And so, as expected, Barcelona and Man Utd will face each other in Wembley at the Champions League final on May 28, in a repeat of the same fixture in 2009. Will this be redemption time for Sir Alex Ferguson's men or will Pep Guardiola's side march on to s third Champions League trophy in five years?
Interestingly enough, both sides will go in to this final with quite a number of things in common. For one, victory would translate to a fourth Champions League for either side while this is also the third final both sides have been in over the last five years(although only Barcelona have won two of those three finals.
And while having the final in Wembley literally makes Utd the 'home' side in this fixture, both clubs share a common bond with England's most famous football ground. Wembley, after all, was the venue of Man Utd's first ever Champions League (or European Cup as it was known then) in 1968. Fast forward 24 years and Wembley was once again the venue for the coronation of a new European champion and this time it was - you guessed it - FC Barcelona.Ironically, Guardiola was a member of that famous Barcelona team which was at the time coached by Dutch legend, Johan Cruyff.
On another footnote, the final on May 28 will be sixth time Wembley has hosted The final of Europe's most prestigious footballing tournament and no club has won the Champions League/European Cup at these grounds more than once. This in turn means that whoever wins on May 28 will be the only one to have won at Wembley twice.
So who really holds the advantage going into the final? Barcelona's free-scoring form all season has made the Catalans the most feared side in Europe. Add to that an in-form Lionel Messi with a supporting cast made up of David Villa, Xavier Hernandez and Andreas Iniesta, Barcelona are clearly the favourites going into the final even if their semifinal victory against Real Madrid was marred by allegations of diving and play-acting. Indeed, the referring in this month's final will be closely scrutinized.
Like their opponents, Man Utd will be fielding many players that featured in the 2-0 defeat at the 2009 Champions League final in Rome. However, this time around there won't be a Cristiano Ronaldo at Man Utd to match up against Barca's Messi (although I'm guessing Ronnie will be rooting for his old club).
As such, unlike the previous encounter, i'd expect Ferguson's side to employ a more defensive stance going in to this final and capitalize on quick countr attacks. There's no way United's going to win this contest by playing free-flowing football.
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