Manchester United Up Agianst Bareclona In The Final

Manchester United vs Barcelona

One final push.One game to show that all the hard work this season meant something. The game of the year, no the game of the last 5 years is here. Why do I say it is the best game of the last 5 years? Well, firstly in 2009 this game was played Barcelona won. Secondly, over the last 5 years either United or Barcelona has made either the final or semi-final of the cup and finally they are the undisputed champions of the English and Spanish leagues.

I am not expecting a 5-4 win or 4-2 I am not expecting many goals, because it is the best defense in the cup against the best offense. I expect them to cancel each other out and the 2 or 3 goals in the game to be very scrappy. Xavi Hernandez ( Barcelona player) has hailed Manchester United, as had Messi and Pep Guirdiola ( coach) . I like it both teams have a lot of respect for one another, but it may be too much respect. I hope the game gets a hard tackle in the opening minutes so the players understand it is a cup final and not a kick-a-around.

I have 3 worries for Manchester United tomorrow: number 1) Is Hernandez strong enough to face Pique?  He believes he is ready, but at 22 years of age he is very young and little. the second problem is Giggs. HE IS AMAZING ! But, will this be one step too far for him? I hope not. If he is fully fit the game will favor united, if not......well I do not think Gibson is a good replacement. number 3) The lose in the final of 2009....... will that be a factor in this game? Evra has said he is " not allowed" to lose another final. If United can overcome these problems and Carrick can keep playing the way he was playing in the games against Chelsea and Schalke, United could win this game, but the problem when you play Barca is you switch off for a second and BANG you are chasing the back of Messi. Ask any defender, thats not good.

Coach Time

The Barceolna team pretty much chooses itself: Valdez, Dani Alves, Pique, Puyol, Abidal, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Villa and Perdo. Over the last couple of Champions league games United have featured the same squad and the results show that it works, the only positions that have raised eye brows are the Right Back and Left Winger. The right back spot is between the two twins: Rafa and Fabio. Rafa has more experience, but Fabio has been playing more often, If you would have asked me 4 days ago I would have said Rafa, but now I want to see Fabio. The Left winger is interesting because we need a player who can attack and defend.- Park, but Nani was voted the best player........ What I want to do is start with Park and in the 60th minute regardless of the result, put Nani on to cause Abidal a whole lot of problems. 

 

Prediction: My final prediction of the season ;( I can only see United winning. If United play there way and pressure Barcelona high up the pitch, we could win! As Sir Alex has said. We are the underdogs, but how often do underdogs win? I would say 70 % of the time =P

COME ON UNITED, THIS IS OUR SEASON!