10 Reasons to Be Excited About Barcelona vs Man Utd

By: Daryl | May 26th, 2009

I’m very very very excited about tomorrow’s Barcelona vs Man Utd UEFA Champions League Final. And rightly so. There, I said it. I know bloggers are often meant to have one eyebrow raised in snarkiness when faced with a big (and very corporate) event. But that feels impossible in this case.

This is – on paper at least – the best final matchup in a long long time. So anyone who greets this game with cynicism or snarkiness is either 1) incapable of happiness, 2) not a proper football fan or 3) a very bitter joint Liverpool-Real Madrid fan who’s going to be disappointed either way.

So, here are 10 reasons to be excited about Barcelona vs Man Utd in Rome.

1. England vs Spain (or Catalonia). Either way it’s two teams from two different leageus. Which is more than we can say for last year’s final.

2. Two champions. Both these teams have recently won their respective leagues. Can’t argue with that.

3. And the two best teams in Europe this season. Would anyone argue with that? I don’t see how. There’s something perfect about these two meeting in the final. It’s been pre-destined since Matchday 1.

4. Who both play good football. The beauty of Barcelona’s football is not in doubt. I won’t go any further, because I’m sure you’re sick of us banging on about it. Man Utd may not be the kamikaze attacking force of ‘99, but the fluidity of their forward line is a minor miracle and they’ve become very good at counter-attacking in numbers. Those two styles are the ingredients for a great game.

5. Leo Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo. Almost certainly the two best players in the world right now. Or at least the most dangerous. If both of them perform then we can expect fireworks.

6. Fergie vs Pep. Master vs Apprentice. The old Scot who’s been there, done that, and got the t-shirt (twice) vs the young manager in his first season.

7. A lot of non-neutrals. If you support Utd or Barca, then you’re all set. But fans of Arsenal, Chelsea, and – especially – Liverpool and Man City will also have a team to support (hint: it won’t be Man Utd). As will the numerous English football fans who are tired of Man Utd’s Premier League dominance (I’m not one of those, by the way). Meanwhile the world’s many many Real Madrid fans will no doubt be cheering the Red Devils.

8. We’ll find out who Fergie really loves. Man Utd’s rotation policy has been an unqualified success this season. Everyone has played and (almost) everyone is happy. But the Champions League Final is both Man Utd’s last game of the season, and Man Utd’s most important game of the season. So Berbatov or Tevez? Giggs or Park? Scholes or Anderson? We’ll find out on Wednesday.

9. Wayne Rooney. As always, Rooney will go one of two ways. It’s either a) matchwinner, or b) temper tantrum. Either way, he’ll be worth keeping an eye on.

10. Thierry Henry. Hard to believe that this man has never won the Champions League. But he hasn’t. And though many believe his powers are fading, he’s still an exceptional talent. This could be TH14’s last chance at a CL medal, he’s got previous against Man Utd, and assuming he plays wide left, he’ll be attacking the one position Man Utd haven’t really settled this season.

Join in the excitement (hopefully) on our Champions League Final LiveBlog.

Any other reasons to be excited?

Some Related Stories:

Category: Champions League

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mattsmash

@wizardno16: brilliant prediction there. Your magical powers obviously don't extend to clairvoyance.
pusillanimous

*objectivity
pusillanimous

thank you Finnegan, finally some obectivity.
wizardno16

it will be one of the most one sided finals ever in the history of cl. utd will run riot over a weakened barca defense and poor pep wud be wishing he wasnt lucky enoughto get to the final.
Finnegan

3. And the two best teams in Europe this season. Would anyone argue with that? I don’t see how. There’s something perfect about these two meeting in the final. It’s been pre-destined since Matchday 1.

yes, a shit ton of people would argue with that. did you actually watch the barcelona/chelsea ties? chelsea was by far the better team in BOTH legs and got totally screwed by the referee in the second leg. but you're right about being pre-destined - UEFA decided a long time ago that it would see a barcelona/united final and made sure of it.
pusillanimous

tainted final...
Al

Aw that kid is so cute
Musab

That kid seems pretty excited too.
Drabik

Confederations cup is gonna be shown on BBC this year! Woo! Its gonna be the first time for me watching it.

I am however, MUCH more excited about the match TOMORROW... Cannot wait! I dont think it will be as high scoring as some of you suggest. 1 goal in 2 games between the two teams last year!

I think both teams will score, I'm hoping United can take advantage of the defensive players Barca are missing (3-1 to United (fingers crossed))
Seth

I'm more excited for the Confederation Cup! 19 more days :D
omar

im excited cuz it shud be a high scorin and very open game tht displays two contrasting styles tht r just as just as succesful as the other..cant wait go BARCA!
ReleaseTheKrasic

Gordie, I hope your red devils get crushed tommorow. That is all.
Gordie

Two areas United need to pay attention to. 1) We must not give the ball away cheaply - under hit and sometimes overhit passes could bury us. 2) Remember football is under the bar, rugby is over it! Shots must be on target. Possession this season has almost been off the scale yet how many of those games ended in a rout?
wob

For Piqué it will be a very special match.
The Bruce

If I'm the Pepster I put TH14 on whichever side CR7 lines up on. Perhaps giving Crissy-boy someone to be concerned with will occupy him.

BARCA! BARCA! BARCA!

Oh, and I'd rather have one healthy Stevie G. than a handful of CR7 or Messi.
Julian

“take as many shots as possible and pray one goes in"

Is there really any other way to play footy? You have to score goals to win...

Also scoring a single goal isn't really Barca's problem most of the time, is it? They score in buckets; it's their weakened defense they need to worry about.
Tyson

I hope it's a very close match last year when Chelsea played Manchester United it was a very close match and that made it exciting.

If the United that played Chelsea last year show up it should be a very close match against Chelsea.

Of course if the United that destroyed Chelsea with 3 goals in 90 minutes a few months ago shows up Barcelona will be picked apart by a master tactician who has more than just "take as many shots as possible and pray one goes in" football that Barcelona used to scrape a win against Chelsea.
Daryl

Agree Oliviero. I'm excited to see Iniesta, and always excited to see Xavi. I just didn't want the above post to turn into a list of players.
Oliviero

um...how about being excited for Iniesta?
Daryl

Hadn't spotted that post Rob, will add a link now.
Rob

It is really Messi/Ronaldo that interests me most. Two great teams undoubtedly, but if we can see the two best players in the world hit full form, as i was saying at the cl blog, its going to be amazing.