Ferdinand was desperate to enter the record books as a back-to-back European Cup winner but those dreams were quashed at the Stadio Olimpico as Barcelona registered a richly-deserved triumph.
So, instead of a bus parade around the city, United flew back to Manchester with a an acute sense of deflation.
For a side who has just completed a hat-trick of Premier League title successes, it seems a harsh way to end the campaign.
Yet such are the harsh realities of top level sport.
And, in any event, Ferdinand thinks United are strong enough to bounce back.
"If we had won it would have been an unbelievable end to the season but we knew if we lost we would be finishing on a low no matter what we had achieved before," he said.
"We were not silly enough to think the garden will always be rosy
"We are grown men. We can handle it. We just have to brush ourselves down and come back stronger."
Ferdinand is happy to postpone the debrief that must follow as Sir Alex Ferguson works out why United were so badly outplayed.
Argument
Poor tactics are being blamed in some quarters, although the argument is difficult to fathom given United set up in exactly the same way as when they defeated FC Porto and Arsenal earlier in the competition.
Ferdinand has no in-depth answers to add. However, his gut feeling was that too many players made too many errors at the wrong time against talented opponents well capable of taking advantage.
"To play a team like Barcelona you need your A game. We didn't have it," he said.
"We did well in those first 10 minutes. If we had scored then it might have been a different game.
"But we gave away two soft goals at crucial points in the game and didn't put away the chances we had.
"In a Champions League final, if you do not play well, either as individuals or a collective unit, you do not deserve to win."
Ferdinand accepted it was scant consolation for the 30,000 United fans who bellowed their backing to their team and magnanimously applauded Barcelona at the end.
At train stations and airports around the Italian capital, fans were coming to terms with the truth of their side being distinctly second best.
But Ferdinand is confident when the new campaign begins again in August, the Red Devils will be fully motivated and ready for battle.
"The belief is still there," he said.
"We have come a long way in these last few years.
"You do not lose all that by getting beaten in one match.
"We need strength of character now but we have it in abundance."
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Roy, how can you say Frazier Campbell is going to be worth keeping- he can't even make the spurs first 11. Carrick- 5TH CHOICE FOR ENGLAND! He really was found out last night. Utter rubbish! he was just found wanting in no mans land while xavi and iniesta completely run the show. His hoofing the ball upfield was completely ineffectual. Park- well what can I say about him. He's sold enough shirts now so move him on. Can you really imagine him getting in Arsenal, dippers or chelsea's first team?? I think Pennant is a better player- that's how bad park is. Giggs should hang up his boots now along with scholes and nev. They have been fantastic servants, but times up.
Fergie got his tactics and team selection totally wrong. To leave 2 of his 3 centre fwds on the bench and play the remaining one as a left winger is bizarre to say the least. Maybe it was a touch of tactical brilliance from Micky Phelan.
T&C- You come out with some ridiculous comments at times. How can you say fans who are critical of that pathetic performance aren't real fans and know nothing about football??!! I'd say a fan who can't be critical of such an inept, poor poor performance is a fan who is either blinkered and ignorant, or one who themselves knows very little about football
Blimey Redarmy, get your retaliation in first! ;-)
Hey Rio, how about you look in the mirror and ask that person you see in there how in the hell the smallest player on the field at 5' 7" tall was able to go up and beat you and O'Shea to score the second goal. You never even jumped for it!!
chris, oxford, he's posted it on every thread. He's posted it on other forums too. I even saw posters up in the City Centre slagging me off. He's really go a bee in his bonnet, but little else! Quite funny though.
Im gonna try and be as balanced as i can be with this one but here goes. I think united have some top quality players Rooney, Ronaldo, Vidic & Ferdinand. Then they have players who when they are on top of their game are v.good players Evra, Tevez, Berbatov, Carrick? But they also have players who are passed it Giggs, Scholes, VDS, Neville. Players who in an ordinary team would look rubbish; Fletcher, Anderson, O'shea, Nani. The point is you guys rely on a relatively small number of players to perform week in week out, if they dont you are in trouble and those that go OT regularly know that this season there have been times when you have been poor but been rescued by brilliance by an individual. Also the press are so psychophantic towards you that I believe there is an element of believing your own press with SAF. Last night should be a wake up call, you have still had a great season but the warning signs are there. Laugh if you like but City will be closing you down over the next 3 or 4 years, Chelski will invest more, dippers are ever improving (and thats a fact) Spuds, everton, Arse all teams that more frequently might start taking points off you. In summary serious investment is needed all the warning signs are there.
Only way to bounce back is to start strengthening that mid-field. It was shockingly bad last night and ultimately cost us the game.
Hate to say it but we need an Essian or Gerrard as we have never really replaced Keane. Time for Berbatov to move on; Tevez not at that price his greedy agent is asking for. Do United fans really want to break the transfer record for a player who could not even make the first eleven for the Champions League final? The money will be better spent on a top central mid fielder.
Love Giggs and Scholes to bits but age has caught up and I don’t think they should be starting against such good teams like Barce; they were out of their depth yesterday. Better to play them against the likes of Hull, Sunderland and City.
Maybe this loss is a blessing in disguise in that Fergie knows where to strengthen, but it does not feel like one at this present moment. Gutted and utterly dejected.
Of coarse United will bounce back against Hull City and their calibre but when opposed by European teams reminscent of Barcelona, that is different. Ferguson looked into the mirror after the game and saw the face of Caliban.
The strength of character that Rio talks of was missing last night. We know the players have it - we've seen it in games that we've come from behind in and the run of games we went on after the Liverpool/Fulham dip. But there are plenty of strong characters in the team and they will remember the pain of this for the rest of their careers. That which doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.
Lets all hold on a minute. 48 hours ago we were World, European and English champions. We are still the World and English champions and holders of the Carling cup. If Fletcher and Hargreaves had been fit, we may of stood a chance of competing with Barca in mid field. There's still no better team in England.
That my dear red friends was how to play football was it not?
I must say I watched Barcelona thrash Real Madrid a couple of weeks ago in the same manor. Its not a one off for sure and I expect Sir Alex will have some serious concerns about half that team you put out last night. Granted they have played exceptionaly well in the said same positions all year when asked to do so, so what happened last night?. Simples as our furry friends would say..., Barcelona simply passed, controlled, moved the ball and chased United down in the manor that football should be played. Not only did they have 4 exceptionaly tallented footballers on the pitch in Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Henry, they worked hard as a team from back to front. Not one of them relied on their own indvidual ability to win the game, they relied on each other, supported each other, knew one another inside out, played fast and controlled football that simply pulled United apart, made them chase the ball and I think to a degree United were in awe of them and just could not get in the game after the first ten minutes. Even after half time when United gave it a go and started to get into their rythm, Barcelona kept at it in the way they only know how, United had no answer, Even Sir Alex's tacticle changes didn't help and even he bowed down graciously. To sum up, out classed and lots of questons to be answered as to why............., Its a measure of the heights, even of United's high levels of performance that everybody else must now aim for. Yes, each game is different, look how Chelski nearly did them, but if last night was played out again, would the outcome have been any different? I would say a big no and I think if you were all honest with yourselves, it wasn't that United played badly, it was that they were not allowed to play by a far better footballing side, a side that in my humble opinion is by far the best in the world and a pleasure to watch.
You just said it all, we set up exactly as we did against Porto and Arsenal. It shouldn't take a super tactician to come up with counter measures to stop us as we were so predictable. They watched our games, we didn't watch theirs.
we just did not play well and even in the fundamentals of passing the ball around that we are usually good at. then the usual rock of vidic and ferdinand played poorly and at the same time we did the one thing you cannot do against such talented players - give them time and space. the game cried out for fletcher and hargreaves particularly. we beat them tactically last year and pique aside it was the same players. barca is a team that is better than cruyff's team of the 90s. a better team than when they won with ronaldinho and they played as well as they can. that we played as well as when we played liverpool or fulham was not likely to result in victory was it? If you get it wrong against them they will punish you as Bayern found out in the QF and we did last night. If you get it right you can stop them as chelsea did but got stopped by one shot and a poor ref.
of course the doom-mongers will be out with the usual rants but we were one performance away from being lauded as the greatest united team ever so the world has not changed overnight. it is difficult to get to the CH L final as we all know. as chelsea and liverpool know as well and ultimately only one team will win. It will be difficult to do it again next season but ultimately we have lost ONE game in the tournament in 2 years and don't concede many. hardly the hallmark of a bad team is it? There are a lot of excellent sides in the tournament aside from just Barca who are all trying to improve so it gets harder - and we have to play 5 more games than barca as well. Still I would certainly not bet against us getting to the final again next season and three finals in a row has never been done either
Glad you got knocked out. Didnt hear you slagging Liverpool off as much last night. Wonder why?
Truth is you didnt deserve it anyway. You got the easiest draw in the last stages of the CL and side stepped the big clubs. You played a Barca team that was absolutely rocked in defence by suspension and injury and you you still got hammered.
Fergie has paid his debt to the Liverpool fans when he said he would open a bottle of wine(after you got beat by AC Milan 2007) only if AC Milan won the Cup.
Things like that always come back to bite you where it hurts. Rome has truely been a fantastic city for Liverpool FC.
Come on guys, lets be realistic. The timing of the first goal was perfect from Barca's point of view. Prior to that they looked nervous and there for the taking. Whoever scored first were going to control the game. They managed it against the run of play and were able to concentrate on keeping possession. The disappointment was that when we did get the ball we gave it away too easily. Not the Man United we are used to seeing. Barca were great and deserved the trophy. I thought Iniesta was fantastic and how I wished we could have him in our midfield. Really looking forward to next year. The team will have learned more from the defeat than they did from last years victory. We should now make it three finals in a row next year. Four consecutive Premier titles too.
Nice to see the sack Sir Alex, sell Giggs merchants are out. Just wondering how Messi out jumped Oshea who was no where near him lol. Messi found space and ball was played perfectly for him, Rio admitted it was his fault, not sure what it had to do with Oshea but as this season everything has been Oshea fault or Berba's I expect no less.
Personally looking forward to next season and the transfer window ;o)
United will come back stronger and better !
Guys you have to beleive u will be better than the rest !
oh how i laughed at manure gettin slapped senseless by barcelona, it'd probably happen more often if you didn't pay referee's in this country. if tevez signs for you then he will have cost nearly 35 million add that to berb 31 mil and rodney err i mean rooney 27 mil then you played for 25 minutes and had 1 shot on goal with your 94 million strike force, add also you had world player of the year there as well, and pfa player for a short while. fantastic. ps good post redarmy11, i might be biased but tell it how it is.
Course we'll bounce back - we always do ! Congrats to Barca they were miles better on the night.
Ermm..... Can anybody remind me what the "Bitters" have won this season ?
Just for the Record BIG teams that havent won a trophy this Season Liverpool ,Arsenal(unless you count FA Youth Cup) ,Real Madrid ,Bayern Munich ,Chelsea (may do Saturday)AC Milan ,Juventus ,and a MASSIVE team, Manchester City failures yet again!
Great teams that have won 3 Trophies Barcelona 3 ,and United 3.So lets get things in perspective
despite yesterdays disappointment the season for United hasnt exactly been a failure.No disgrace either to be beaten by a better team on the night
Si 4 kop ,another trophyless season I see ,couldnt even manage to get the FA youth cup as well .The graceless Rafa should prepare his rants again for next season ,and hope his two man team of Gerrard,and Torres remain injury free,or once again they will be in Uniteds slipstream.See also that ranting Rafa in his rage at another failed attempt at the unattainable Premiership ,has sacked a few of his backroom staff ,instead of taking the blame himself.Ah well 3 out of 5 aint bad re.silverware as far as United are concerned.
si 4 kop, Runcorn
Why would we be slagging off Liverpool?
Poor things, have they done anything recently to upset us? Oh yes, that's right, they won two 'cup finals'.
Forget what you read in the press, Barcelona played ok not great ok. The big disappointment was how flat we came out as a team. I cannot fathom how the team came out on what was the biggest game in the history of the club so flat. People scream about tactics and team selection but on the biggest night of their footballing lives they came out flat. The headlines in the press makes for good reading and if you are a Barcelona fan you have earned the right to talk trash because your team won the game simple. Headlines screaming out-classed and inferior technique well what did you expect from the press. Personally, I know the guys feel bad about the performance but it does not excuse the performance. You either performed on the day or you did not. To each player shutup and accept the defeat learn from your mistakes and more on. With all the crap lately surrounding the club you think we did not have a successful season but that is hardly the case. Barcelona won a one-off game get over it. Besides we have not been firing on all cylinders all year. The attack has been stagnant from the start. I expect SAF to get it right that includes the Tevez saga, Ronaldo saga and figuring out the right attack to go forward with. Bright days ahead.
Well we didn't play well in the final but was it a surprise? I don't believe so. Although we have won the league again this year if you compare the performances with the previous season they were well down. Where has the passing game gone, we used to be able to pass it around like Barcelona did in the final. There was basically two changes from last season to this, the coaching staff had the first full year in charge and to me this showed in tactics, fitness and players skill week in week out. I think they failed in all these aspects. In the years when we came good in the second half ot the season I am sure that SAF used to put the player through a gruelling training regime in Jan that gave them the boost to go through the year but that seems to have gone. Then there is Berbatov, a player with the skill to make a difference but who has come in and has slowed our passing game down to a stroll. For years we have been a fast counter attacking team but that has changed with him coming in and slowing it all down. Also I know we have had injuries but if one of SAF's favourites O"Shea is the best we have got then we have problems. His reading of the game is terrible which showed so many times this year and culminated in the final where he should have been ready to cover Rio for Messi's goal.
Just food for thought. Always Red
i,m a blue and i really expegted a great final with a manc win,i ,m just gobsmacked at the way unites gave up,and the tactics,rooney a player who is straight down the middle player,out on the wing theres is a lot more,but unlucky united
Ploughing through all the rubbish from the ABU's, I always thought we had to score first. The first 9 minutes we battered them, but once they scored, we looked clueless. No leader on the pitch to re assemble the team. The only player I can say that at least tried was Ronaldo. I won't name the players who bottled it, but they know. Having said that, Priemier League champions, World Champions and and League cup winners. What have you won this season dippers and bitters?