waiting for final game, want barcelona to win, but I think homeland stadium will be an advantage for MU
-
-
im a barca fan, but even if i wasnt id still tip barca, man utd have won a poor epl this year and have not picked up a lot of points away from home. they lose goals against everyone and i think messi will dance through there defence.
man utd are worse than when they had ronaldo and they lost 2-0
im putting every penny i have on barca winning the cup, not 90 minute match odds.Comment -
a poor epl? have you seen la liga? real and barca dominate every team in the league whereas in england it is alot tougher to beat the other teams and remember man u werent even the favourites to win the league this year. and even though we dont have a player like ronaldo i think we are better as a team and have a better squad and strength in depth than barca. so... bring on barca
Comment -
barca AND real would beat united.
if chelsea hadnt fukked up they would have won the league.
cant wait till city take united's crown.
better squad than barca?
Comment -
please united do have a better team than barca. apart from the barcas first team united have a better team. We got so many players that can slot into the team with ease whereas barca have got a crappy bench. That just makes it easier for the master rsir alex to plan for the game because he knows exactly what team will play for barca.Comment -
too easy. barca 2-0Comment -
Barca just annoy the shit out of me now. After busquets did his little peeking eye while covering his face thing, I've been turned off.Comment -
Barça has players from Barça B who will play in the first team of many european clubs.Comment -
I'll agree that Barca are obviously heavy favourites and on paper should win, but the game still has to be played and anything can happen in a one-off. A poor EPL??? Gotta agree with Soon2B that there is more parity in the EPL which makes for tougher competition..it's no longer a proper 'top 4' let alone just a top 2 in La Liga. As for United leaking goals against everyone and not getting points away from home...have they not had the best record in CL this year? 9 Wins 3 Draws in 12 games since qualifying (5-0-1 away) with 8 clean sheets. I'm pretty sure that's a better record than Barca's and more clean sheets. And I would say we're actually better than we were 2 years ago since we don't play through, and rely so much on Ronaldo. We're a better TEAM and a little more than just being one-dimensional now.Comment -
I totally agree. I've loved watching Barca the last few years and enjoy the way they play. But the first leg in Champions League against Real I was really bothered with all the flopping, theatric, and begging for cards.
They still probably win but Man U should give them a hell of a fight.Comment -
Man utd will make it very hard for barcalona when barca have the ball. I think they'll play park,anderson,fletcher and valencia in midfield to pressurise the barca midfield. Rooney will be an attacking midfielder with hernandez up front. So united will do exactly what they do against arsenal which is allowing the opponent to have all of the ball but defending deep and using the ball effectivey up front. i think home field will definitely be an advantage for united and the crowd will be behind them. I honestly believe that man utd will be able to take this to extra time if not win so a DnB Man utd would be the best bet for this game in my opinion. Please feel free to criticize my analyse and discuss it further
Comment -
It's all gonna come down to luck...
Eto'o got a crucial opener for Barca last time, then Messi finished them in the 70th minute. If United don't concede a goal like that then they can steal it from the team with 70% possession.Comment -
Everybody thinks Barca will be.
Here is a different point of view.
How Manchester United can beat Barcelona 5 May 2011
By Steve McClaren
"Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has the perfect opportunity to avenge the 2009 Champions League final defeat by Barcelona - but he must get his tactics absolutely spot on if he wants to lift the trophy for the third time in his managerial career.
And inevitably, the key to victory is how United deal with Lionel Messi, along with Sergio Busquets.
In 2009, Samuel Eto'o, who normally played centre forward, started on the right while Messi theoretically played centre forward.
Only he didn't play up front, he played in midfield. It left centre-backs Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand marking nobody with Barcelona totally outnumbering Manchester United in central midfield.
Michael Carrick was totally lost that night - he didn't know whether to pick up Messi, Andres Iniesta or Xavi Hernandez as Barcelona took total control of midfield.
United will have to consider that prospect once again should Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola adopt the same tactic at Wembley. How would Vidic and Ferdinand cope second time around?
Barcelona hardly ever pass the ball more than 10 yards to a team-mate. The great Johan Cruyff, who won 11 trophies in an illustrious career as Barcelona manager, told me something very interesting during a visit to FC Twente when I was manager there.
He said: "Do you know how Barcelona win the ball back so quickly? It's because they don't have to run back more than 10 metres as they never pass the ball more than 10 metres." They are always so close to the ball.
To counteract this, Manchester United need to play at a high tempo, to beat the press and get at the Barca back four.
In the first 10 minutes of the 2009 final they did this very well, playing at a high tempo and matching their opponents' work-rate. They pressed so high, Barcelona were practically inside their own box, forcing them to abandon their game of neat passes in favour of longer balls.
But Barcelona eventually found a way around the United press and once they do that, the doubts begin to creep into the opposition's minds.
Some United players pressed, some didn't and from that moment on, they were lost. The key is staying compact, no matter if the back four is on the edge of the box or the half-way line.
Inter Milan did something similar by staying compact and pressuring as a team in last season's semi-final victory.
For me, the key player United have to stop is Busquets. I've looked at the passing statistics and Busquets has the ball more than any other Barcelona player, even more than Xavi and Iniesta.
And the key man for United here will be Wayne Rooney, who could play as a "semi-midfield" player behind Javier Hernandez with the responsibility of "dropping in" on Busquets when he has the ball.
When Sir Alex has given Rooney that added responsibility but he isn't playing with the discipline Sir Alex wants, the manager moves him to the left and shifts Ryan Giggs into that number 10 position because the experienced winger has more discipline, control and intelligence to execute that role. Rooney is quickly learning from that.
I watched him closely in the Champions League quarter-final matches against Chelsea when he pressurised Michael Essien and stopped him playing as United dominated the midfield.
That was the intelligence and discipline that Rooney needs to play in that number 10 position to stop Busquets from dictating play.
The other way United can beat Barcelona is on the transition [the break], something they do very well with the dual threat of Hernandez and Rooney.
Barcelona's defence are vulnerable to a fast counter-attack - Arsenal nearly scored a vital goal with 10 men at the Nou Camp with a Nicklas Bendtner chance on the transition.
United must follow Arsenal's example and play a high defensive line, keep compact, deny space and attempt to hit Barcelona on the quick transition, that five or six seconds from one end to the other.
They have to be brave - Arsenal were risky and nearly did it. Manchester United can do it."Comment -
outside the top 6 in england the rest are woeful,
teams like stoke, wigan, wolves????
and expecting rooney to shine is a joke, bottles it every big game. world cups he has done nothing. champions league final he has done nothing. european championships he has done nothing.
what make everyone think he will be great in this game?????
man utd CANT stop iniesta, xavi and messi. FACT.
Man utd would be beaten by real also.Comment -
poor premiership?! la liga is so weak. as for shipping goals, man utd have only conceeded four in this seasons CL and are the only undefeated team.Comment -
also can one of u explain why nearly the whole spain team plays in la liga if its that bad?
did spain not win the world cup and euros?
how did england get on?
rooney, rio, lampard, gerrad and the rest???Comment -
People are saying that the two strongest leagues in the world are weak.
Maybe compared to the World Cup and Champion's League? Or maybe the Intergalactic Football Federation featuring teams from 17 different star systems?Comment -
id like to see spanish ballerinas deal with the toughness of english teams. rooney bottles it every game? do you even watch him play? alot people like you think he doesnt perform because he doesnt score goals but if you watch him play you'll see that his game is not all about the goals.Comment -
spanish players tend to like to stay in spain because of the culture not becuase english football is bad. and im sorry did spain not go without winning a world cup for like 40 years like england before they won in 2010? and if you watch the epl you'd know that all the england players perform fantastic for their clubs but poor for their country but this is not a international game anyway so what does it matter?Comment -
wayne rooney is a great player, just not in the big games, man utd havent won away at any of the top epl sides this year, we will agree to disagree but
BARCA WILL STUFF UComment -
barcelona 1-0 FT i think.. man utd doesnt have the power to stop barca.. they will get dominated from the 1st minute.. chicarito could do some damage though with his speed. If man utd has any chance, it would be because of his speed and killer instinct.Comment -
Man utd are one of the best teams in the world , but Barça are out of this world , they are praticaly unbeaten , 99% chances of Barça winning this Final. I am going big on barca to win .
As for the best league fight nonsense ,both epl and laliga are strong , with the epl been more competitiveComment -
La liga is an inferior league when compared to the english premier league based on the fact that only 2 teams were ever in the running to win la liga, whereas 5-6 teams could have taken the EPL this year. barcalonafc your analysis is very bias, you have not even considered the home ground advantage for man utd and the tactical genius of Sir Alex Ferguson. These could well come into play in a game of this magnitude.Comment -
There is so much disinformation in this thread its hard to know where to begin.
Lets start with the great debate of the two leagues.
These are the two best leagues in the world with Germany, Italy and France completing the top 5. The English league is superior in my opinion and the UEFA coefficient backs it up. This coefficient ranks the leagues as by how their teams preform vs others in European Competitions. Spain has not toped England in these rankings since 2006.
The EPL is also more competitive and fair. Competitive and fair??? How can that be you ask when teams like Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea spend many times that of a Blackpool or Wigan.
La Liga is set up to be a two team league. The television rights system is only fair to Barcelona and Real Madrid. The EPL's collective basis system is much more fair and everyone can get a piece of this huge pie.
More people also watch the Premier League on television and stadium attendances are higher.
Maybe the quality of football is higher in Spain, but Ive never had a La Liga match (other than a Classico) hold my attention for more than 10 minutes.
All these guys preaching out Barcelona this and that, how they will steam roll Manchester United and how they have no chance are naive fanboys. These are the two best teams in football. Anyone believing we will see a totally one sided contest is crazy.
We will have to wait till Saturday to find out. I don't wager on my team, but like Sir Alex says don't bet against us.Comment -
To Soon2BRich and all MU fans: Towadays Barca is the BEST team ever... So don't tell some legends about MU will win Champions Ligue... There is 0% chance!!! Barca 3-0 MU <<< It's Reallity...
Comment -
just remember all you plebs thought you would beat barca in the last champions league final, dont even say you didnt.
too much class for the mancs end of.Comment -
Barça is going to win IMO. But we will all see the 28th..
i'm so excited!
Comment -
I agree that both teams are the best and its hard to predict anything, I like more how barca plays , but what is strange for me , when barca dominates all the time on field and loses or hardly wins, I remember one play during league barca vs arsenal at england, when barca was dominated during hole match , but the end result was 2-2 how I remember and barca made goals only at the end, so I think nothing is imposible, both teams now have same chances to win final , so I am for nice play
Comment -
I am 95% confident Chicha scores in this one... be it FT or ET or even penalties - HIS NAME WILL BE ON THE SCORE SHEET..Comment -
Anyone putting big money on this game is crazy, no way to predict how each team is going to react to the pressure, or what kind of tactics Ferguson will choose, personally I think if United go out to play there game and attack Barcas weaknesses then they have a chance, if |Ferguson bottles it and tries to defend for 90 minutes they wont be able to hold out for the whole game and Barca win.Comment
