Barcelona vs Manchester United UEFA Champion's League Final 2010/2011

Two teams have booked their place in this UEFA Champion's League final and the stage, Wembley, is raring to go. An epic battle between two of the beautiful game's giants, a battle between two champions, the Spanish and the English champions, will be taking place this May 28h and it promises to be an all-out attacking encounter which has fans all around the world jumping with excitement, wishing that the date would just jump to the 28th and witness the ultimate football ultimate battle of the season, this is the Champion's League Final and this is Barcelona vs Manchester United.

The last time the two teams met each other was 2 years ago at the same stage of the season. On that occasion, it was the Underdogs and Spanish champions, Barcelona, who emerged victorious in Rome. Manchester United was accused of failing to turn up for this game after only managing to control the game for the first 15 minutes and from then on, it was Barcelona onwards. Some would say the English champions failed to turn up and some would say they were given a footballing lesson by Barca but all that is history now and in less than 2 weeks we will be witnessing one of the greatest match up of all time.

Previous meetings between these two clubs has been pretty equal, out of their 10 meetings, each of them has won 3 games, lost 3 and drawn 4. If sequence was a 100% indication of the future, this game will end with the English Champions' being crowned as the European Champions again but sadly, football is much more unpredictable and complicated than that.

The last meeting between them was a one-sided affair, as the Catalan club cruise to victory. Manchester United were undone by two brilliant, unsung heroes of Barcelona in the form of Xavi and Iniesta and they will be looking to repeat their amazing plays to secure their 4th Champion's League trophy. Manchester United won't be rolling over for the two talented midfielders though, Michael Carrick and Ji-Sung Park will most probably be deployed in midfield for United and they will be looking to break their plays at every opportunity they get.

Statistically Speaking

Now let's head on to the statistics. Attacking wise, Barcelona has been scoring goals a lot more than Manchester United, 27 goals to be exact, with 5 goals being scored in their their first group stage game as they demolished Panathinaikos 5-1. Defensively though, Manchester United has been amazingly rock solid in this tournament, conceding just 4 goals to reach the final stage.

Recent form for these two teams would suggest that Manchester United will have the upper hand in this tie, but it is highly advisable to not rely on that stat due to certain conditions of the matches surrounding each other in the last 6.

Key Players for Barcelona

Lionel Messi - He is no doubt one of the best players the planet has ever seen. The reigning World Player of the Year has single handedly won games for Barca and will always be a constant threat for opposition's defense. While he lacks pace, he makes up for it with amazing ball control and trickery to get past through his opponents. United will need to look for ways to deal with this midfield maestro if they are to stand a chance of winning the tie.

Xavi - The Spanish midfield genius posses the ability to create something out of nothing while keeping possession all the time. His intelligent through ball plays will be a threat that United will need to deal with as well as there is no doubt that he will be testing the United's defense to the bare bone on the night.

Key Players for Manchester United

Wayne Rooney - He has been United's talisman after the turn of the year and after scoring the decisive goal to secure the Premier League trophy last weekend, he will be definitely looking to add more to his medal collection. The powerful forward is blessed with a footballing brain, possessing extraordinary vision to create for his team and also an ability to score goals out of thin air. He will be a constant threat for Barcelona and the Catalan club will need to prepare themselves for Rooney to increase their chances of winning.

Nemanja Vidic - The captain and rock solid defender of Manchester United. He has been a key figure in this year's campaign with his no-nonsense defending mentality. Although he is widely known as an exceptional center-back, he is also a formidable player in attacking set pieces. His aerial ability will always be an important asset for Manchester United regardless of it being in a defensive scenario or an attacking one. Barca's attacking play will provide a stern challenge to Vidic and it will be up to the captain to break down Barca's advances and lead his team to glory.

In Conclusion

This game promises to be an exciting encounter and football fans can hardly wait for the day. As usual, I will leave you with my predictions for the game. This tie is a tough nut to crack for me, but I think Man Utd, being the underdogs, will have less pressure going into this game and they also have home soil advantage, which will definitely add up to their chances of being crowned Europe's Champions for this season.

Final Score = Barcelona 2 - 3 Manchester United

Over/Under goals = Over 2.5 goals

Asian Handicap = Manchester United win with +0.5 odds.