United's hopes of becoming the first side to successfully defend the trophy since it was rebranded as the Champions League in 1992 were crushed by strikes from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi.

"It is a big disappointment but Barcelona were the better team," said Rooney.

"Barcelona scored two good goals and unfortunately for us, they came at good times. That made it very difficult for us."

no answer

United had no answer to the craft of Xavi, the guile of Messi and the direct running of Eto'o and Thierry Henry, who was making amends for defeat in the final against Barcelona with Arsenal four years ago.

But it was Andres Iniesta who ran the show as far as Rooney was concerned.

"Barcelona are a brilliant team and in my opinion Andres Iniesta is the best player in the world," he said. "Against a team like that if you don't take your chances, they will punish you. That is what happened.

"It is very disappointing and the feeling at the moment is not a good one. We are hurting. But we have to forget it and look forward to next season."

Sir Alex Ferguson tore into his defenders after Manchester United had thrown away the chance of making history at the Stadio Olimpico.

"In our best performances this season we have defended very well, but the defending was shoddy," said Ferguson.

"The first goal didn't help. It gave them the opportunity to keep possession. We didn't plan to lose a goal early and we didn't deal with it well enough. That was the story. To lose a goal like that was a bad goal. It was a disappointing performance and some individuals will feel it themselves."