottom corner, but Van der Sar produces a strong palm to turn it away.

Messi links with Deco in a tidy move as Deco tries to slip a pass inside Wes Brown, but Van der Sar is out quickly to smother the danger.

Barcelona’s attacks are funneled almost exclusively through Messi, who repeatedly cuts in from the right flank while the right side otherwise offers little threat.

Touré wins the ball and releases Iniesta, whose slightly overhit pass means Messi would have been through on goal but just misses out, wasting a promising onside chance.

Messi looks fluid with the ball but his fitness seems short; he doesn’t make the full sprint that might have turned Deco’s awkward volley into a dangerous ball.

Messi sends in a cross from the right that Evra blocks, snuffing out a potential opening in the United box.

Deco loops a ball into the area looking for Messi, but Ferdinand clears decisively as United refuse to allow Barcelona’s flicks and tricks to open them up.

Messi lofts a cross toward Eto’o, who shapes for an overhead kick, but Ferdinand gets his head to it first to clear the danger.

Immediately afterward, Messi again looks for Eto’o, forcing Ferdinand into a sliced clearance that gives Barcelona a corner which comes to nothing.

Messi races at United’s centre-backs and reaches the edge of the box before slicing a shot well wide, to the delight of most of Old Trafford.

Carrick is booked for hauling down Messi in full flow, stopping a dangerous run and conceding a free kick 40 yards from goal.

Messi weaves past two defenders yet again but Eto’o, with his back to goal, fails to control the pass that could have opened up United.

Barcelona’s entire attacking plan funnels through Messi, repeatedly giving him the ball and hoping he can beat a crowd of defenders to find a way to score.

Nani does well to close Messi down after Ronaldo loses possession, winning the ball back while Ronaldo vents his frustration instead of chasing.

Messi produces more wizardry to create a pocket of space and then threads a precise slide-rule pass toward Xavi, who only just fails to collect near the penalty area.

Brown endures a heart-in-mouth tangle with Messi in the box, where it could have been a foul or even handball as he went to ground, before Nani finally hacks the ball clear.

Deep in stoppage time, Messi slips a pass to Gudjohnsen, who fashions a sliver of space in the area but sees his shot blocked by Brown in a dramatic late scare for United.