Champions League Final Build-Up Thread

Northstand said:
^ Just wondering what Giggsy was saying to Ronaldo at about 5:25? Reckon it could have been something like "you won't find anywhere else that compares to United you know lad!"
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I'm pretty sure I remember reading where Giggs was asked about that, and he replied that he was telling Ronaldo to make sure he didn't have to wait a decade for a second one like he (Giggs) himself had to.

Great leadership from Giggsy, that.
 
Feeky_Magee said:
I would say that if we're talking in musts against Barcelona, then Fletcher would be close to that, fitness and some sort of form depending. He brings so much work-rate and the positional discipline that Giggsy sometimes lacks (see 2009 final).
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Giggsy is the in form player. Unlike 09 he played a lot this season and with scholesy's dip in form we need his experience. We can't relay on muscles only

Fletcher is back but we don't know about his fitness yet

I can't begin to how much I value Fletcher -Carrick and for me Giggs will complete those two

I could see us play narrow

------------Carrick-----Fletcher -------

...............Park (on a free).............

.....................Giggs...............

--------Rooney ---Hernandez

Obviously, Rooney to drop back behind Chicharito
 
The two most famous football clubs in the world's most famous club competition from the world's two most famous leagues at one of the world's most famous stadiums.

Football aside, the marketing men were covered in their own ejaculation juices when this fixture was confirmed.
 
Barcelona is playing a derby on sunday so just after the Chelsea match we should see if Espanyol have some fight in them to make it a physical game..
 
Real Madrid have appealed against Uefa's decision to reject complaints about the behaviour of Barcelona players in their Champions League semi-final first leg.

Barca were accused of "unsportsmanlike behaviour" by Real but Uefa said there was "no common strategy to provoke".

Uefa will hear the appeal on 16 May.

Real face their own hearing on Friday over midfielder Pepe's red card and coach Jose Mourinho's sending off and post-match comments.

The initial decision to reject Real's complaints was taken by the Uefa disciplinary panel on Monday.

In the bad-tempered match, which finished 2-0 to Barcelona, Barca's reserve keeper Jose Pinto received a red card for a confrontation as the teams left the pitch at half-time. Pepe was sent off for a tackle on Dani Alves and Mourinho was sent to the stands after protesting decisions on the touchline.

After the final whistle, the Real coach continued his complaints, suggesting in his post-match press conference that Barcelona were favourably treated by referees.

Barcelona claimed Mourinho had "crossed the line" with the remarks. Madrid responded, accusing Barca's players of "consistently feigned aggressions with the sole purpose of misleading the referee of the match".

The second leg on Tuesday ended in a 1-1 draw at Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium, allowing the Catalan side to advance to a meeting with Manchester United in the final in London on 28 May.
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Ban them all I say. Except Pinto.
 
A key to success against the Catalans is to hold a very tight back four, because, should - especially Xavi or Iniesta and Messi -, decide a through-ball, our backline could deal with them more comfortably by keeping a close and tight shape at the back. You could even leave the flanks exposed because their high balls hardly ever reach a player in time because the defense has the chance to shuffle in time while the ball's in the air.

Double protection in front of our defense - a double sweeper - would be ideal because that way you can lock up passes to our full-backs and that way the midfield could put pressure on the man on the ball.

Man-marking on Xavi as well as Messi is necessary, in my opinion - Xavi is the main passer obviously and Messi's freedom on the pitch alows him to escape zonal marking and, in the worst case scenario, drag out one of our centre-backs.

Villa & Pedro often like to roam between the centre- and full-backs to allow Messi valuable space and give him the chance to sneak into those dangerous position at the edge of the area.

Bastian Schweinsteiger did a very good job on Messi at the World Cup, by taking out of the game completely when he man-marked him, not allowing him any breathing space. Obviously it does get a tad harder when up against him with his Barcelona side, however, I think if you can put a man on Xavi and one on Messi, suffocate their influence on the play, we'll have a great chance.

A very interesting and good article on how Hercules Alicante beat Barca at the start of the season.
Barcelona 0-2 Hercules: Valdez beats Valdes twice to give Hercules shock victory | Zonal Marking
 
Route to the 2011 Champions League Final

Group Stages
Manchester United

Manchester United 0 - 0 Rangers
Valencia 0 - 1 Manchester United
Manchester United 1 - 0 Bursaspor
Bursaspor 0 - 3 Manchester United
Rangers 0 - 1 Manchester United
Manchester United 1 - 1 Valencia

Barcelona

Barcelona 5 - 1 Panathinaikos
Rubin 1 - 1 Barcelona
Barcelona 2 - 0 Copenhagen
Copenhagen 1 - 1 Barcelona
Panathinaikos 0 - 3 Barcelona
Barcelona 2 - 0 Rubin

First Knockout Round
Manchester United v Marseille
First Leg: Marseille 0 - 0 Manchester United
Second Leg: Manchester United 2 - 1 Marseille
Manchester United wins 2-1 on aggregate

Barcelona v Arsenal
First Leg: Arsenal 2 - 1 Barcelona
Second Leg: Barcelona 3 - 1 Arsenal
Barcelona wins 4-3 on aggregate.

Quarter Finals
Manchester United v Chelsea
First Leg: Chelsea 0 - 1 Manchester United
Second Leg: Manchester United 2 - 1 Chelsea
Manchester United wins 3-1 on aggregate

Barcelona v Shakhtar
First Leg: Barcelona 5 - 1 Shakhtar
Second Leg: Shakhtar 0 - 1 Barcelona
Barcelona wins 6-1 on aggregate

Semi-Finals
Manchester United v Schalke
First Leg: Schalke 0 - 2 Manchester United
Second Leg: Manchester United 4 - 1 Schalke
Manchester United wins 6-1 on aggregate

Barcelona v Real Madrid
First Leg: Madrid 0 - 2 Barcelona
Second Leg: Barcelona 1 - 1 Madrid
Barcelona wins 3-1 on aggregate

Top Scorers
Barcelona: Lionel Messi 11 goals
Manchester United: Javier Hernandez 4 goals

Clean sheets kept
Manchester United: 8
Barcelona 5

Overall Record

Manchester United P12, W9, D3, L0, F18, A4, GD+14
Barcelona P12, W8, D3, L1, F27, A8, GD+19
 
99 and 08 produced moments of magic. We are underdogs but I just have a feeling about this one. 2-1 United Rooney (90mins)
 
FC Barcelona and Manchester United FC will descend on Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 28 May each seeking to write another chapter in their long and rich history.

In a city resonant with past glories, these modern-day superpowers have their eyes on European club football's greatest prize. It was the same two years ago, when goals from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi earned Barcelona victory against United in Rome. As UEFA.com delves through the archives, however, it is abundantly clear there really is little to choose between the sides.

1 Previous encounters
United and Barcelona have met on ten previous occasions, winning three games apiece and drawing the other four since beginning their rivalry in the 1983/84 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals. They have also met in two UEFA finals; aside from Barcelona's 2009 triumph, they also met in the 1991 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in Rotterdam when United ran out 2-1 winners – Sir Alex Ferguson's first European trophy at Old Trafford. Former Barça striker Mark Hughes was the United hero, twice beating goalkeeper Carlos Busquets, father of Sergio.

The sides were paired in the UEFA Champions League group stage in 1994/95 and 1998/99, drawing three games with Barcelona winning the other, and United prevailed when they met in the 2007/08 semi-finals. Barcelona enacted swift retribution in their last meeting in Rome though ominously for Barça, neither side has ever won back-to-back meetings.

2 Wembley experience
United are obviously no strangers to Wembley, scene of nine of their FA Cup final victories, though the north London venue also commands a place in Barcelona's affections. Indeed, as Europe's premier club competition returns to Wembley for a record sixth time – the first in the UEFA Champions League era – fate has pitted together the two sides that claimed their maiden European Cups there.

In 1968 United became the first English club to lift the trophy with a 4-1 extra-time victory against a Eusébio-inspired SL Benfica. The Catalan giants also needed an additional 30 minutes when they met UC Sampdoria 24 years later in the last final before the dawn of the UEFA Champions League era. With Josep Guardiola among the starting XI, Dutch international Ronald Koeman finally broke the deadlock in the second period of extra time with a trademark free-kick.

3 European pedigree
Both sides have three titles apiece and are aiming for a fourth to move level with AFC Ajax and FC Bayern München in the all-time list – behind only Liverpool FC, AC Milan and Real Madrid CF. United had a 100% record in finals before Rome in 2009, defeating Benfica (1968), Bayern (1999) and Chelsea FC (2008).

Barcelona have won three out of six, victories against Sampdoria (1992), Arsenal FC (2006) and United balanced out by losses to Benfica (1961), FC Steaua Bucureşti (1986) and Milan (1994). For the Blaugrana, triumph would bring their third European Cup in six seasons, making them the first team to win the UEFA Champions League three times this century.

4 Sir Alex v Guardiola
Guardiola was seven when a 36-year-old Sir Alex embarked on his first European campaign as a manager with Aberdeen FC in 1978/79. What followed for both men is well documented, and victory at Wembley would give the Scot his third European Cup – equalling a record held by compatriot Bob Paisley, who guided Liverpool to glory in 1977, 1978 and 1981.

Guardiola is one of only six men to win the European Cup as player and coach, adding his name to the pantheon of greats in 2009: Miguel Muñoz, Giovanni Trapattoni, Johan Cruyff, Carlo Ancelotti and Frank Rijkaard preceded him. Of those, only Muñoz and Ancelotti guided sides to two titles.

5 Anglo-Spanish finals
English and Spanish sides have met in 15 UEFA club competition finals, Spain winning seven and England eight since Tottenham Hotspur FC got the ball rolling with a 5-1 victory against Club Atlético de Madrid in the 1962/63 Cup Winners' Cup. England initially held sway, prevailing in six of the first eight meetings including Liverpool's 1-0 victory over Real Madrid CF in the 1980/81 European Cup.

Spain, though, have had the better of recent contests. Sevilla FC swept aside Middlesbrough FC 4-0 to claim the 2005/06 UEFA Cup, their first major honour, and a week later in Paris, Barcelona beat ten-man Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League showpiece, winning 2-1. The Catalan giants repeated the dose three years later, with Manchester United the unwilling recipients, while Atlético defeated Fulham FC in the first UEFA Europa League final in Hamburg last May.
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Barcelona and United to square off again ? UEFA.com
 
I quite like this pic:

227343_171928726195998_104674546254750_330291_6054007_n.jpg
 
Good lord. There's a 19 hidden in that one. Had you seen that Levi_Jm?
 
The "I" from United in the crest looks like the number 1 and the "B" in "Bel19ve" kind of like the number 9.
 
feck sake why did I read this thread. The BEL|IEVE picture is now my desktop.
 
Wonder if Fergie has traveled for the Levante match going on right now. No clue how the game is going but, gamecast shows Barca with about 90% of the ball in the first 20+ minutes but, no shots yet - Levante already has 4 with one on target.
 
Ahh okay - too bad, he missed an absolute horror moment by Pique, running back towards his own goal, Valdes coming out, Caciedo putting pressure on him and he completely whiffs his clearance with his left foot and the ball bouncing past the keeper for Caciedo to fire into the empty net.
 
Shimo said:
Wonder if Fergie has traveled for the Levante match going on right now. No clue how the game is going but, gamecast shows Barca with about 90% of the ball in the first 20+ minutes but, no shots yet - Levante already has 4 with one on target.
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Fergie is watching Reserves at Old Trafford.
 
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