The 2009 European Champions League final, between Barcelona and '08 winner Manchester United, was a dream for football fans around the globe. The matchup featured Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Man U's Cristiano Ronaldo, perhaps the two best players in the world. Both clubs were shooting for history. A win would give Barcelona a treble, making it the first club in Spanish history to hold the country's league (La Liga), cup (La Copa del Rey) and Champions League titles at the same time. Man U was shooting for the "Impossible Quadruple," championships in the English Premier League, FA Cup, World Club Cup and Champions League. With Barcelona up 1-0 in the 70th minute, Xavi, the Spanish midfielder, delivered a pitch-perfect cross to Messi, who headed the ball into the net to seal it for Barcelona. "The whole planet bows before the best team in the world," boasted a Spanish sports newspaper. That's not hubris, just la verdad.
The Top 10 Everything of 2009
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Art Exhibitions
- Top 10 Awkward Moments
- Top 10 Best Business Deals
- Top 10 Breakups
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Children's Books
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Editorial Cartoons
- Top 10 Facebook Stories
- Top 10 Fashion Faux Pas
- Top 10 Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Ideas
- Top 10 Heroes
- Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Top 10 Magazine Covers
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Movies
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 News Stories
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Oddball News Stories
- Top 10 Pariahs
- Top 10 Pictures of the Year
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 T-Shirt-Worthy Slogans
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Tweets
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Untruths
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 Worst Biz Deals
TIME charts the highs and lows of the past year in 50 wide-ranging lists