Oh well.
Nearly the whole of yesterday to stew about the result on my own with a mixture of hangover and a cold, and that's about all I can manage to summarise the result.
Oh well.
Even though the referee was awful, I personally can't really complain about the red card to Lehmann. From how it happened it seemed fair, if a little harsh (although given the choice I'd much rather have taken a goal against and kept eleven men). It's just incredibly frustrating that we looked the better team for the first 20 minutes until that card, and even after we played well, still having a bunch of chances in the rest of the first half. But credit to Barcelona, they kept going and were all over us in the second half, and deserved the win by the end. Further credit to the crowd at the pub I was at too, we sang our hearts out throughout the entire game, right up until the final whistle. Ten men didn't faze us, an idiotic ref gave us fuel, and even after conceding two in a half we had no chances in, we kept on hoping. Last but not least, full credit to the lads for playing so well, and getting so close. As I said, we looked the better team at the start, and even for most of the first half. The only real lapses in defense were the ones Barca scored from, beyond that we were solid. I can't really complain at the result given how things went, but it's so incredibly frustrating to think that while also knowing that with eleven men we really could have won that game, fair and square.
Still, Champions League finalists, with a fantastic young squad and the best player in the world. Maybe next year we'll manage it. Oh well.