HENRY FUMES AT POOR OFFICIATING
Arsenal striker Thierry Henry accused referee Terje Hauge of favouring Barcelona after the Gunners lost the Champions League final 2-1 to the Primera Liga side.
An emotional Henry claimed the official ignored a series of challenges on him and insisted Arsenal had "made ourselves proud".
He told Sky Sports 1: "I don't know if the referee had a Barcelona shirt on because they kicked me all over the place.
"Maybe next time I'll learn how to dive. I expect the referee to do his job but I don't think he did."
Henry said: "Henrik Larsson was the difference but I didn't see Ronaldinho and I didn't see Eto'o.
"So many times (Carles) Puyol should have got a yellow card, so many times (Rafael) Marquez came from behind to take my ankles.
"We made ourselves proud."
Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg said on ITV1: "They had a lot of possession but we were leading until the 76th minute. We could have won it, this is hard for us.
"They are a great side but I felt we controlled it quite well; unfortunately they got the goals."
Henry added on ITV1: "I've been told that the first goal (by Eto'o) was offside. They are already a good team, so if you help them, it is going to be very difficult to beat them."
The Frenchman had a chance to finish Barca off when Alexander Hleb played him in but his low shot was easily saved by Victor Valdes.
"I had nothing in my legs, nothing whatsoever," he said.
"No disrespect to Barcelona, I feel we played better than them when it was 11 against 11.
"We can be proud, we can be more than proud but I'm sorry, some of the refereeing today was horrendous."
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admitted he will now try to convince Henry that his future is at the club.
"I do not know how difficult it will be [to keep Henry] but we will try to do it. It is not in my hands. It is Thierry's hands."
He added on Sky Sports 1: "I felt we played a great game and gave everything. We had a few chances in the last 20 minutes but it was difficult.
"I also felt their first goal was offside."
Asked how much the referee influenced the match, Wenger added: "A lot. We have lost it and it is difficult to take. This team have been fantastic today and right through the European season.
"I knew we could hang on and I knew nerves would play a part in their game. They did not look especially dangerous.
"But we will do it again and I believe the team is growing a lot after this season.
"We have plenty of good young players who have contributed a lot.
"This team are strong. Sometimes you can come back even stronger."
Lehmann understood the referee's decision to send him off rather than letting play unfold.
"He could have given advantage to Barcelona but the referee had to make a very quick decision and it is difficult for refs to make the right decisions," the German said.
"It was fantastic (watching from the bench) until the first goal of Barcelona. We've done very well and fought fantastically, it was a great achievement from the team to play 10 against 11 against a good side.
"But unfortunately I think their first goal was offside. We had a referee in the final who makes two decisions against us."
Asked whether a referee who operates weekly in the Norwegian league should be officiating the Champions League final, Lehmann told Sky Sports: "We have lost and it's over but everybody has to learn out of everything.
"Barcelona have the capability to play quickly, so we should have taken a guy who is used to this pace."
Lehmann added on German TV station Sat 1: "You don't play in those kind of games very often and to have an ending like this is very tragic. It feels tough.
"In football you make mistakes and then you get punished for them. We played great with 10 men and it is a pity that it did not go well for me.
"What really makes me sad it that the equaliser was an offside goal. If the referee had been a bit more alert, we would have maybe won 1-0.
"I expected him to send me off but I immediately thought it was not all over as we could have won the game with 10 men.
"I cannot look ahead (to the World Cup) right now. Now is the time to be sad."
Ashley Cole was more philosophical in defeat than some of his team-mates, and told Sky Sports: "We lost the game but it's not worth moaning about the offside, it's finished, we have to get on with it. The lads deserve credit, they've chipped in and done well as a team."
England team-mate Campbell, whose goal looked set to be the winner until the final 14 minutes, said: "Losing Jens so early on is going to cause problems but we battled well.
"A few decisions went against us but you just have to keep going. We've done well this season, it's a shame we couldn't just finish off the game.
"We passed the ball well, they're a great team and passed it around well too but we had a couple of chances where if it goes our way they're dead and buried."
