There is no better stadium to host the final of Europe's biggest club competition than Wembley Stadium. And there are no better teams to contest the final than Barcelona and (much as it pains me to say it) Manchester United. Messi vs Ferdinand. Iniesta vs Scholes. Rooney vs Puyol. It's all set up to be the greatest final since, well, 2 years ago when they last met at this stage. But you get the point, because this has the makings of a greater one than last time around. But before I look ahead to the final, I'm going to look at how they got to this stage.
Barcelona looked to have a simple ride from the word go, after being drawn against Copenhagen, Panathinaikos and Rubin Kazan in Group D. They showed good form in the opening match, beating Panathinaikos 5-1 at home. They slipped up against old bogey team Rubin Kazan, drawing 1-1 in Russia (The same team who beat them at the Nou Camp 2-1 in 2009), but 4 points in their next 2 matches against Copenhagen took them on to 8 points and pretty much saw them through. They eased past Panathinaikos and Rubin in their next matches to top the group with 14 points from a possible 18.
However in the round of 16 they faced a tough test at the hands of Arsenal, with the first leg in London. David Villa scored after 26 minutes to give Barca the lead they thoroughly deserved. Arsenal never got going until the 2nd half, but when they got going, they got going. A fantastic goal from an impossible angle from Van Perise drew Arsenal level, and then 5 minutes later, Arshavin scored on the break to give Arsenal a lead to defend in Spain. Unfortunately for them, beating Barcelona at home is almost impossible this season. Messi gave Barca the lead on the stroke of half time to give them the lead on away goals, but a Busquets Own Goal gave Arsenal the lead again on aggregate on 53 minutes. Van Persie was then controversially sent off for kicking the ball away after being called offside. He claimed not to have heard the whistle, which is fair enough considering there was a crowd of over 95,000 people all blowing whistles and making noise. Xavi scored on 69 minutes to bring the tie level, and Messi scored a penalty 2 minutes later to all but settle the tie.
Their next match was against Shakhtar Donetsk, which they dominated from the first minute. They were leading 2-0 at half time, and then Pique scored soon after half time. A Rakitskiy goal gave Shakhtar some hope, but a Keita goal seconds afterwards and then a Xavi goal on 86 minutes pretty much put Barca through to the next round. The second leg was pretty standard for Barca; a few good early chances for Shakhtar could have brought them back in to the tie, but Valdes was in top form to make the saves. Messi scored just before half time, and that was that. Barcelona had qualified to the semi-finals, where they would face Real Madrid for a place in the final.
The first 'El Clasico' was a pretty drab affair for a lot of the match. It didn't get going until a dubious red card for Pepé resulted in Barca being a man up, a chance they firmly took. A good run from Afellay on the right resulted in a low cross which Messi tucked away with his right foot. Then came goal of the tournament (In my opinion). Busquets picked up the ball on the halfway line and unleashed a 45-Yard shot past a stunned Casillas. (Only kidding). But seriously, Busquets gave Messi the ball just inside Real's half. Messi then proceeded to ghost past 4 Madrid defenders and, with his right foot again, slotted the ball past a helpless Casillas. The second leg, at the Nou Camp, started with Barcelona attacking, as you might expect them to do at home. Casillas was at the top of his game to keep the score at 0-0 going into half time. It took a glorious pass from Iniesta into Pedro to break the deadlock. This got Madrid going, and a rare misplaced pass from Barcelona gave Dí Maria the ball who smashed a shot against Valdes' post, before squaring it to Marcelo from the rebound, who subsequently scored. Real rallied for the remainder of the match, but could not break down Barca's defence. So it was Barcelona who would triumph and be going to Wembley on 28th May.
Manchester Utd had a very similar route to the final. Like Barcelona, they also claimed 14 points from a possible 18. Man Utd however, were wholly less convincing. They drew their opening game against Scottish champions Rangers, and a late Hernández goal gave them victory in Spain against Valencia. In back-to-back games against Turkish opponents Bursaspor, they claimed hard-fought 1-0 and 3-0 victories. Their next game was in Glasgow against Rangers, where an 87th Minute penalty from Rooney gave them a 1-0 victory. Knowing a draw would see them top the group, they played out a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford against Valencia. Pablo's goal in the 32nd minute in that match was the only goal they conceded in the group stage.
The next round saw them drawn against French opponents Marseille. A 0-0 draw in France set the tie up nicely for the 2nd game in Manchester. Hernández scored inside 5 minutes to give United the lead. But United looked nervous, at least until the 75th Minute when the little Mexican scored again. Wes Brown scored a trademark own goal to bring Marseille back into the tie, but United held out to secure victory. That victory set up a mouth-watering clash against title-rivals Chelsea.
Rooney scored in the 24th Minute at Stamford Bridge to give United that all-important away goal and a 1-0 victory. Another goal from new fan-favourite Hernández just before half time increased United's lead and they looked to be headed to the semis. But a Drogba goal in the 77th minute gave Chelsea a bit of hope, before a Park goal just 50 seconds later secured the win for Man Utd.
The semi-final was essentially a walkover for the Red Devils. Drawn against a Schalke side that had done extremely well to reach this stage of the competition, United were favourites. Schalke were boasting the likes of former Real Madrid legend Raúl and Germany 1st-choice 'keeper Manuel Neuer, and despite having already beaten Inter and Valencia, they didn't live up to expectations. A nervy start from both sides meant the game never got going. United were the stronger of the two teams for most of the match, and the pressure finally paid off twice in a matter of minutes. First Giggs scored a 1-on-1 to give United the lead, then just 2 minutes later Rooney doubled the advantage with a cool finish. United could have scored so many more but for a brilliant performance from Neuer in the Schalke goal. The second leg was more of the same. Relentless United pressure paid off in the 26th minute when a mix-up at the back put Valencia through to make it 1-0. 5 minutes later, Gibson all-but settled the tie with a deflected shot past Neuer that he really should have saved. Jurado replied for the German outfit in the 35th minute, but Schalke couldn't build on it. Two Anderson goals on 72 and 76 minutes for Man Utd took them into the final.
So the final has the makings of something brilliant. I not only want Barcelona to win, but I also think they will. I don't think Man Utd will be able to stop Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets passing it about in the middle, and I don't think they wil stop Lionel Messi up front. This will be by no means an easy game for Barca, but I think they will prevail 3-1.
This will be my last post until Sunday afternoon/Monday afternoon, which will be about the final round of Premier League fixtures.
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