With the 2-0 triumph of Barcelona in yesterdays heated El Clasico encounter, it seems all but certain that
Jedd Gyorko Jersey Pepe Guardiolas men will make next months Champions League final, most likely to face fellow semi-finalists Man United as they themselves were 2-0 victors away at Schalke in their first-leg clash on Tuesday.These two sides last went head to head back in Rome in 2009 in a memorable 2-0 Champions League final victory for the Catalonian giants thanks to goals from Samuel Etoo and Lionel Me si and with now many feeling Barca are twice the side they were two years previous, (thanks to the continued progre sion under Guardiola) it raises the inevitable question. If United couldnt stop Barca in Rome, what chance do they have of stopping them now? Because after all, many things have changed since that fateful encounter back in 2009.First and foremost, Cristiano
Kolten Wong Jersey Ronaldo the most prolific goalscorer to have graced Old Trafford in recent memory went onto pastures new shortly after the final in that little known 80 million record-breaking transfer to Madrid and with fellow country-man Nani ordered with the task of filling the midfielders boots, its already advantage Barca.Barcelonas Lionel Me si who at the paltry age of 23 took his footballing development into overdrive last year went from one of the best players in the world to THE best player in the world and its not foreseeable how even the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja
Enos Slaughter Jersey Vidic will be able to stop this man on a mi sion come Champions League final time.
And with Barcelona po se sing the lion-share of Spains World Cup winning squad of last year, its very true to say this is a side very much in its prime. But there is hope for United however.Despite guiding them to La Liga and Champions League glory, Barcelona bo s Guardiola is infact the main area of weakne s in his squad and United can capitalise on his mental frailty which was on show after Mourinhos recent comments about ref decisions in the build up to this weeks game that clearly got under the Spaniards skin.Tactically the game is there for the taking for United and who better to orchestrate it than the man who has already master-minded 11 Premier League titles and 2 Champions League victories already?Sir Alex Ferguson thrives on mind games with fellow managers and his previous antics have led to the likes of Kevin Keegan to suffer mental break-down on national TV.Whilst United have atypically enjoyed a succe sful run of games coming into the back-end of this season, Barcelona have looked jaded under a hefty fixture schedule and the absence of Carlos Puyol recently has highlighted how vulnerablethey
Chris Carpenter Jersey can be at the back.Whilst getting a result against Barcelona will still be a tall order for Sir Alexs men, in some respects they have a better chance of beating Barcelona now than they did 2 years ago. In the
Tim McCarver Jersey final of this years Copa Del Rey, Madrid highlighted just how difficult it is for Barcelona to break a team down with men behind the ball and even minnows Sporting Gijon recently claimed a dogged 1-1 draw in this years using the same tactic.With Schalke and Madrid not yet out of the running despite a 2 away-goal deficit, it would be wrong to a sume that either side still couldnt progre s despite the enormity of the task at hand. But should Barca reach this years Champions League final, whoever will face them albeit United or Schalke will need to be at their very best defensively to stop the might of their attacking, expansive football.
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