Champions League final: Manchester United v Barcelona.

As many of you will be aware, the European football season effectively culminates tonight with the pinnacle of European club football: the Champions League final.

Wembley hosts the occasion in which Manchester United and Barcelona will both be looking to win their 4th European Cup title. The old Wembley Stadium was the scene of United's triumph in 1968, and was also the venue for Barcelona's first Champions Cup crown in 1992 - the '92 Barcelona side contained current manager Pep Guardiola in midfield.

It's a repeat of the final in Rome two years ago where Barcelona prevailed 2-0 winners, thanks to goals from Samuel Eto'o and the talismanic Lionel Messi.

So, does anyone have any thoughts on tonight's encounter ?

I'm an ardent admirer of Barça's footballing ethos and philosophy, but I also grudgingly respect United. Rest assured, I'll be cheering on the Catalans tonight !

I think that it's going to be a closely fought, tight affair, with Barcelona - as usual - dominating the possession but being stifled of any real chances by United's stingy defence.

United will look to soak up this possession and seize attacking opportunities in the way of counter-attacks. This may leave Ferguson with a bit of a dilemma in regards to his starting line-up; he'll probably play a 4-5-1 which usually turns in to a 4-3-3 in attack. Rooney, most of time, will play behind the lone striker.

Berbatov - with his ability to hold up the ball and with his excellent movement off the ball - would normally be ideal in these circumstances. However, Hernandez's pace and clinical finishing will likely see him get the nod, as has happened in recent Premier League games. Hernandez is a great finisher, but I'm yet to be convinced that he can play over a high-tempo 90 minutes at this stage of his career.

United's main problem, of course, will be in stifling Messi's mesmeric skills. But the real battle will be in midfield, with Xavi and Iniesta likely to dictate the game unless United's midfield can get to grips with them early on. Carrick and Anderson failed abysmally with this in 2009.

It should be an entertaining final, and I hope it will be devoid of all the unedifying aspects of the Barcelona v Real Madrid semi final games.

I would also say that even so Lionel Messi, rightfully, gets most of the plaudits, Xavi is one of the finest players that I've ever seen !

Yeah it was a good match.ManU won 2-0

very nice summary of the up coming game. it kicks off at 4.45am here in oz so it's going to be a seriously earlt morning, again! being an englishman, i should want scumchester to win... but being a leeds fan... i'll be shouting for barca as loud as i can i can. again giving our neighbours the impression a raving pommie loonatic lives among us!

i love barca's football.. in my opinion one of the greatest teams ever assembled and messi being the greatest player in the world at the moment.. but i have to cheer for united as a representative of english football, i always back the english teams in european football and can never understand why people cheer for the foreign teams..
we have the best league in the world and we are very lucky because of that.. its teams like united, arsenal, liverpool, chelsea that make our league the envy of the world..
so no matter how much i hate certain teams, eg chelsea, i still cheer for them but im not really backing them, im backing the english premier league.. every true english man that loves football should do the same..

reply to post by Sherlock Holmes


Manchester United "The Mighty Red Devils" current Premier league "CHAMPIONS" , will be far to strong for the the barca show ponies,

If you saw the first leg of their semi with Real Madrid, there wasn't one yes "ONE" man on that pitch, diving, faking, cheating!

3-1 to MANCHESTER UNITED, best team in Britain, fact!

I think it's going to be a very close game too personally. Barcelona are an absolutely outstanding team, but Man-Ure are a good team too who always seem to have luck on their side.
I won't be able to bring myself to watch it however as i'm a Liverpool fan and i'm totally dreading Man-Ure winning another European Cup.
Come on Barca!!!!!!!!!!

"give them bread and circuses"

the Roman practice of providing free wheat to Roman citizens as well as costly circus games and other forms of entertainment as a means of gaining political power through populism.

Originally posted by kushin
reply to post by Sherlock Holmes

 

Manchester United "The Mighty Red Devils" current Premier league "CHAMPIONS" , will be far to strong for the the barca show ponies,

If you saw the first leg of their semi with Real Madrid, there wasn't one yes "ONE" man on that pitch, diving, faking, cheating!

3-1 to MANCHESTER UNITED, best team in Britain, fact!

im not a united fan, but you are correct.. they won the premier league so it is obviously a fact they are the best team in england..
i have to respect utd, imo a big part of the english premier league's popularity around the world can be credited to them during the beckham generation..
and fergie is probably the greatest manager of all time, he has achieved amazing things in his career against the odds, this season should be a perfect example of his ability as a manager..
man u didnt win the league this year... alex fergusan did.. fact

Originally posted by Themanwithnoname
I think it's going to be a very close game too personally. Barcelona are an absolutely outstanding team, but Man-Ure are a good team too who always seem to have luck on their side.
I won't be able to bring myself to watch it however as i'm a Liverpool fan and i'm totally dreading Man-Ure winning another European Cup.
Come on Barca!!!!!!!!!!

if it wasnt for teams like man u, reaching these finals, our football wouldnt be so popular, they wouldnt sell tv rights worldwide.. and you wouldnt have players like gerrard, riena, babel etc..

you should still cheer for english football.. even if you dont want utd to win..

reply to post by Misterlondon


Ryan Giggs wife want a divorce and 50% of everything, that means she'll have 6 more premier league medals than Steven Gerrard

:-P

reply to post by woodnut86


I would doubt that there will be too many Leeds United fans cheering on Manchester United tonight.

I personally don't subscribe to the idea that someone should support an English side in Europe, just because they're English.

It doesn't make any sense to me.

Originally posted by Misterlondon
but i have to cheer for united as a representative of english football, i always back the english teams in european football and can never understand why people cheer for the foreign teams..

You see, I take the opposite view.

I can't understand why someone would cheer on a team that they normally dislike, just because they're playing against a foreign side.

Personally speaking, I dislike Manchester United mainly due to the arrogance and glory-hunting of so many of their fans. I can't understand the mentality of supporting them just because they are playing against ''Johnny foreigner''.


How ''English'' is this Manchester United side ?

Manager: Scottish.

Goalkeeper: Dutch.

Defenders: Brazilian - English - Serbian - French.

Midfielders: Ecuadorian - South Korean - Scottish - English - Portuguese.

Attacker: Mexican.

Substitutes: Bulgarian, Irish, Polish, Welsh, Brazilian and Northern Irish.

Originally posted by Misterlondon
we have the best league in the world and we are very lucky because of that..

I'm not sure about having ''the best league in the world'', as that would depend on what criteria you are individually judging it by.

In terms of footballing quality, then I would say that the top 2 in Spain currently surpass the top 2 in England. However, the Premier League is clearly stronger in the positions between 3-6, with Arsenal, Man City, Spurs and Liverpool being better sides than Valencia, Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao etc.

The most telling difference between the English and Spanish leagues is the numbers of home-grown players who make up the teams. English sides usually have 7+ foreigners in their starting line-ups, whereas many successful top flight Spanish sides have a largely local base of players.

Originally posted by Misterlondon
its teams like united, arsenal, liverpool, chelsea that make our league the envy of the world..

That's not entirely true.

The Premier League is not the most popular league in the world purely because of the quality of teams that play in it.

English football has always been the most revered and admired throughout the world due to history and romanticism. It stems from the fact that we invented the game in its current format and spread it around the world.

Teams like Manchester United and Liverpool will always have worldwide popularity, regardless of the quality of football that they play.

Even in England, Manchester United still consistently had the highest attendances between 1968-1991, in a period where they didn't win any league or European titles.

The only clubs who can rival the English teams in terms of popularity are teams such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, Ajax etc.

Originally posted by kushin
Manchester United "The Mighty Red Devils" current Premier league "CHAMPIONS" , will be far to strong for the the barca show ponies,

Hmm...

If United win, then I doubt that it will be because they are actually ''far stronger'' than Barça.

Manchester United and Barcelona are both fantastic sides, but those sides have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Barcelona, for example, play some of the greatest football that I've ever seen ( see David Villa's second goal in the first Clásico game of the league season or Pedro's finish to Iniesta's sublime pass in the Champions League semi-final second leg ), but they have a weak point: a lack of a cutting edge when things don't go according to plan, and when their style of football hits up against their opponent's brick-wall.

The Barcelona philosophy is to keep possession of the ball and to find space; pass, pass, move, pass, move, pass, pass, pass, move, pass, pass, and the goal-scoring opening will eventually come about.

I don't know why you say that they are ''show ponies'', though.

Originally posted by kushin
If you saw the first leg of their semi with Real Madrid, there wasn't one yes "ONE" man on that pitch, diving, faking, cheating!

Who was that ?

As far as I could see, the Real Madrid and FC Barcelona players were equally culpable of unsportsmanlike conduct, in exactly the same way that Premier League team's players dive, fake and cheat !

We are Barcelona
Resistance is futile
You must comply !

Força Barça !!!

Bleh... I wanted Man U to beat Barca.... I want anyone to beat Barca...

Originally posted by TheBandit795
Bleh... I wanted Man U to beat Barca....

I want anyone to beat Barca...

Ah well

Better team won in the end... there's always next year.
And unless Blackburn Rovers seriously improve I ain't ever going to be shouting for anyone in a champions league final!!

Once again, SEVERE PWNAGE was administered by FC Barcelona. Not for the first time, Manchester United were the unfortunate recipients.

Let's just reiterate my point: Manchester United got PWNED. Severely.

It's incredible how such a good side as United just weren't allowed to get a foothold in the game. With Xavi and Iniesta completely dictating play, every Barça player tracking back and defending as if their life depended on it and Messi electrifying with every touch and shimmy - this was just a complete masterclass.

Only a churlish philistine would begrudge Barcelona's rightful glory.

They are simply a class above every other team at the moment.

Originally posted by TheBandit795
I want anyone to beat Barca...

Why ?

Is that the green-eyed monster rearing its ugly ahead again ?

Here are the goals again, just in case anyone may have missed them last night.