Man Utd vs Barcelona, Champions League Final 08/09

What?

By the press conference also it sounded like Park wont start but will come on at some point.

Batman wrote:

COTR wrote:

Batman wrote:

COTR wrote:Stick to the pictures Batman

Spoiler:

Better than your above attempts at football discussion

so in your opinion, which team is under the more pressure going into the final, Barca or Man Utd?

It isn't a question which merits discussion because the answer is neither of them

L-r d wrote:By the press conference also it sounded like Park wont start but will come on at some point.

what did he say?

because Fletcher is out and how well Park played against Barca last season i thought he was guaranteed to start.

Some Korean journalist was asking about Park being the first place from asia to play in a cl final. Fergie seemed to hint he will feature and if he comes on he'll be sure to do a good job he's a player who doesn't need the ball to play well and so on.

Im thinking the role Park did last year will be for Rooney this year indicating a more attacking intent in itself.

L-r d wrote:Some Korean journalist was asking about Park being the first place from asia to play in a cl final. Fergie seemed to hint he will feature and if he comes on he'll be sure to do a good job he's a player who doesn't need the ball to play well and so on.

Im thinking the role Park did last year will be for Rooney this year indicating a more attacking intent in itself.

D'ya think Tevez will start Lrd ?

I think he'll go with Park and Rooney as the second fullbacks again, just to let Barca get frustrated as they pass it around aimlessly in circles. He'll have watched the important barca games (ie against teams who can defend) and see how annoyed the barca players get when teams don't let them walk through to the keeper.

I think he'll go ultra defensive and pounce on the break / set piece. It's just giving barca more hope if you don't play this way

Berbatov obviously won't be let anywhere near the pitch

COTR wrote:

L-r d wrote:Some Korean journalist was asking about Park being the first place from asia to play in a cl final. Fergie seemed to hint he will feature and if he comes on he'll be sure to do a good job he's a player who doesn't need the ball to play well and so on.

Im thinking the role Park did last year will be for Rooney this year indicating a more attacking intent in itself.

D'ya think Tevez will start Lrd ?

I think he'll go with Park and Rooney as the second fullbacks again, just to let Barca get frustrated as they pass it around aimlessly in circles. He'll have watched the important barca games (ie against teams who can defend) and see how annoyed the barca players get when teams don't let them walk through to the keeper.

I think he'll go ultra defensive and pounce on the break / set piece. It's just giving barca more hope if you don't play this way

Berbatov obviously won't be let anywhere near the pitch

Im really not sure. That scenario is a set way of playing and a way that probably has the most guaranteed chance of success. But at the same time i think Fergie wants to win with a bit of style, he wants to be somewhat attacking and fans wont enjoy defending like they are an inferior team.

There's a number of things he can do i hope Berbatov is not preferred but then he could help in dropping into that DM role and actually keeping possesion for us.

But most likely from what i have seen and heard is Rooney on the left for sure, great attacking threat and can help Evra out with Messi. Then Ronaldo can be upfront or on the right, and if he is on the right then probably Tevez upfront. Carrick Giggs Anderson have enough legs and defensive know how and O Shea will limit his attacks + Tevez can swap with |Ronaldo and defend meaning that side wont be exposed.

Stuff from Revista de la Liga on tomorrow (Guillem Balague and Graham Hunter)

* Best guess Barca line -up

Valdes

Puyol - Yaya - Pique - Silvinho

Xavi - Busquets - Iniesta

Messi - Eto'o - TH

* Keita was initially mooted for LB but he turned it down as he hasn't played in that position before.

*It's possible that Messi may float between left and middle as Barca have identified O'Shea as the weak link in United midfield and will invite one of the CBs to come and help him out. United on the other hand may have Ronaldo in the middle to press Busquets who they identify as the weak link in Barca team.

* Barca think United will play like Chelsea - defend deep and try to hit on the counterattack.

* Pundits' bets - Graham Hunter for a late Barca win, Balague for a 1 - 0 United victory.

Will not be watching the game and will probably see none of it until 2 weeks time - away to NY. Come on Messi + Co.

Not watching as im going to a house party, but I think 2-1 United.
I will be hoping Barca annilhilate the mancs!

Some of the bets there are amusing. http://www.bluesq.com/bet?action=go_event&ev_id=1876206

First card and first sub are the ones i looked at the most. Busquets definitely the favourite on the card front. But i'd say O'Shea is guaranteed to get a booking.

If the media are right then the team will be:



* or Giggs RF, Park RCM

Subs - if we need a goal
Tevez > Anderson
Berbatov > Park

Marca has an interesting suggestion for Barça's team:

Valdes

Puyol-Pique-Toure-Sylvinho
Busquets
Xavi-Keita
Messi-Etoo-Iniesta

Keita has a tendency to float towards the left flank, so he could help Sylvinho if Ronaldo is operating there. And by putting Henry on the bench, we have a good option to bring on if we are chasing the game. But the downside of this formation is we are taking Iniesta out of the midfield...if he's coming from a central area he can cause more damage than if he's restricted to the left.

L-r d wrote:

COTR wrote:

L-r d wrote:Some Korean journalist was asking about Park being the first place from asia to play in a cl final. Fergie seemed to hint he will feature and if he comes on he'll be sure to do a good job he's a player who doesn't need the ball to play well and so on.

Im thinking the role Park did last year will be for Rooney this year indicating a more attacking intent in itself.

D'ya think Tevez will start Lrd ?

I think he'll go with Park and Rooney as the second fullbacks again, just to let Barca get frustrated as they pass it around aimlessly in circles. He'll have watched the important barca games (ie against teams who can defend) and see how annoyed the barca players get when teams don't let them walk through to the keeper.

I think he'll go ultra defensive and pounce on the break / set piece. It's just giving barca more hope if you don't play this way

Berbatov obviously won't be let anywhere near the pitch

Im really not sure. That scenario is a set way of playing and a way that probably has the most guaranteed chance of success. But at the same time i think Fergie wants to win with a bit of style, he wants to be somewhat attacking and fans wont enjoy defending like they are an inferior team.

There's a number of things he can do i hope Berbatov is not preferred but then he could help in dropping into that DM role and actually keeping possesion for us.

But most likely from what i have seen and heard is Rooney on the left for sure, great attacking threat and can help Evra out with Messi. Then Ronaldo can be upfront or on the right, and if he is on the right then probably Tevez upfront. Carrick Giggs Anderson have enough legs and defensive know how and O Shea will limit his attacks + Tevez can swap with |Ronaldo and defend meaning that side wont be exposed.

if you play counter attacking, many people may see this as attractive as long as the goals you score are like the second Ronaldo one against Arsenal. See Holland last year at the Euros, they played counter attacking against Italy and France, let them have the play and pounce on the break and everyone was raving about them because they broke so well.

@Batman: regarding the pressure, you are just not understanding when I tell you that the Barça players and Rijkaard were under immense pressure last year from most of the fans and press in Spain. I still disagree with what you're saying, so forget it, there's no point arguing further. I'll just close the issue by saying that neither team is under more pressure than the other. Both have already completed a very good season, and to win the CL will be a huge bonus on top of it. It's not a must-win for either side.

I'll be watching this with friends tonight so won't be able to comment on here, just hopes it's a good game though if we have to win by sitting back and hitting them on the counter I'm certainly not going to moan.

2-1 to Man United imo. Rooney & a Ronaldo penalty. Henry for Barca as I'm hoping Messi will be in Evra's pocket.

BBC kicked off their live text coverage a little early

And then people blame Barça fans for creating hype

Ut Oh!

Out of interest does anyone know when the last CL final was contested between two league champions from that season ?

did bayern win the league in '99? cos it could have been utd-bayern.

or porto monaco? but lyon probably won the league then as well. noooo idea

Yes Bayern won their league in 1999, they were going for the treble as well.

Yeah i think its the 1999 final.

As Lyon won the league that year

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero expects Barca to win tonight: "Yes, now is the moment in which I believe Barcelona has the best team in history. And they will win playing very well."

And so it begins

Cant wait for it to start.

I promised at work, that i will wear a Barca t-shirt tomorrow whatever the outcome of the game is.
Even if i have a meeting i will go there with that one.

Same here, planning to show up tomorrow with a Barça shirt...dress code for us is pretty casual so my bosses won't care

I will be wearing my ANTI-CULE scarf all afternoon.

Força Barça!