Need 2 Know
Regular
FC Barcelona vs. Manchester United
Rome Olympic Stadium
May 27, 2009
19:45 (GMT) Kick Off
Rome Olympic Stadium
May 27, 2009
19:45 (GMT) Kick Off
So let the debate begin,
Barca 2 - 1 Man Utd
Champions League Final
- Thread starter Need 2 Know
- Start date
So let the debate begin,
Barca 2 - 1 Man Utd
I rarely try to guess football scores - it is practically impossible! :smile:
The only one I ever got right was guessing a 2-0 scoreline to Arsenal in the 2002 F.A. Cup Final which won me about £50 from a small bet!
Hopefully Barcelona will play a good attacking game. I feel they missed Henry on Wednesday and his return to the team would undoubtedly help Eto'o and Messi have more of an impact in the Final.
It will be a good contrast in styles between the two teams. Manchester United are ideally set up to counter-attack and their defence looks quite strong at the moment (just as long as Ferdinand's recurring back injury doesn't flare up again). They have a great deal of power and pace in attack as well as plenty of skill. If Messi plays on the right, expect Rooney to play left midfield and work his socks off defensively! He is a ridiculously hard-working player, providing he doesn't lose his cool and get sent off. Ronaldo can be a bit hit and miss in big games but can cause problems with his pace and power and he is phenomenally good in the air as well, an area where Barcelona's defence struggle.
However, I think Manyoo's midfield is rather weak, especially the centre (notably Carrick, IMO). I feel Barcelona can dominate this area and this is where they will need to do well if they are going to win the game.
I'd say it is 50/50 who will win. Let's hope for a few goals! :smile:
The only one I ever got right was guessing a 2-0 scoreline to Arsenal in the 2002 F.A. Cup Final which won me about £50 from a small bet!
Hopefully Barcelona will play a good attacking game. I feel they missed Henry on Wednesday and his return to the team would undoubtedly help Eto'o and Messi have more of an impact in the Final.
It will be a good contrast in styles between the two teams. Manchester United are ideally set up to counter-attack and their defence looks quite strong at the moment (just as long as Ferdinand's recurring back injury doesn't flare up again). They have a great deal of power and pace in attack as well as plenty of skill. If Messi plays on the right, expect Rooney to play left midfield and work his socks off defensively! He is a ridiculously hard-working player, providing he doesn't lose his cool and get sent off. Ronaldo can be a bit hit and miss in big games but can cause problems with his pace and power and he is phenomenally good in the air as well, an area where Barcelona's defence struggle.
However, I think Manyoo's midfield is rather weak, especially the centre (notably Carrick, IMO). I feel Barcelona can dominate this area and this is where they will need to do well if they are going to win the game.
I'd say it is 50/50 who will win. Let's hope for a few goals! :smile:
Need 2 Know
Regular
Well said, lets hope for the Fans around the World this game delivers the Football that is required from the 2 best Teams at the min.
DuckThor Evil
Legend
It's definately a dream match up, even though I wanted Chelsea to be there. anything can happen in one game, but I'm confident that if Manu has all the key players healthy, that victory shall be ours! Barca has lot's of offensive talent, but I feel that on overall Manu has slightly stronger team. Their performance against Arsenal in both legs was simply brilliant, Manu also has a pretty wide bench to support multiple strategies.
2-0 for Manu Ronaldo and Rooney one each.
2-0 for Manu Ronaldo and Rooney one each.
As long as the mancs don't win I'll be happy. A perfect night would see them either given a footballing lesson or succumb to a last minute winner a la Chelsea. The former caters for my need to see a slow, lingering death whilst the latter would undoubtedly be funnier. Perhaps a reverse of the injustice bestowed upon Bayern all those years ago would be ideal.
If that were to be accompanied by Ferguson being caught on camera making disrespectful hand gestures to the Barcelona bench I think I'll have died and gone to heaven.
If that were to be accompanied by Ferguson being caught on camera making disrespectful hand gestures to the Barcelona bench I think I'll have died and gone to heaven.
Almost certainly not.
Man U are probably unique however in their ability to engender such a feeling in supporters. Partly to do with their success, after all nobody would care if they were a mid-table League Two side, but mostly the way that their players, their fans, and possibly most of all, their manager conduct themselves. The only other club to run them close lately has been Chelsea - their behaviour on Wednesday being a prime example of that.
Manchester United are famous for having few Mancunian fans. There is a standing joke that most British ManYoo fans come from the home counties (i.e. the South East of England) instead of the North West.
The situation probably isn't quite as extreme as that but it is just the usual thing that people tend to be glory hunters and support the most successful team around. Throughout the country you'll see loads of kids wearing ManYoo shirts instead of those of their local team. When I was a younger, most of the kids claimed to be Liverpool fans because they were the most successful team at the time.
It must be said that I have plenty of contempt for these plastic gloryhunting fans. I, on the other hand, support a proper football team, which has caused me endless suffering and sleepless nights, especially this season!
The situation probably isn't quite as extreme as that but it is just the usual thing that people tend to be glory hunters and support the most successful team around. Throughout the country you'll see loads of kids wearing ManYoo shirts instead of those of their local team. When I was a younger, most of the kids claimed to be Liverpool fans because they were the most successful team at the time.
It must be said that I have plenty of contempt for these plastic gloryhunting fans. I, on the other hand, support a proper football team, which has caused me endless suffering and sleepless nights, especially this season!
Oh, we're all over the place. :smile:
(Edit: Incidentally, although we're known as Codheads, no true Grimbarian (or a Meggie from Cleethorpes, like myself) would dream of eating cod unless the chippie had already run out of haddock which is a much, much better fish. Here ends today's fishy facts.)
(Edit: Incidentally, although we're known as Codheads, no true Grimbarian (or a Meggie from Cleethorpes, like myself) would dream of eating cod unless the chippie had already run out of haddock which is a much, much better fish. Here ends today's fishy facts.)
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Thing with Barca's attacking "talent" is they all bottle it. Henry, Messi etc.etc all choke when the pressure is on.
The haters need to realise that the English league is clearly the best now by a country mile, Barca beating everyone in Spain no longer means they are a good team. They will be schooled like they were last year. Unfortunately for Barca Ronaldo is coming into some great form now whereas last year he was running on empty by this time of the season.
It will not end well for Barca.
It'll be just like Inter all over again, all the haters said they would trash Manchester united because they are doing so well in Italy, and look what happened to them, humiliated.
The haters need to realise that the English league is clearly the best now by a country mile, Barca beating everyone in Spain no longer means they are a good team. They will be schooled like they were last year. Unfortunately for Barca Ronaldo is coming into some great form now whereas last year he was running on empty by this time of the season.
It will not end well for Barca.
It'll be just like Inter all over again, all the haters said they would trash Manchester united because they are doing so well in Italy, and look what happened to them, humiliated.
Need 2 Know
Regular
Mate seriously, this reply doesn't even deserved to be answered.
The 27th will tell who the real Champions of Europe are and as for your comment regarding Barca being schooled, it will be the next Ballon d'Or winner that is Lionel Messi who will be doing the schooling so Rooney and Ronaldo get your pens ready.They have a name and the whole world knows it -- BARÇA !, BARÇA!, BARÇA!,
For me, a lot depends on how well the Barcelona defence can hold up to Manyoo's counter-attacks.
It's all well and good having great skill in midfield and attack but the fact that the defences of the big Spanish teams tend to be quite weak still surprises me.
For Barcelona, they really need to take control of the midfield if they want to beat Manyoo. As previously mentioned, I feel the centre of Manyoo's midfield is really lacking in pace and power (unlike Chelsea's) so Xavi, Iniesta and company could run rings around them if they hit some form.
It's all well and good having great skill in midfield and attack but the fact that the defences of the big Spanish teams tend to be quite weak still surprises me.
For Barcelona, they really need to take control of the midfield if they want to beat Manyoo. As previously mentioned, I feel the centre of Manyoo's midfield is really lacking in pace and power (unlike Chelsea's) so Xavi, Iniesta and company could run rings around them if they hit some form.
This is the problem with Man Utd supporters. You win a match 1-0, and apparently you "schooled" them???
The exact same barca team that good their asses whooped 4-1 a week later by real madrid. You managed to score 1 goal over 180 minutes, in a even sided game and you think you schooled somebody?
Get over yourself, last years barca team was the worse barca team in years, and you barely managed to win that match.
Spanish league football is not as bad as english supporters try to make it to be. Counting throphies its certainly on par if not better than England, looking at how well medicore spanish sides have done in the UEFA cup also suggest that there is nothing wrong with spanish teams.
English supporters seem to have very short term memory.
1998–99 Manchester United
1999–2000 Real Madrid
2000–01 Bayern Munich
2001–02 Real Madrid
2002–03 Milan
2003–04 Porto
2004–05 Liverpool
2005–06 Barcelona
2006–07 Milan
2007–08 Manchester United
UEFA cup (If the english teams are so much better than the spanish teams, shouldn't you be capable of winning the UEFA cup with your lesser teams?)
1999 Parma 3–0 Marseille
2000 Galatasaray
2001 Liverpool
2002 Feyenoord
2003 Porto
2004 Valencia
2005 CSKA Moscow
2006 Sevilla
2007 Sevilla
2008 Zenit Saint Petersburg
That being said, i think barca will actually be an easier team for man utd to beat than chelsea, because hiddink is so clever, and because if you defend like chelsea vs barca (which man utd should be capable of) they have a very hard time to score, they are worthless in the air and dont have many options.
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One problem with English teams in the UEFA Cup (soon to be "Europa League" - bloody stupid name!) is that the clubs outside of the big 4 teams who qualify for Europe often play weakened teams depending on how well they are doing in the League. The other year, Bolton played a reserve side in a quite advanced round of the competition because keeping their Premier League status was more important than anything else. This year, Aston Villa played a weakened team because they decided that trying to qualify for the Champions League was more important than trying to win a trophy. I think this is wrong so I'm pleased this tactic backfired on them.
Personally, I reckon the UEFA Cup, sorry Europa Leagueroll, ought to revert to a straight knock-out format instead of the pointless second-tier League competition it has become in recent years.
Now 3 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon and I don't have any football to look forward to. Better mow the lawn, I suppose...
Personally, I reckon the UEFA Cup, sorry Europa League
roll, ought to revert to a straight knock-out format instead of the pointless second-tier League competition it has become in recent years.Now 3 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon and I don't have any football to look forward to. Better mow the lawn, I suppose...
This is hardly a problem for the english teams, all teams from the bigger leagues does this.
Yeah, schooled them in the art of winning a football match. Barca were never in it.
The problem with people that don't like Manchester united is they all think it's some how a fluke United are so good.
You are only saying last years Barca are worse because they lost, the way I see it there's no change between last year and this, they still whooped everyone in the vastly inferior La Liga and still struggled against an English team in the semi-final. Face facts they are only through because of a very dodgy ref.
