Humbling Leaves Sir Alex Ferguson Pining for Missing Darren Fletcher

From Sir Alex Ferguson there were no excuses. He did not attempt to blame the pitch or the referee or the suffocating heat inside the Stadio Olimpico and he was generous in his praise for Manchester United's opponents and their outstanding manager, Pep Guardiola. Yet, as Ferguson started the painful task of analyzing where his team had gone wrong, he could not help but turn his mind back to the semi‑final and the red card that had ruled out Darren Fletcher.

Whether the outcome would have been any different had Fletcher played, Ferguson was not willing to speculate after a night in which his players, by his own admission, had been outclassed. Yet it was clearly weighing on his mind that Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta might not have been able to dictate the pattern of the game with such devastating success if United's most tenacious midfielder had not been suspended.

"I thought before the game it may have been a problem," the United manager admitted. "I knew it might count against us because he [Fletcher] is a big-game player. And he was a big loss for us. It's ­difficult to say how big, and they [Barcelona] had players missing too, but it showed itself for us tonight."

Anderson, Fletcher's replacement, was so ineffective he was substituted at half-time whereas United's other central midfielders, Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick, were both culpable of unusual carelessness.

"The simple reason [we lost] was possession," Ferguson volunteered. "We didn't do anything with it. We recognised beforehand that the strength of Barcelona was their three central midfield players and that's why I used Giggs, who could play towards the front but also drop into midfield, but their possession of the ball hurt us. It wasn't really Messi who was the problem. It was Iniesta and Xavi. They can keep the ball all night long."

Ferguson's magnanimity did not end there. "You have to give credit to a very good Barcelona team," he said. "If they get in front of you they are very difficult to beat. They kept possession of the ball and made it very difficult to get back. When we did get possession we didn't do well with it. Credit to them, the better team won."

On Guardiola, who has won a league title, domestic cup and Champions League treble, he added: "It is a great achievement as a coach in his first year. Well done. ­ Fantastic. Everybody enjoys their football and it is great credit to him."

Rio Ferdinand would later talk of "two soft goals" and said the blame should be shared equally – "not one of us can say we played well tonight," he said — and it was notable that, when Guardiola spoke of United's better spells of possession, he mentioned it was "between [Nemanja] Vidic and Ferdinand and Michael Carrick" rather than their attacking players.

"It's just a shame we didn't play well," said Ferdinand. "We still created five or six chances but they were the better team. You have to give credit to Barcelona. They played well. On a night like this you need to play your best football and we didn't produce it – all over the park, individually and collectively."

Giggs agreed with his manager: "At times Barcelona can make you look silly because they keep the ball so well. We maybe chased it and didn't keep our shape as well as we should have. We still created chances. But we said whoever turned up on the night would win and that has proved to be the case. They turned up and played some great football — we didn't. I think if we had gone a goal ahead, we're capable of keeping the ball like they did. But credit to them, they deserved it tonight."

United's players seemed to be determined to go down with their dignity intact after a night that Cristiano Ronaldo described as "one of the biggest disappointments of my career". The winger added: "It is always bad when you lose a final but we didn't play well. We did OK in the first 10 minutes but you have to say Barcelona deserved to win."

Wayne Rooney used words such as "brilliant" and "amazing" to describe Guardiola's team, adding: "I think Iniesta is the best player in the world right now. They pass the ball so well. If you don't take your chances against them, they will punish you. We're hurting right now but we just have to make sure we get back to another final and play better.

"It is a big disappointment but Barcelona were the better team. Barcelona scored two good goals and unfortunately for us, they came at good times. That made it very difficult for us. It is very disappointing and the feeling at the moment is not a good one."

It was only when Ferguson was asked whether, at the age of 67, he still had the desire to come back for more trophies that his emotions came to the surface. "I don't understand that question on a night like this," he snapped. "I don't like that stupid bloody question."