43 years after becoming the first English team to win the European Cup Manchester United return to the scene of that triumph – Wembley – in a bid to win the famous trophy for a fourth time.
They may have knocked their fierce rivals Liverpool of their Premier League perch by winning a record 19th title but the Merseyside club's record of five European Cups is one the Red Devils have yet to surpass. United and are hoping Saturday will be another step towards surpassing yet another Liverpool record. Anyone looking to place a Champions League bet will know how tough their quest is though.
They can lift the trophy for a fourth time with a win in London, which would be a second time in four years, and a remarkable third time under Sir Alex Ferguson.
To do that though they will have to overcome arguably one of the all time great sides in European football.
Barcelona, European Champions in 1992, 2006 and 2008, have set new standards when it comes to footballing excellence. Their engine room is drive by two World Cup winners Xavi and Andreas Iniesta while the jewel in the crown is the irrepressible Lionel Messi. The Argentine scored one of the goals of the season in the semi-final against Real Madrid, showing a level of skill, turn of pace not seen since Diego Maradona. Those who bet on Champions League games will know just how good he is.
Barcelona perhaps rightly go into the game as favourites with one of United's main challenges simply working out how get the ball away from the Barca players.
But being the under-dogs is not something that will phase United. This team in particular has become masters at proving doubters wrong this season, digging out result when hope seemed lost. For that reason they can never be counted out at any stage on Saturday.
1 comment:
agree with you on ManU, but I sure hope they pull it out and beat Barca! They are so annoying to me, so whiney.
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