That season, both the Premier League and La Liga title races had gone down to the wire. In England, New Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester United, and Chelsea had all spent part of the campaign in contention. Manchester United and Chelsea gradually fell away during the closing rounds, unable to keep pace, while New Manchester United and Arsenal fought all the way to the final day before the Red Rebels finally claimed the championship.
Spain had been much the same. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Deportivo La Coruña, and Valencia had all remained in the race deep into the season. After strengthening the squad with several practical signings, Real Madrid's attack had improved steadily, and while their defence was still far from perfect, it looked considerably more composed than the previous year. Even so, they found themselves competing with Ronaldinho's Barcelona and Benítez's Valencia, and by the final weeks Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Valencia were still separated by only a single result.
The schedule complicated matters further. Barcelona were still involved in the UEFA Cup, while Real Madrid had a Champions League final to prepare for. The UEFA Cup final was scheduled for May 19, the Champions League final for May 26, while La Liga's final two rounds fell on May 16 and May 23. New Manchester United, by contrast, had completed their Premier League season on May 15 and had no domestic fixture remaining before Gothenburg.
Barcelona still had Racing Santander and Real Zaragoza to play, one at home and one away, and neither was straightforward. Racing had beaten them 3-0 earlier in the season, and the return fixture proved almost as difficult. Puyol was sent off in the 67th minute, and Barcelona only escaped with a 1-0 victory thanks to a moment of brilliance from Ronaldinho near the end.
That match had taken something out of them. Although Rijkaard still selected most of his strongest players for the UEFA Cup final, several looked tired, and Ronaldinho in particular lacked his usual sharpness after deciding the Racing match only days earlier.
Mourinho knew Barcelona well from his years there. He had also studied a large number of their matches before the final, while Villas-Boas had been assigned to track several of their recent games in person. After putting everything together, Mourinho reached a simple conclusion.
New Manchester United would attack from the beginning.
This Barcelona side was not yet the possession-dominant team Ethan remembered from later years. Rijkaard currently relied on a more direct system built around three central midfielders and fast transitions. Edgar Davids had been one of the most important winter additions in Europe, not because he had suddenly become Barcelona's best player, but because he filled a glaring weakness in their midfield.
Before Davids arrived, Barcelona had relied on combinations involving Cocu, Motta, and Xavi. All three could contribute defensively, but none played the role quite like Davids. Asking Xavi in particular to spend most of his time chasing, tackling, and screening the defence wasted his best qualities.
Davids changed that balance. With him taking responsibility for ball-winning and midfield pressure, Xavi and Cocu gained more freedom, especially Xavi. That in turn allowed Ronaldinho to remain higher and closer to goal rather than constantly dropping deep to help organise attacks.
The effect had been immediate. Barcelona became harder to play through and more dangerous going forward. Ronaldinho, Saviola, and Hleb in particular had produced attacking football in the second half of the season that could stand alongside almost anything Real Madrid had offered.
That did not mean Barcelona were balanced. Their defence still had weaknesses, particularly in wide areas, and their attacking structure depended heavily on the connection between Xavi and the players ahead of him. If that connection could be broken, Barcelona's forward play became much less coherent.
Mourinho built his plan around exactly that.
The front four were given licence to attack aggressively, while the midfield and defensive line pushed high enough to compress Barcelona's space through the centre. The idea was to stop Rijkaard's side from establishing comfortable possession and force them to play under pressure in areas where mistakes would be expensive.
From the opening stages, the approach worked.
With Xavi struggling to dictate the game, Barcelona created very little through midfield. Ronaldinho still had the individual ability to manufacture danger from almost nothing, but his physical condition was not ideal, and New Manchester United constantly crowded him whenever he drifted either inside or towards the left.
Hleb was lively against his former club, but he found himself facing Evra, one of the defenders who knew his habits best. After a full season in the Premier League, Evra's defensive game had improved enormously. He was quicker to recognise danger, more disciplined positionally, and far more comfortable within Mourinho's collective defensive structure.
At the other end, New Manchester United caused Barcelona serious problems from the first half onward. Puyol and Márquez were both strong defenders, but neither particularly enjoyed repeated aerial battles against a striker like Drogba. Mourinho targeted that deliberately, allowing Drogba to attack Barcelona's centre-backs with his full physical power.
Drogba had been exceptional in his first Premier League season, scoring eighteen league goals. Villa's overall tally was similar, but Drogba offered something different. His ability to occupy defenders, dominate the first contact, and create a platform for the players around him gave Mourinho an option Villa could not replicate.
Behind him, Palacio, Kaká, and Robben were constantly moving into whatever spaces Drogba opened.
Beckham's passing became crucial. Rather than trying to play repeatedly through the area patrolled by Davids, New Manchester United often bypassed him altogether with direct diagonal balls towards Drogba. From there, the attack could develop around the second ball.
The pattern was simple but brutally effective.
Barcelona were gradually pushed backwards. With the midfield compressed and little room to progress through the centre, Rijkaard's side began circulating the ball more frequently across their own defensive line. That only invited more pressure.
New Manchester United pressed aggressively in the attacking third.
Eventually, Márquez made the mistake Mourinho had been waiting for. His pass inside his own half was intercepted by Kaká, who immediately slipped a through ball into the space behind the defence.
Palacio exploded onto it.
He did not even need to stop the ball. One touch took him around the advancing Víctor Valdés, and the next rolled it into the empty net.
1-0.
New Manchester United had found the breakthrough, and once they had it, they continued attacking in exactly the same way. Barcelona endured several more dangerous moments and looked increasingly uncomfortable whenever the Red Rebels pressed high.
Rijkaard finally made his first major adjustment in the 60th minute, withdrawing Ronaldinho.
The Brazilian had not played disastrously, but New Manchester United had restricted him both wide and centrally, and his lack of freshness made it even harder for him to escape the pressure. Rijkaard replaced him with Motta, clearly hoping the extra midfielder would stabilise the centre and stop Barcelona from being overrun.
The problem was that New Manchester United's attacking structure was extremely fluid. Drogba remained the fixed reference point, but Palacio, Kaká, and Robben constantly exchanged positions around him. Even when Barcelona added another defensive midfielder, the movement in front of them remained difficult to track.
Ethan could see how far Barcelona still were from the side he remembered from later years. Davids was not Busquets, Cocu was not Iniesta, and Xavi had not yet become the controlling midfielder who would eventually dominate matches through rhythm and positioning. Barcelona also had not developed the deeper circulation and coordinated pressing that would later define them.
At this stage, too much still depended on Xavi receiving the ball cleanly.
In the 76th minute, Beckham stepped in and dispossessed him before immediately playing forward to Drogba. Kaká saw the opening and accelerated into the gap between Puyol and Márquez.
Drogba's return pass arrived perfectly.
Kaká took it in stride and surged towards goal, the ball almost glued to his feet despite the speed of the run. Van Bronckhorst tried desperately to recover, but once Kaká reached full pace, he could not catch him.
Near the penalty spot, Kaká drove a low finish beyond Valdés.
2-0.
The travelling supporters erupted.
New Manchester United were not merely leading Barcelona. They were controlling them.
Ronaldinho had been contained. Saviola spent much of the match caught by the offside trap or isolated between the centre-backs. Hleb worked relentlessly against his former club and clearly wanted to prove a point, but New Manchester United knew his game too well and gave him very little freedom.
That did not erase the excellent season Hleb had enjoyed in Spain. He had established himself ahead of Overmars and become one of Barcelona's more consistent performers. On this night, however, familiarity worked against him.
The New Manchester United supporters filled Ullevi with the club anthem as Mourinho's side continued to dictate the pace.
"This reminds me of the UEFA Super Cup at the start of the season," Andy Gray said. "Back then, New Manchester United were in Barcelona's position tonight. AC Milan controlled them, moved them around, and made them look inexperienced."
He paused as Beckham switched play once again.
"But look at them now. Over the course of this season they've beaten Milan over two legs, and tonight they're doing this to Barcelona. The improvement has been extraordinary."
At the beginning of the campaign, some had questioned whether replacing Juninho with Beckham had been driven as much by commercial ambition as football. After an entire season, those doubts had largely disappeared.
Beckham had become one of New Manchester United's most consistent and influential players. From his deeper midfield role, he dictated tempo, switched attacks, defended intelligently, and gave the entire side structure.
"This is a team still improving at a frightening rate," Gray continued. "If this is what they look like now, imagine what another year together could produce. They've become one of the biggest stories in European football."
The final continued in the same pattern. New Manchester United controlled the rhythm, won the important individual battles, and gradually turned those small advantages into control of the entire match.
Rijkaard eventually introduced Iniesta, but even that failed to change the momentum.
When Pierluigi Collina finally blew the whistle, the New Manchester United players and supporters erupted.
Barcelona 0-2 New Manchester United.
The Red Rebels had successfully defended the UEFA Cup.
Collina had his own reason to remember the night. He had already officiated at the highest level across the world, and this final added another major European showpiece to an extraordinary refereeing career. Unlike the controversial decisions that could define some finals, his performance in Gothenburg was widely regarded as calm and authoritative, with no major errors.
After the whistle, Beckham embraced him briefly before turning towards his teammates.
New Manchester United had done it again.
Premier League champions.
UEFA Cup winners.
Their second trophy of the season.
(To be continued.)