Champions League 
/ Jonathan Wilson / 26 May 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Lucky number 13? Ji-Sung Park will be key for United
"Park is, quite simply, the best defensive forward in the world. Dealing with Alves will be one of the key tasks for United and it’s hard to believe Park will not be the man to do so."
Jonathan Wilson provides an erudite analysis of Saturday's big match, looking at recent ties between Manchester United and Barcelona and explaining where the important battles will be fought.
When Manchester United [4.1] face Barcelona [2.06] in the Champions League final, it will be their fourth encounter in a little over three years. Past performance, of course, is no guarantee of future results, but perhaps those three games can provide clues as to what will happen on Saturday.
The three games in question are the 2009 Champions League final, in which Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0, and the two legs of the semi-final a year earlier, in which United forced a goalless draw in Barcelona and then won 1-0 at Old Trafford.
What is perhaps most striking about those three games is the comparison with the previous games between United and Barcelona. When they met in 1998-99 in the first group stage of the Champions League, they provided two magnificent spectacle, drawing both encounters 3-3. That, though, was in the brief golden age of attacking play that culminated in Euro 2000.
Both sides have tempered their approach since: United by abandoning the gung-ho 4-4-2 that occasionally left them vulnerable to counter-attacks, and Barca by pursuing a policy of fundamentalist possession football which, as Arsene Wenger remarked earlier in the season, can lead to "sterile domination". That was seen even in the final, in which Barcelona, having taken a tenth-minute lead, were almost entirely in control and yet won only 2-0. So the last three games between United and Barca have between them yielded only half as many goals as each of the previous two games, which suggests the
under 2.5 goals market might be worth a look [1.73].
The first of the most recent three matches, the goalless draw in the Camp Nou was significant in that it marked a real turning point for United. Any pretence that they were still the cavalier side of old went as they packed men behind the ball, despite a starting line-up that included Owen Hargreaves at right-back, and Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney. Lionel Messi, playing on the right in those days, was barely involved, so ineffective he was taken off after 62 minutes. This time, of course, it will not be Patrice Evra who is asked to deal with the Argentinian but, after his move into a more central role, some combination of the two centre-backs and whoever United field at the back of the midfield.
In the return at Old Trafford, United took a 14th-minute goal through a Paul Scholes stroke, and held on to it with relative ease despite being without Rooney and Nemanja Vidic. Wes Brown partnered Rio Ferdinand in the centre of defence, with Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick sitting deep in central midfield. Nani was used centrally, playing off Tevez, with Ronaldo to the right and Park Ji-Sung to the left.
Park did a superb job in forcing Gianluca Zambrotta, Barca's right-back, deep, and he will presumably be employed in a similar role on Saturday, although Dani Alves is a far more potent threat going forward than Zambrotta was by that stage of his career. That the South Korean was employed on the other side, against Sylvinho, in the final of two years ago, always seemed odd. He is, quite simply, the best defensive forward in the world, so to ask him to attack the weaker full-back while Rooney came up against Carles Puyol was unusual. Dealing with Alves will be one of the key tasks for United and it's hard to believe Park will not be the man asked to do so.
United were actually much the better side in the first 10 minutes of that final, before lax defending let Eto'o in to score the opener, after which Carrick and Anderson went into meltdown. If Ryan Giggs is Carrick's partner in the centre of midfield, it's hard to imagine a similar capitulation. It may be, though, that Darren Fletcher, who was suspended two years ago, comes in to give United more bite in midfield. If not, it places a huge onus on Rooney, who seems certain to play centrally, to be the ball-winner. He, anyway, will have a responsibility to stifle Sergio Busquets, who pretty much had the run of the pitch in Rome the last time they met.
They're the big outsiders and they ended up on the losing side the last time they met Barcelona in a Champions League final but the Betfair Contrarian is convinced Manchester United will come good on Saturday night....
Matthew Walton looks at the past 18 Champions League/European Cup finals to highlight the trends that count ahead of Saturday's showpiece...
Barcelona drew 1-1 at the Nou Camp tonight which was enough to see them knock out Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid....
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