The upcoming UEFA Champions League showdown between two of the world’s best, Real Madrid and Manchester United, will probably be watched by close to a billion viewers, such is the drawing power of football at the top end of the pyramid. Ronaldo and Di Maria vs Rooney and van Persie? I'll be tuning in.

It got me thinking of United’s 2-1 Champions’ League Final win against Bayern Munich in 1999, an event that sections of the English press simply refer to as “That Night In Barcelona”. Despite its dominance throughout the contest, Bayern had but a single goal to cling to going into injury time, one hand seemingly on the trophy. Instead, United used up the remaining few prescious minutes to achieve arguably its greatest and most dramatic ever triumph, Munich’s prostrate and tearful sweeper Sammy Kuffour unable to raise himself off the pitch after the final whistle.

Do we judge a team by performance or results? As John Aloisi rightly stated in the post-match interview, A-League coaches are in the results business. In my last article I discussed the mercurial Brazil side of 1982 that captivated with some of the greatest football I have ever been privileged to witness. The question is – outside Italy, where their World Cup winning side is justifiably venerated, what is the first thing that springs to mind when thinking of that tournament? Is it the  champions, led by Zoff, Gentile, Antognoni and six-goal hero Paolo Rossi, or the swashbuckling entertainers Brazil, replete with ball wizards Socrates, Eder, Toninho Cerezo, Falcao and Zico, a side that aimed to dazzle, rather than tactically dominate its way to victory? It’s certainly food for thought.

There was little of either at the wet Allianz Stadium on Sunday afternoon, and the one player capable of providing the touch of world class was sadly out of sorts.  Del Piero’s passing was off, he lost the ball time and again, and generally looked the most frustrated man out on the pitch. Of course, class is permanent, and when it came to the crunch, it was the little Italian who supplied the pinpoint cross for Rhyan Grant’s headed winner.

Sydney went into the match with confidence after a comeback draw in Perth last weekend and the expectation was that they would go on and take the game to an undermanned Melbourne Heart. Instead, most of the first half belonged to the visitors, whose passing and movement was more than the Sky Blues could handle.

Richard Garcia’s opener came as a result of criminal negligence by the home side, Sydney displaying an inability to read a dead ball situation by not putting the extra man out wide to prevent a simple set play. Overall, Sydney were plain awful in the first stanza, and a side with better attacking players would have knocked us out of contention by halftime. Instead, the Melbournians, for all their dominance in the first 45, gave Vedran Janjetovic precious little to do.

The Ali Abbas/Alessandro Del Piero incident must be viewed against the backdrop of two highly charged, frustrated and underperforming teammates who care deeply and dislike losing. Yes, spirits boiled over, but they are men of character and will move on from this. What people who watched the game on TV missed is the sight of Abbas playing ballboy in the second half, running and fetching balls for his teammates to take throw ins when we were chasing the game and time was of the essence. The man demonstrated character, and his actions in the second half show that he places the team and the game far ahead of his ego. Hands will be shaken and apologies offered and accepted.

The fightback was sparked by the substitution of Peter Triantis by Terry McFlynn midway through the second half. Long the subject of ire by a small section of Sydney “fans”, the club captain warmed up in front of the Cove who sang his songs and gave him the inspiration he needed, and the man his teammates call Tezza responded by driving his team on to victory. McFlynn’s perfectly weighted through ball to Brett Emerton was sublime and deserves praise. The marquee man somehow beat two players and squeezed his shot past Andrew Redmayne, whose confidence was already below par after earlier blunders and with the crowd on his back. The fans, who alternated from supportive to frustrated throughout the wet afternoon finally found their collective voice, joining the Cove and raising the roof of Allianz Stadium.

Come the 92nd minute and there could only be one winner, the wind well and truly out of the Heart sails and Sky Blues riding the crest of the home crowd’s roar. Like a running race, football isn’t about where you start but where you finish, and Sydney ended on a high, streamrolling the fading visitors.

Praise must go to Frank Farina. His decision to change the structure by replacing Abbas, the ineffectual midfielder, with Blake Powell, the hungry striker, said much about his intent, and about his own character. Farina is a man in a hurry and showed that he will make changes when change is required.

The backline was solid, and stayed compact throughout the first half when they were exposed by their overly charitable midfield. In the second, Jason Culina dropped deeper into his usual central midfield spot instead of pushing out too high up and exposing Triantis as he did in the first. Back in his natural role, Culina ran the show for Sydney in the second half. It is too early to discuss Socceroo recalls, but there were signs that the real Jason Culina, he of the Golden Generation, is gradually approaching his best.

Up front, Yaira Yau was back to form, a constant thorn in the side of the Heart defenders, and he set up a golden chance for Emerton who somehow managed to hook it wide of the post. In the second half when we finally got some ball, Emerton was involved in everything and led by example. And Blake Powell did the vital donkey work up front and deserves praise for a committed performance.

Fitness levels are finally right –in the last few matches we have played far better in the second half than in the first. Which isn’t to say the Sky Blues dominated the second half – far from it. But the boys fought as if their lives depended on the result, and took their chances when they came.

Melbourne Heart will be gutted but only have themselves to blame for not creating more chances when on top. At times, especially in the first half, they had sustained periods of possession but failed to convert them into scoring opportunities, the Sydney backline usually reading their final pass with ease. Fred was good on the ball, as always, but had the crowd’s back up after going to ground easily time and again, especially in the second half when the tide was beginning to turn. One could easily tell who owns a swimming pool in the Jam Tarts’ lineup.

The Sky Blues host a mid-slump Wellington Phoenix on Saturday night and will feel capable of achieving three consecutive victories at home for the first time this season. Joel Griffiths is expected to make his debut from the outset, but it would not surprise me to see him come off the bench instead, as he works his way back to match fitness. With Yau back in form, does our best forward combination involve Griffiths and the Panamanian, with Del Piero pulling the strings behind them?

Either way,Sydney can ride the euphoria of its last minute win to build momentum for the Phoenix encounter. Much improvement is needed, but in the results business that is the A-League we will take the three points and aim to do the same again on Saturday night. With, one hopes, a better performance to match.