I would guess that it was the biggest news because we do not see Barcelona in europa at all, I do not remember if they were ever there, but if they were then I must have been a very little kid or I just do not remember it at all.
This caused a lot of people to talk about it and it was a big news, on top of that we got the fact that eventual winners, Frankfurt, ended up beating them as well and this was during Xavi was managing them as well, not like it was something brand new neither. So all in all the talk stayed, even after the finals, even after we know who won, we are still talking about it because it was such a shocking thing that happened.
Playing in the european league is actually not something new for barcelona, from the history that barcelona has participated in the european league 11 times but unfortunately they have never won that the trophy, before this season, the 2003/04 season was the last time barcelona participated in European League Championship, the decline of Barcelona to the European League is something that is quite surprising for many people because so far Barcelona is known as one of the ruling teams of the Champions League.
Yesterday Final match was really quite fierce and even the determination of the trophy had to be decided by a penalty because throughout the match the two teams drew 1-1, Frankfurt had been predicted from a long time ago to win the final match because they are considered to have a more qualified squad than the Rangers.
Yes, I also have to say that this match was expected to be a win for Frankfurt but Rangers played really well. Actually, it was amazing enough for me that the match had to be decided with penalties. I thought the match would not go that far. But I have to say it was a great final, and it really lived up to the hype.
About Barcelona, I think they should have done well but I have to give credit to Frankfurt because they did their homework very well, they knew Barcelona had some problems in their defense and they exploited those problems very well.