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9th April 2019
07:05am BST

‘I always say that I consider the importance of the goal, more than for its beauty and so mine would be the first I scored in a Champions League final, with a header (against Manchester United in 2009), for the importance it had."United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was caught flat-footed by the header, teed up to perfection by Xavi. [caption id="attachment_198176" align="aligncenter" width="926"]
Credit: Uefa TV[/caption]
You can see United and Ireland defender John O'Shea going mad as Messi's header loops over van der Sar. The fact that the diminutive Argentine had been allowed ghost into the box and beat the United goalkeeper to a cross six yards out from goal irked O'Shea.
Such was Barcelona's quality, that night, there was n coming back for United.
*Updated from piece first published June 2016
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