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Barcelona vs Manchester United
Wembley, London
Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)
Kick-Off: 19:45 GMT
TV Viewings: ITV1, Sky Sports 1.
Barcelona and Manchester United travel to London to take part in a rematch of the UEFA Champions League Final of 2009, both looking to win their 4th Champions League title, and second at Wembley.
History in the Competition
Manchester United won their first Champions League trophy at Wembley in 1968 in a 4-2(AET) win over Benfica when goals from Bobby Charlton and George Best gave England their first European Cup victory. They won their second Champions League trophy in Barcelona in the infamous 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich when 2 goals in stoppage time from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave Manchester United the famous victory back in 1999 to complete the Treble. Their third and most recent success came at the expense of Chelsea in 2008, when after the two sides played out a 1-1 draw in normal time, United went on to win on penalties - Edwin Van Der Sar saving from Nicolas Anelka to get his side the win.
Barcelona on the other hand won their first Champions League trophy at Wembley in 1992, when a Ronald Koeman free kick nestled in the bottom corner to give the Catalan side a 1-0 win over AC Milan. They won their 2nd Champions League trophy with a 2-1 win over Arsenal in 2006, coming from behind with goals from Samuel Eto'o and Juliano Belletti to give them the victory in Paris. Their third and most recent success came against Manchester United in 2009, a 2-0 win in Rome with goals from Eto'o and Lionel Messi enough to beat a largely below par Manchester United team.
Team News
Barcelona have named their strongest available squad for this game, and are at near full strength for the Wembley final. Carles Puyol, Eric Abidal and Andres Iniesta are all expected to return to the starting line up after missing recent Champions League games through illness and injury. Barcelona aren't expected to spring any surprises to their line up, and are expected to line up as normal in their regular 4-3-3 system.
Predicted Line Up
Valdes
Alves - Pique - Puyol - Abidal
Busquets
Xavi - Iniesta
Pedro ----------------- Villa
Messi
Manchester United have no fresh injury worries coming into this game but will have a selection headache. After 2009's final, Sir Alex Ferguson must decide between going 4-3-3 with Rooney upfront by himself, or whether he should go with the 4-4-2 that has seen his side smash Schalke and Chelsea in this competition already. Should he go with the 4-4-2, Hernandez is expected to start up front alongside Rooney, meaning top goalscorer Dimitar Berbatov will sit out on the bench.
Predicted Line Up
Van Der Sar
Rafael - Ferdinand - Vidic - Evra
Valencia - Carrick - Giggs - Park
<--- Rooney --->
Hernandez
# # # # #
This game is going to be insane. Barcelona will look to take their usual game to us, with their possession football and walking the ball into the net. However, I feel we'll set up differently to 09 and go with our coveted 4-4-1-1/4-4-2 system to use our pace more effectively on the attack. We'll try to keep Messi out of the game through Zonal Marking and communication will be key to shutting him down. Giggs will start ahead of Fletcher who I don't believe is ready to start this game after so long out, and I think Hernandez's pace will force Barcelona to be careful when pushing players forward. Valencia and Park will work hard all night long to stop Alves and Abidal pushing too far forward, and Giggs and Carrick will work to stop Iniesta and Messi from drifting into the space in front of the centre backs. I'll be in the stadium so I won't be able to update this thread, but I'm really excited for this.
Barcelona 0-1 Manchester United
I'm not sure how we'll do it, but I think we'll keep a clean sheet and maybe be able to ****** a win with a goal. Whoever scores first in this game will win in my opinion, and I hope it will be us.
View attachment 173373View attachment 173372
Barcelona vs Manchester United
Wembley, London
Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)
Kick-Off: 19:45 GMT
TV Viewings: ITV1, Sky Sports 1.
Barcelona and Manchester United travel to London to take part in a rematch of the UEFA Champions League Final of 2009, both looking to win their 4th Champions League title, and second at Wembley.
History in the Competition
Manchester United won their first Champions League trophy at Wembley in 1968 in a 4-2(AET) win over Benfica when goals from Bobby Charlton and George Best gave England their first European Cup victory. They won their second Champions League trophy in Barcelona in the infamous 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich when 2 goals in stoppage time from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave Manchester United the famous victory back in 1999 to complete the Treble. Their third and most recent success came at the expense of Chelsea in 2008, when after the two sides played out a 1-1 draw in normal time, United went on to win on penalties - Edwin Van Der Sar saving from Nicolas Anelka to get his side the win.
Barcelona on the other hand won their first Champions League trophy at Wembley in 1992, when a Ronald Koeman free kick nestled in the bottom corner to give the Catalan side a 1-0 win over AC Milan. They won their 2nd Champions League trophy with a 2-1 win over Arsenal in 2006, coming from behind with goals from Samuel Eto'o and Juliano Belletti to give them the victory in Paris. Their third and most recent success came against Manchester United in 2009, a 2-0 win in Rome with goals from Eto'o and Lionel Messi enough to beat a largely below par Manchester United team.
Team News
Barcelona have named their strongest available squad for this game, and are at near full strength for the Wembley final. Carles Puyol, Eric Abidal and Andres Iniesta are all expected to return to the starting line up after missing recent Champions League games through illness and injury. Barcelona aren't expected to spring any surprises to their line up, and are expected to line up as normal in their regular 4-3-3 system.
Predicted Line Up
Valdes
Alves - Pique - Puyol - Abidal
Busquets
Xavi - Iniesta
Pedro ----------------- Villa
Messi
Manchester United have no fresh injury worries coming into this game but will have a selection headache. After 2009's final, Sir Alex Ferguson must decide between going 4-3-3 with Rooney upfront by himself, or whether he should go with the 4-4-2 that has seen his side smash Schalke and Chelsea in this competition already. Should he go with the 4-4-2, Hernandez is expected to start up front alongside Rooney, meaning top goalscorer Dimitar Berbatov will sit out on the bench.
Predicted Line Up
Van Der Sar
Rafael - Ferdinand - Vidic - Evra
Valencia - Carrick - Giggs - Park
<--- Rooney --->
Hernandez
# # # # #
This game is going to be insane. Barcelona will look to take their usual game to us, with their possession football and walking the ball into the net. However, I feel we'll set up differently to 09 and go with our coveted 4-4-1-1/4-4-2 system to use our pace more effectively on the attack. We'll try to keep Messi out of the game through Zonal Marking and communication will be key to shutting him down. Giggs will start ahead of Fletcher who I don't believe is ready to start this game after so long out, and I think Hernandez's pace will force Barcelona to be careful when pushing players forward. Valencia and Park will work hard all night long to stop Alves and Abidal pushing too far forward, and Giggs and Carrick will work to stop Iniesta and Messi from drifting into the space in front of the centre backs. I'll be in the stadium so I won't be able to update this thread, but I'm really excited for this.
Barcelona 0-1 Manchester United
I'm not sure how we'll do it, but I think we'll keep a clean sheet and maybe be able to ****** a win with a goal. Whoever scores first in this game will win in my opinion, and I hope it will be us.