Barcelona vs Manchester United: Key Battles

For Barcelona: Beautiful football being overshadowed by thuggery?

For Manchester United: A great team in the making or just the best of an average class of teams?

Both, Barcelona and Manchester United, have a chance to silence their critics when they meet in the final of the UEFA Champions League, their second meeting at this stage in three years, at Wembley on May 28^th.

Barcelona have won as many accolades for their beautiful football as they have garnered criticisms for their play-acting on the field, while Man Utd’s success has been characterised by the failures of their rivals.

The last final was billed as the clash between Ronaldo and Messi, but in this one, it’s the favourites, Barcelona, against the underdogs, Manchester United.

Both the clubs have won the coveted competition of the three times, but are still behind their fiercest domestic rivals in terms of European honours, so have an added incentive to win the competition and go into the game as the champions of their respective countries after winning their leagues on the same weekend.

It would be an historic day for the managers as well, as Sir Alex Ferguson could become the first manager since Bob Paisley in the 1970’s to win three European Cups with an English Club, while Josep Guardiaola could become the first Barcelona manager to win European Cups, and at the same time could overtake Luis Carniglia, who achieved the feat with the all conquering Real Madrid side in the 50’s, as the youngest manager to win two European cups.

Here are some of the key battles which could tilt the tie in favour of either team:

1) Park Ji Sung vs Dani Alves

Dani Alves has his critics for his petulance and all the more increasing theatrics, but his importance for Barcelona can’t be underestimated by anyone. And, just how United deal with his lung-bursting runs down the right hand side could prove to be a key for a good performance by Sir Alex Ferguson’s men.

The man for United to achieve this seemingly essential task could be Park Ji Sung. The former Korean captain has emerged as a trusted lieutenant for Ferguson in big games, both in Europe and domestic competitions. Whether it’s scoring important goals, with Chelsea game being the latest testament to this fact, or giving his all in following the gaffer’s instruction, he’s done it all.

So, one would expect him to start against Barcelona and do a proper job on Dani Alves, while at the same time also providing the energy for the quick counter attacks that United are expected to rely on.

2) Wayne Rooney vs Sergio Busquets

It’s been a eventful year for the Man Utd talisman, starting on the back of a horrible World Cup in South Africa, the

Key Duo for United

n the drama of the transfer demand, only to be followed by a new contract and bumper pay rise and his subsequent return to form, which has looked like reaching its peak as his partnership with Javier Hernandez blossoms even further.

And now he could cap a tumultuous start to the year with a double of League and Europe, and his contribution in the final could really be United’s main hope.

Sergio Busquests will be in direct opposition to Rooney for both space and time on the ball, a battle if won by the Barcelona man could actually spell doom for the team from Manchester.

The young Spaniard has come on leaps and bounds in the past few years, becoming an essential part of the Barcelona and Spanish set-up at the tender age of 22. His role as the defensive midfielder who joins in at the back when Barcelona are attacking helps them maintain cohesion at the back, whilst at the same time pouring men forward.

With Rooney dropping deep to get the ball, Busquests would be required to stifle him out of space in the middle, while at the same time also continue feeding the balls to Xavi, Iniesta.

3) Messi/Xavi/Iniesta vs Vidic/Ferdinand/Carrick

With Villa and Pedro would be expected to be engaged by the fullbacks, it could all come down to how the Man United defence deal with the trio of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. All three of them make runs from deep, thereby creating a dilemma for Man United defenders and making the performance of their midfielders even more important.

If Man United defenders follow their man, then they could end up playing a high line, thereby being susceptible to balls behind them, but on the other hand if they decide to sit deep they are inviting trouble. So, there’s a very fine line for United here, a line which they didn’t understand in the Roma final two years ago as they didn’t have a clue what to do when Barcelona scored early, and sat back and invited the pressure.

A few other finer details could also play a part as it will be interesting to see whether Chicharito will be able to cause any trouble to the Barcelona back-four. He has displayed some great movement up front and has shown that he’s not scared against the big physical defenders. However, for him to be play an essential role he needs to have the service from midfield as he won’t be expected to create chances on his own against the likes of Pique and Puyol.

No matter what the final outcome would be, one thing is for sure that it won’t be a repeat of the final from two years ago. And also a testament to the fact how far Barcelona have come as no one expects them to change anything about their team, but the opposition to adjust to how they play.

It won’t be a physical battle, but a battle of the brains.

Probable line-ups:

Barcelona: Valdes; Alves, Puyol, Pique, Abidal; Busquests, Xavi, Iniesta; Pedro, Villa, Messi.

Manchester United: Van der Sar; Rafael, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra; Valencia, Carrick, Giggs, Rooney, Valencia, Park ji Sung; Hernandez.