Jeff Powell: Catalans are no match for the greats of world football

28 May 2011 00:41
ShareIf you believe the hype, the team Manchester United face at Wembley on Saturday night are supermen who amount to the most wondrous XI to play football and it is hardly worth Sir Alex Ferguson's English champions turning up. [LNB]Really? Barcelona are good. But out of this world? [LNB]To join the rush from admiration to adulation it is necessary to buy into the concept of Spain being one of the greatest teams of all time. [LNB] Deadly dup: Barcelona midfielders Iniesta (right) and Xavi are top class - but can be hassled in their own half[LNB]Barca are constructed on last year's World Cup winners and it is beyond reasonable dispute that Spain's long wait to join the pantheon deserved to end. [LNB]But to compare them with the Brazil team of 1970, West Germany in '74, the Argentina side of '78 or the Hungarians of Ferenc Puskas, who somehow failed to win the World Cup, is to believe in hype over history. [LNB]Those teams scored goals for fun while Spain - for all that they were the most admirable of an average lot in South Africa - play keep-ball without that cutting edge which transforms football into fantasy. [LNB]Aha, we are told, but Barcelona are Spain with bells on, Well, one bell, to be precise. The one called Lionel Messi. Yes, little Leo is the genius of his generation. But one star is not a galaxy. [LNB]This team are not in the same celestial league as the Ajax Total Footballers of Johan Cruyff, Johan Neeskens, Ruud Krol and Arie Haan; the imperious Bayern Munich of Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller, Uli Hoeness and Paul Breitner nor close to the Real Madrid of Puskas, Alfredo di Stefano, Francisco Gento and Luis del Sol. [LNB]Barcelona are being exalted as a team from some futuristic planet but in reality their success is based on one of the oldest principles of the game: play the way you are facing. [LNB]And therein lies United's chance. [LNB] Key man: The work-rate of Park Ji-Sung will be vital against Barca[LNB]In constructing their moves, Pep Guardiola's team simply shuttle the ball about the midfield axis of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets with minimal risk until they reach the last third of the field. Only then do they try to spring the surprises.[LNB] This invites Sir Alex Ferguson to harry, hurry and hustle them in their own half. That is hard physical work but it is made easier by the opportunity to anticipate where the ball will go. [LNB]For Barcelona, passing the ball back to the player from whom you have just received it is set deep in their DNA. If United can keep poaching those passes they will disrupt that possession game - and they have men like the clockwork Park Ji-sung to do it. [LNB]Not only that, but winning the ball early will give United the momentum to launch their own traditional, highpace, cavalier attacks from closer to the Barcelona goal. [LNB]Sir Bobby Charlton hinted at that possibility in our interview earlier this week. Terry Venables, who took Barcelona to a European Cup final in 1986 when manager there, adds: 'They are very good in midfield but in the buildup they like to feel comfortable playing the way they are facing. For this team in particular it is not good news to lose possession in their own half.' [LNB]The bonus is that this helps draw the sting from Messi. The Argentine likes to drop off the point of attack - going to meet Xavi and Co before turning to go at defences. The deeper he has to do so, the lesser the danger. Not only that but the more crowded the area in which he has to work, the greater likelihood that he will seek space by drifting wide to the right. [LNB] The King: Lionel Messi remains the biggest single threat to United[LNB]That was his original position and, although he can still be a menace there, Patrice Evra turning him into Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic is by far the lesser of two threats. [LNB]Perhaps even more importantly, getting at the midfield early offers the potential for exploiting Barcelona's defensive weaknesses. [LNB]There are two prime routes for those typically quick-breaking attacks. Antonio Valencia's thrilling return to fitness and fluency promises crosses for Wayne Rooney to punish a lack of aerial strength in central defence. Chicharito's pace into space can punish a certain slowness in defenders Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique. [LNB]Since Fergie's latest team are still a work in progress, Barcelona are the favourites to retain the Champions League trophy.[LNB] It is not their individuals - not even the great Messi - who Manchester United must disturb, it is their way of playing. In fact, the only way they know how to play.[LNB] If they can do that, a fourth holy grail for United and a third for Sir Alex is not beyond their reach.[LNB] Barcelona v Manchester United is the perfect contest... now can they deliver?Ronald Koeman on the Champions League final: Just one kick is all it takesJamie Redknapp: Is a Wembley win beyond Fergie?Jamie Carragher: It's time for Wayne Rooney to join the legendsRevealed: The secrets of the Barca ambush - how they beat Sir Alex in 2009 Champions League finalAbidal reveals joy at beating cancer as Barca prepare for showdown with United[LNB] [LNB]  Explore more:People: Alex Ferguson, Gerard Pique, Alfredo Di Stefano, Xavi, Antonio Valencia, Lionel Messi, Nemanja Vidic, Andres Iniesta, Johan Cruyff, Wayne Rooney, Park Ji-sung, Patrice Evra Places: Barcelona, Argentina, Spain, South Africa, Brazil

Source: Daily_Mail