posted May 26, 2009

Barcelona keep the ball and pass better than Man Utd. Unless man utd can take their chances and produce a shock and awe display like they did against arsenal in teh semi-final i can only see a Barca win or penalties deciding it. Barcelona are even more dangerous with a weakened defence. Silvinho is still pretty quick for a 35 year old.
I hope Barcelona win because they play football they way it should be and their siege of their opponents half is breath taking at times. I feel Eto will regain his form in this match. Unied defence is going to have their work cut out. Even if you can stop Iniesta,what about Xavi. Iniesta and Xavi and the best two mildfielders in the world in tandem. Then you have Toure who can pass, tackle and can strike a ball. Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona!!!!!

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posted May 26, 2009

I think the ultimate difficulty is shutting down Iniesta. He has a knack of ghosting around the pitch, popping up for a touch or two then vanishing and reappearing (see the goal against Chelsea, he's dispossessed at the start of the move, drifts up the pitch quietly, hovers around the edge of the area and, unsuprisingly, finds himself in space at the right moment). And if one man is marking Iniesta, that's one less man to mark Messi or watch Xavi. Coping with multiple highly talented threats is therefore the chief problem.

The key for united then is to break up possession, then counter quickly. Chelsea had decent success with this, but didn't have the right talent to finish the moves off. I know united have a better defence, but Barcelona have a better midfield for keeping the ball so when United get possession they will have to use it very effectively, and to do this will require a high work rate chasing the ball when not at a united players feet. Good to have Rooney eh?

To be honest, I don't want to call a winner here, I feel it is far too close to predict what'll happen. I don't expect too many goals, but I do expect a sensational match and if I'm right then I'll be a happy man. At the very least, it feels good that the best two teams in the world will get to play each other in a showpiece final.

Good luck to all involved tomorrow.

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posted May 26, 2009

@fourfootedchallenge (U11255034): Agree 100% with your selection. I'm surprised people are going for Giggs. This is not a game to start him in.

@ chebude (U11675701): "This game will show how superior barca are when it comes to dribbling, ball possesion and frightenning the life out of the opposite defence for the entire duration of the match. That was what has happened in the two legs against manu last year, in the two legs against chelsea this year and in the 2006 CL final against arsenal. manu always find it very difficult to stop a team that puts down and passes the ball. I think barca will win comfortably scoring more than two"

Complete nonsense! Utd and Chelsea hardly gave up a chance worthy of the name over 4 games.
Conclusion: Barca struggle against the best defences.

As for: "manu always find it very difficult to stop a team that puts down and passes the ball."

Didn't they just do that in the two semis you referred to??

The game is about tactics and defence as well as attack and passing teams to death. Learn something about the game before giving us your naiive insights.

And: "The terms battling, fighting, sacrificing...etc do only apply in the premier league. Brasil never won the world cup 5 times by battling, spain are european champions not via sacrifice.........its simple, pass the ball, dribble and score........simple."

Now the only thing 'simple' in the vicinity of this statement is the writer.

Cop yourself on son!

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posted May 26, 2009

Some thoughts from abroad

Clearly Iniestas goal has put him in the spotlight but he is coming straight back from injury so who knows how well he will perform. Xavi and Messi feeding each other will be the pattern but Etoo isn't on his best run of form (despite the goals!) so the problem for Barca is who will finish the moves. Henry also coming back from injury is key - he was on a great run of form prior to injury, so he could offer the greatest goal scoring threat.

Manchester's greatest threats will come from fast counter attacks and set pieces. Barca in a similar way to Liverpool have an achilles heel at set pieces, crosses and corners and I think it could be a simple headed goal by Vidic or Ferdinand (or even a Ronaldo free kick) that could make the difference.

I'd go for 1-0 Utd. Although will be supporting Barça.

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posted May 26, 2009

Thanks for the comments everyone. Interesting views.

LFC_Coach (U2716409)
The comment you made about set pieces could be right and that could play a huge part. A Vidic header mabye?

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posted May 26, 2009

This remind me of 10ish years ago when Barca played again AC Milan in the CL final. Barca has Romario, Stochikov, Hagi etc and AC had the best defends in the world... Hope the results will not be the same... but I had a feeling that I will be...

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posted May 26, 2009

I've kind a strong feeling Rooney is going to do something special tomorrow night.

It really is a mouth watering final...

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posted May 27, 2009

As a chelsea fan i wished Manu d best. They will expose barca as a team with so much foreplay without penetration. Barca will receive the raw end of English power lesson today. i predict 3-0 or 3-1 For manu.

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posted May 27, 2009

I'll bet the Romans haven't seen such a one sided game since Lions v Christians!

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posted May 27, 2009

"comment by mape_ventura (U10075316)
posted Yesterday

I've kind a strong feeling Rooney is going to do something special tomorrow night.

It really is a mouth watering final..."

Was Rooney Playing?

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