Chelsea or Barcelona who will Manchester United prefer in Champions League final?

06 May 2009 11:27
Manchester United could not have two more contrasting prospective opponents in Rome. Chelsea are resolute, their successes of recent years built on a foundation of defensive obstinacy, regardless of their manager. Barcelona, of course, are just the opposite, constructed to attack, questions over their defence more often than not rendered irrelevant by the efficacy of their forward line.[LNB]Ferguson and his players, of course, will be confident both can be beaten. United have overcome their Easter blip and their play is, for the first time this campaign, infused with the confidence and verve with which they swept all before them last season. Yet, although he would not admit it, the Scot will have a personal preference for his opponents in Rome. But who?[LNB] Related ArticlesArsenal 1 Manchester United 3: Match reportFletcher dismissal mars United partyArsenal v Manchester United: Man markingFletcher hopes rest with refereeArsenal 'babies' taught a lessonSir Alex's family in car crashChelsea, for their part, are a known quantity. United's league position, plus two previous meetings this season, suggest the Old Trafford side have the measure of their opponents in Moscow last year. While the 3-0 victory over Chelsea in January was achieved against the doomed Luiz Felipe Scolari, not Guus Hiddink, the favoured personnel and system are all but identical.[LNB]Yet that is not to suggest Chelsea are the soft option. Hiddink has instilled belief, all but evaporated by the time Scolari's side travelled to Manchester four months ago, and players who once looked lost seem determined, focused. Chelsea have lost just once under the Dutchman, at Tottenham, and have seen off both Arsenal and Liverpool in cup competitions since he arrived.[LNB]Among those players will be a lust for revenge, for Moscow last year and Manchester this, as well as knowledge on the part of the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba that their chances of lifting the biggest trophy in club football are running out. All are, at varying speeds, entering their twilight. They cannot afford to waste a moment.[LNB]In Drogba, too, Chelsea have a player to give United the jitters. On his day, the Ivorian is all but unplayable. His combination of skill, pace and brute strength would ask questions of a defence which remains a shadow of the impenetrable unit earlier in the season.[LNB]It is that defence which would, on balance, probably make Chelsea preferable opponents for United than Barcelona. The Catalans, too, are not unfamiliar to Ferguson and his troops, their first choice side for the final this year, should they make it, likely to feature just two players who did not play in last year's semi-final.[LNB]But the difference between that side and this is vast in every other aspect. Frank Rijkaard's team last season was at its nadir, whereas Pep Guardiola's is yet to hit its zenith. Lionel Messi is a better player than the one who struggled at Old Trafford on his last visit, Thierry Henry is almost as elegant as he once was and Samuel Eto'o, once disinterested, appears reborn.[LNB]Behind them lie the best midfield in the world and the best right-back on the planet, Daniel Alves. Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic would need to be at the very top of their game to keep Barcelona out, while Ferguson's successful ploy when he faced a worse Barcelona outfit on the way to Moscow – 179 minutes of all-out defence, one long-range shot – probably wouldn't cut it in a final.[LNB]Worse still, Barcelona, by that stage, should be within one win of an unprecedented treble – La Liga wrapped up, heavy favourites for the Copa Del Rey. A third European Cup would complete the greatest ever debut season for a coach. Yet doubts remain. Their defence, shorn of the injured Gabriel Milito, is rocky, the goalkeeper Victor Valdes reliably unreliable. Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney would, undoubtedly, fancy their chances.[LNB]For them to create any, though, United would need to commit men forward, tantamount to suicide with Barcelona's attackers lying in wait and Vidic and Ferdinand still porous, especially against the combination of pace and intricacy. Chelsea, just, remain the lesser of two evils. [LNB] 

Source: Telegraph