Who is this shit storey wannabe, and who promoted him?
I'm not conveniently forgetting anything. In a one off game on neutral territory Barcelona will beat us 9 times out of 10. feck this home soil bullshit - Wembley is not our home, we didn't have a support advantage, and our record there should tell you all you need to know about whether we get any morale boost from playing there.
I'm not saying we'd have Barca's number in a two-legged tie either, I just think we'd fare much better. You can't just ignore our home record in a two legged tie. We have the best home record in Europe. Barca are no great shakes away from home, so I'd give us far more of a chance than in a one-off final. Our supposedly terrible midfield usually gets the better of every other midfield it comes up against, especially at home. Even away from home we've given the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal a schooling in Europe in recent years, and our European away record in general is second to none.
Barcelona would still be favourites and they'd dominate, but I'd much prefer to face them over 180 minutes, home and away, than in a one-off final. A final is a straight match-up, seeing who's the best team under entirely even circumstances, and clearly they are, so they'll win. A two-legged tie allows you to be a bit more crafty, tactical, you can focus on an away goal, or keeping a clean sheet at home. And we've been brilliant in two-legged ties for years - they suit us perfectly.