Barcelona vs Manchester United - May 28th, 19:45

[Jack Fulham]

Mmm, Barcelona are training at Arsenal's training ground. Great opportunity to do some tapping up aye Joss?

 

[Athe~]

Well, yesterday was a national holiday here in Argentina, and I got my uni class rescheduled for... Saturday. And I'll be missing the match. Absolutely gutted. Thinking of getting a laptop and trying to use wi-fi to watch a stream while in class but it's too far fetched.

Going for a 2-1 United win here, although Messi may have something to say about that.

 

[Joss]

Mmm, Barcelona are training at Arsenal's training ground. Great opportunity to do some tapping up aye Joss?

Yes, indeed.

 

[*Paul*]

I'll just leave this here.

Barca to win 2-1 in extra time, I think. It'll be close.

You post some great 'pitch previews', it's really very good . Oh, and great OP too.

Although I support Liverpool, I think United will edge this 2-1 in Extra Time. Everyone is expecting Barcelona to win, but don't underestimate United. I mean, this season, everyone was saying how good the Chelsea team was compared to United, but United proved us wrong, winning the league win 8(?) points to spare. And anyway, if you compare the Chelsea team to the United one, player to player the Chelsea one is probably better, but don't doubt United's spirit.

The pressure is on Messi and Barca, and it is theirs to lose. Ferguson will also give his side a boost, with good man-management skills and tactical skills. Guardiola and Barca are the favourites for me, but I think the traditional English grit and determination will edge it for United, with Barcelona getting lazy in extra time and making United more determined.

Messi to score, and Rooney to equalize and 'Chicharito' to win it. I hate to say it, but I think Manchester United will win their 4th Champions League trophy.

P.S. I think Barca will 'dominate' the game (possession and chances) but United to be more clinical and to score on the counter attack with Valencia, Nani and Hernandez's pace.

 

[zzeezzy]

Yes, indeed.

lmao, I think Barca do not even need Fabregas with their midfield.

Not a clue what this score line will be and I do not even want to predict. I can see it going all the way to extra time and maybe even pentalties.

 

[Alcaraz]

Will be interesting to see the battle between Busquets and Rooney cos if Rooney does drop deep as he usually has done in the past few games, he will fall right into the zone of Busquests who definetly must limit the expansive passing range Rooney is sure to enjoy in the space he will find between the lines, most important thing is that Gerard Pique should not get ahead of himself and make 2 many darting runs into the midfield as he often does as he is the one who will be covering Hernandez as he is the quickest central defender

The battle on the flanks will be very interesting, Park Ji Sung will have to cover the bombarding runs of Alves down the flanks, the communication between Park and Evra will have to be perfect if they are to make worthwile attacks through that flank

All in all, a fantastic game of football awaits us

 

[markodragojevic]

Good thing is Pat and Ji are best friends! XD

 

[Joss]

For anyone interested, my conclusions for my STV preview:

The variety and depth of Ferguson’s squad could be a deciding factor on Saturday and the fact that he has so many options to choose from can only be a good thing. Manchester United have been much maligned this season for the technical quality of their side and Barcelona may well have the upper hand in that department, but there is no doubt that Ferguson has the upper hand in the tactical department and his success this season and in his lengthy career are not to be forgotten. It’s important for United to defend well against such a clinical side, but they must also attack well, and that’s precisely what all of Ferguson’s sides have been able to do.

Also discussing:

- Impact of Dani Alves
- How Utd can stop him and Messi
- Why 4-4-1-1 is the way to go
- The importance of Michael Carrick.

 

[Mike]

Messi to score first and Barcelona win 1-0 I get £213.33

And I'm rooting for Barca; just can't get myself around United winning. I'm going 2-0 Barca.

 

[Calum]

Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has admitted he was "too confident" before the 2009 Champions League final against Barcelona in Rome.
United's players have been watching DVDs of that game as they prepare to face Barca again in this year's final.
He said: "I am honest. I was confident in Italy. Maybe too confident

 

[raul93-fan]

Hungarian referees to the Champions League Final

Main referee - Viktor Kassai

Assistants: Gabor Eros & György Ring.

4th and 5th official: Istvan Vad, Robert Kispal

 

[Calum]

remember to bet !

Football Predictions - Matches within the next 7 days - FM-Base - Football Manager 2011 Tactics, Wonderkids, Updates & Cheats

 

[Alcaraz]

For anyone interested, my conclusions for my STV preview:

The variety and depth of Ferguson’s squad could be a deciding factor on Saturday and the fact that he has so many options to choose from can only be a good thing. Manchester United have been much maligned this season for the technical quality of their side and Barcelona may well have the upper hand in that department, but there is no doubt that Ferguson has the upper hand in the tactical department and his success this season and in his lengthy career are not to be forgotten. It’s important for United to defend well against such a clinical side, but they must also attack well, and that’s precisely what all of Ferguson’s sides have been able to do.

Also discussing:

- Impact of Dani Alves
- How Utd can stop him and Messi
- Why 4-4-1-1 is the way to go
- The importance of Michael Carrick.

good points all of them except I dont quite understand how Ferguson has the upper hand in the tactical department

 

[MisterStubbs]

good points all of them except I dont quite understand how Ferguson has the upper hand in the tactical department

Possibly because SAF has been a manager longer than Pep has been alive almost lol. To be fair, there are few better in the world and even less more expeirenced when it comes to big games like this than Sir Alex Ferguson. I'm confident he'll come up with another winning game plan for tomorrow and we'll see United lift a fourth Champions League title.

 

[cfc12345]

I am really looking forward to this game. I think its going to be a good match and hopefully Utd come out on top.

 

[Alcaraz]

Possibly because SAF has been a manager longer than Pep has been alive almost lol. To be fair, there are few better in the world and even less more expeirenced when it comes to big games like this than Sir Alex Ferguson. I'm confident he'll come up with another winning game plan for tomorrow and we'll see United lift a fourth Champions League title.

fair enough

 

[MisterStubbs]

fair enough

Don't get me wrong mate, it's going to be a very tough game but if there is any manager that can come up with a game plan to counter Barcelona's style of football, surely it's Sir Alex Ferguson.

 

[Alcaraz]

Don't get me wrong mate, it's going to be a very tough game but if there is any manager that can come up with a game plan to counter Barcelona's style of football, surely it's Sir Alex Ferguson.

yeah I just did not quite understand why Joss belives that SAF has the upperhand tactically, if its based on experience then yes definetly, just wanted to make sure

And yes it will be a very tough game, SAF will have learned from the mistakes he made in Rome and has also probably studied the games Barca lost this season, not a fat many but games such as Hercules, Real Madrid etc.

So yes I do expect a cracker of a contest and I dismiss the notion that Barca have to have a bad day if Man Utd are to beat them cos Man Utd have enough quality to beat Barca, enough said

 

[sanketutd]

Interesting stat- United & Barcelona have scored 303 goals and conceded 158 goals all European games!

 

[Joss]

yeah I just did not quite understand why Joss belives that SAF has the upperhand tactically, if its based on experience then yes definetly, just wanted to make sure

And yes it will be a very tough game, SAF will have learned from the mistakes he made in Rome and has also probably studied the games Barca lost this season, not a fat many but games such as Hercules, Real Madrid etc.

So yes I do expect a cracker of a contest and I dismiss the notion that Barca have to have a bad day if Man Utd are to beat them cos Man Utd have enough quality to beat Barca, enough said

What Stubbs said essentially. Guardiola isn't that good a manager tbh - he's got an incredible squad it's difficult not to win things with and he was largely out-witted by Wenger this season: Almost twice considering we were that Bendtner chance away from knocking them out and we beat them in the First Leg.

SAF has far more versatility in his squad - he has numerous options to chose from: Park, or Nani on the left? Valencia or Nani on the right? 4-4-1-1, or 4-1-4-1? Etc.

You'll see in my article why I think SAF has the upper hand.