Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney stood up and applauded Barcelona after their 5-0 thrashing of Real Madrid

May 28, 2011

Champions league : Wayne Rooney – Rangers FC v Manchester United (Getty Images)

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney says he stood up and applauded what he’d witnessed on his TV after Barcelona’s 5-0 thrashing of Real Madrid earlier this season.

Rooney has described that performance as ‘the best he has ever seen’ ahead of the Champions League final tonight.

“I was watching in my living room and I actually stood up and applauded what I was seeing,” said Rooney in an article in The Mirror.

“Coleen walked in and asked what I was doing!

“But it was the best performance I’ve ever seen. It was unbelievable.

“I don’t think it was quite that bad when we lost 2-0 to Barcelona in the Champions League final two years ago in Rome.

“But if you looked at the faces of the Real players that night, they were shell-shocked and didn’t know what to do with the ball.

“The pressure Barca put them under made it so hard for Real to get the ball.

“Sometimes you say nothing afterwards because, in games you have lost convincingly, you don’t want to speak to anyone.

“The way Barca played, it was so difficult for Real’s attacking players to get the ball or any possession.”