Manchester United defenders Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand admitted that Barcelona were the better side in the UEFA Champions League final.
Wayne Rooney's strike cancelled out Pedro's opener and left it level at the break, but the Catalan side had dominated much of the first half and did so again in the second, as stunning strikes from Lionel Messi and David Villa ensured a 3-1 win.
"They played very well," United captain Vidic told Sky Sports. "They had more chances than we did and we have to say they were better than us.
"I think if you look at it we have never played a team in the past like Barcelona. They played good football and deserved to win.
"We tried to press high and in some parts of the game we did well, (but) in the goals we lost, we didn't do what we had to do to close their players down."
Rio Ferdinand's opinion of the game closely matched that of his central defensive partner, although he felt that Man United performed better than they did in falling to a 2-0 defeat to Barcelona in Rome two years ago.
"We gave it a better shot this time than last time - we had a couple of opportunities," he told Sky Sports.
"We got back in it at 1-1 and thought we could come back and win but it wasn't to be. We have to give them credit.
"A couple of the goals were preventable but you have to give credit where it's due. They've got a system they work to and did it well.
"We had a game plan we thought could beat them, but wasn't to be."