Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was gracious in defeat as he admitted Barcelona were the better team and deserved to win the UEFA Champions League final.
Samuel Eto'o struck against the run of play after 10 minutes and thereafter Barca were by far the better side.
They sealed victory when Lionel Messi headed home midway through the second-half.
And Ferguson admits Barca deserved to dethrone United.
"I think the first goal was a killer, the first attack they had they scored and that was a bad start to the game for us," Ferguson told Sky Sports.
"We started brightly too, very confident but we got a little nervous after that of course and when they have a goal they can keep the ball all night and we just didn't have enough.
"We has some good half-chances in the second-half, and we perhaps should have done better - but in fairness we were beaten by a better team.
"We weren't at our best, but after the first goal it was hard for us."
Ferguson admitted that his side could not get at Barca as they had hoped.
"I brought on Carlos Tevez, I took the gamble with two through (the middle) - we needed somebody to drop in - they defended quite well and we could have got at their back four better than we did," he continued.
Despite losing, the Scottish tactician insisted his side can still learn a lot from the loss in the Eternal City.
"That is the best part of the game, in adversity you always move forward - we are still a good team and can move forward," he insisted.