Manchester United Vs Barcelona in the Champions League Final, Saturday 28th May At Wembley
Manchester United beat Schalke comfortably to setup an encounter with Barcelona in the Champions League Final to be played at Wembley on the 28th May 2011.
Man Utd strolled to another Champions League final after beating Schalke at Old Trafford 6-1 on aggregate fielding a largely reserve side.
With an English premier league title decider at the weekend against Chelsea, he wanted to make sure his first team players were all fit, healthy and up for the match so left many of his stars on the bench.
He said he had had a sleepless night over the decision to rest so many, european nights can be difficult at the best of times, but he needn’t have worried. It is difficult to recall an easier semi-final over 2 legs than this one.
His second string side easily beat the German team even though they played a better game than in their home leg when they were beaten 2-0 by United despite what Sir Alex Ferguson called, the best goalkeeping display he had ever witnessed.
Barcelona had more problems containing their rivals Real Madrid, off the pitch as well as on. In the end they emerged scarred but victorious 3-1 on aggregate.
Two of the best teams in Europe have made it through to the final and perhaps with a slight home advantage (it will be played in London) and the fact that it is not played over 2 legs, Manchester United have a good chance of lifting the trophy once again.
Barcelona will be favourites, consistently called the best club side in history these days and it is true that their all round game is immense.
Their attacking flair is obvious, Leoni Messi leading the line magnificently (how do you keep him quiet for an entire game?), but what is easy to overlook is their equally brilliant defensive qualities. They don’t give the opposition any time on the ball, they hustle and harry as an entire team.
It is this quality that their attacking success is built on, it means that they get the ball back quickly after losing it, it means that the opposition don’t have a chance to settle and get comfortable in order to build any consistent attacks.
It is also very important that these defensive manoeuvres are carried out as a team, one person crowding a player is no good, they simply pass their way out of it. The whole team has to move as a defensive unit and Barcelona are the best at it, underlying that while they may have Messi, Iniesta and Xavi, they are a team that work hard for each other and as a unit.
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