Champions League Final 2011 Build up thread

[Guest Klitschko]

Some distance?Really dude?Again, he's not been 'OUTSTANDING'.

Yup, he had a run of 20 + games where he either provided, or scored a goal, was involved in 40% of Uniteds goals up until that point, was on 16 assists when the closest competitor was on 9, had 9 goals....He was by far the best player of the year at that point, without a doubt, noone had contributed as much to their team, and did brilliantly in the big games tooScored against City, provided a goal against CityProvided 3 goals against LiverpoolAssisted against Spurs, scored against SpursAssist vs ChelseaHis last two months of indifferent form, coinciding with Valencias return, have somewhat taken away from his season in most peoples eyes, as I said in another thread he wasn't really the same after Carraghers challenge.

[The King]

Posd

[Lieutenant]

A midfield 3 of Carrick, Giggs and Rooney just doesn't sit well with me. I would much rather have a fit and firing Anderson or Fletcher in there.But with injuries and form Hernandez and Giggs have to play.I hope for the best. High tempo from the start, we need to bring the game to them and then we'll have a chance.

[The King]

I agree but we did that last time though; and still lost.Its mental resistance & concentration that I think will be key.

[BATTY BOY BUM BANDIT]

If we can not concede in the first half that will be so huge. I do not wanna see us chasing shadows again, shits heartbreaking. Got a ticket as well. Owwwwwwwwwwwwww.

[The King]

How much you pay?

[BATTY BOY BUM BANDIT]

200. been grinning teet all day tbh

[Guest Portuguese]

Good dealI am tempted to pay four bills!

[Guest Portuguese]

LIONEL MESSI and Co will earn £650,000 each if they win the Champions League for Barcelona - nearly double Manchester United's bonus. The Catalan giants are set to cough up an estimated £16million for the entire squad should they beat United in a Champions League final for the second time in three years. It works out at more than £7,000 per minute or £120 for every second on the pitch. The Nou Camp outfit used to announce the bonuses given to players but have changed practice since new president Sandro Rosell came to office last summer. But SunSport understands the amount paid out will be almost identical to that of 2009. When Barca beat United 2-0 in Rome to complete the Treble two years ago, they picked up around £15.5m. The amount is not evenly spread among the squad members as it is believed World Footballer of the Year Messi and stars like Xavi and Andres Iniesta will pocket well over a million each. Fringe players will earn around £100,000 should Barcelona lift the European Cup for a fourth time. Wayne Rooney and his team-mates can expect to pick up around £350,000 a man if they beat Barcelona as part of a £9m reward for winning the title and conquering Europe. Boss Pep Guardiola yesterday led Barcelona's second training session at Arsenal's London Colney headquarters. Guardiola said: "We cannot waste this opportunity. "We have to be conscious of the fact that although we have played two finals in the last three years, we could go another 20 years without making it to another."

[MYTH]

200. been grinning teet all day tbh

you seem to go to all the big gamesproper red you are

[Guest Klitschko]

Ticket to the London CL final for 200?You sure your ticket doesn't say Craven Cottage fam?

[BATTY BOY BUM BANDIT]

I hope not :D/

UNITED'S PLAN B FOR BARCA: A 3-4-3It has emerged that Manchester United have been practicing in a 3-4-3 formation that will be deployed in Saturday's Champions League Final if they fall behind to Barcelona.Though it is widely believed that United will start the game with precisely the same team that beat Schalke in Germany a month ago, The Daily Telegraph reports that Sir Alex Ferguson has 'devised a two-pronged strategy to beat Barcelona' with the United manager prepared to make radical changes during the game if the Spaniards take the lead.With the Premier League title wrapped up two weeks ago, United have had plenty of valuable time in which to fine-tune their preparations for the Wembley showpiece and many hours have been devoted to '11-a-side practice games between the first team and squad members lining up as Barcelona.' It is understood that Michael Owen has taken up the role of David Villa, while Paul Scholes has imitated Andres Iniesta and 'Portuguese winger Nani has performed the 'Messi' role in training, replicating the Argentine forward's movement in the final third of the pitch.'At the start of the final, United are expected to line up in a conventional 4-4-2/4-4-1-1 formation with Wayne Rooney supporting Javier Hernandez but dropping deeper whenever Barcelona are in possession. However, it's the disclosure that United have also been working in a 3-4-3 formation which is entirely unexpected. According to the Telegraph, the plan is 'in place should Barcelona take a lead and leave United chasing the game in the second-half. Chris Smalling, set to be named on the substitutes' bench on Saturday, has trained as the third man at the back alongside Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.'The former Fulham youngster would likely replace Ji-sung Park, with Fabio and Patrice Evra advancing into midfield behind a front three of Rooney, Hernández and Antonio Valencia.'Game on.

[Guest Portuguese]

SAF won't do that I can't see it.Your chasing the game so you decide to go man for manReally?

[Guest Portuguese]

Barca don't win this final then I am gone until August

[Captain Planet]

COME ON UTD

[Seydou]

Good luck dealing with this for 90 mins.

[Guest Klitschko]

What, Puyols dodgy defending?

[BATTY BOY BUM BANDIT]

LOL. Puyol was desperate not to get megged there. Knew the cameras was watching. Didnt matter anyway still got rinsed.

[Kompressor]

what odds on us to make the same kind of start we did in 09 and for Puyol to be the irst Yellow card,as if he's played on the left i can see Valencia giving him a torrid time

[Rsonist]

I am tempted to pay four bills!

Barca don't win this final then I am gone until August

wtfThought you "followed" Real?

[Guest Portuguese]

What's wrong with watching a spectcular game as a netural in the flesh?I am so sure Barca will win this game .You questioning me is irrelevant because not once I have said I am supporting Barca all I am doing is being realstic

[Rsonist]

Right next time Arsenal or Chelsea get to the CL final i'm paying 4 bills!!!

[Guest Portuguese]

Arsenal nor Chelsea are or have the quality of Barca so what would be the point?Besides I have grown out of hating Real's rivals I stopped doing that kind of bullshit in 2003

[Rsonist]

Oh check you

[Guest Portuguese]

Most people don't like Sergio Busquets. But then his club and country coaches, Pep Guardiola and Vicente del Bosque, are not most people. Nor are his Barcelona team-mates. In the bowels of the Camp Nou, the question is obvious. "You must be happy to be free to play in this Champions League final after everything that has happened?" Busquets is asked. "Sí, muy contento," says the Spaniard sharply. And then there is silence and a steely stare. Next.Busquets does not want to talk about theatrics or racism, about Real Madrid's complaint. He doesn't want to talk about the Uefa investigation that threatened to keep him out of the final but ultimately found that there was not sufficient evidence that he had called the Brazilian full-back Marcelo "mono", a monkey. He does not want to talk about the recriminations and the accusations.For now, Busquets is just happy to be able to play. And he is not alone: Barcelona's handling of the case might have been different had there not been a European Cup final at stake. One of the few things that has not been said about Busquets over the past few weeks is the one that, come Saturday night, will be the most important: he is a very good footballer. An absolutely vital one.If many dislike Busquets, those who work with the midfielder are not among them. They admire him. More importantly, they appreciate him. Del Bosque and Guardiola have long defended him and promoted him even when there were doubts not just about his personality but about his play. They saw something in him that many others did not. Even now, he is probably the least lauded of Barça's team. Until, that is, you ask his fellow players.As the midfielder himself puts it: "People who don't like football don't appreciate my game, but I like it. My team-mates appreciate that I do the dirty work and I know it is necessary." Necessary is not the half of it.Busquets, son of the former Dream Team goalkeeper and current coach Carlos, started the 2008-09 season playing at Santa Eulalia with Barcelona's B team. He ended it in Rome, lifting the European Cup – the third trophy of a unique treble for a Spanish club. The following summer he was in the Spain team that travelled to South Africa. At the start of the competition, most still saw little need for Busquets in the side, certainly not alongside Xabi Alonso. Del Bosque, though, did – and by the end Busquets was a world champion. That might not have been sufficient to win him fans but it did sweep away the doubts."If I could be any player in the world, I would like to be Sergio Busquets," Del Bosque had said at the start of the tournament. "He does everything; he always helps the team, he is generous, and he is the first to get the team moving. When he plays, the football is more fluid. With Busquets in the team, our football is better."Xavi Hernández describes him as "fundamental". He says: "Busi sees you quickly, he always takes the simple option. He reads the game well and moves the ball with precision, in as few touches a possible."Johan Cruyff says: "He is a gift for any coach. The speed of his passing is perfect and he is the kind of player you don't need to explain anything to. You just put him in his position and he performs."As endorsements go, they don't come any higher. Cruyff is the guru of the current Barça approach – the coach who did with Guardiola what Guardiola has done with Busquets, fast-tracking him into the side unexpectedly.When Guardiola said that he believed in Busquets recently, he was talking about the accusations. But he could have been talking about his contribution on the pitch. If some were unconvinced at first, it was in part because Busquets appeared to take risks and invite danger. Although his game was largely about releasing the ball quickly, occasionally he dwelled and waited. But Guardiola's faith was well-placed. By the end of his first season it was clear that these were really not risks – they just looked that way from outside. Up in the stands, hearts beat faster than his ever did.In part Busquets invites trouble on to himself so as not to invite it on to others. "If there's a problem, I prefer to have to swallow that myself than force a team-mate to do so," he says. "I think about them because in my position that is what your job consists of. In teams that are as offensive as Barcelona and the Spanish national team, the central midfielder is fundamental to maintain balance."It is no idle claim: statistics show, for example, that Dani Alves, nominally Barcelona's full-back, spends more time in the opposition half than his own. "The coach knows that I am an obedient player who likes to help out and if I have to run to the wing to cover someone's position, great," he says. "I genuinely enjoy watching the full-back run up the pitch and going across to fill in. I spend the game calculating: how many on the left? How many on the right?""He thinks more about the team than himself," Guardiola says. In a team with David Villa, Andrés Iniesta, Pedro, Xavi, and Leo Messi that means Busquets gets noticed less. It is a good job he enjoys the hard work because the glamour roles are left to others. He has had only 13 shots in all competitions this season. Of his one goal, he jokes: "I made a mistake once."At Barcelona that role is vital, the central cog. He might look out of place, but if there is one thing you can rarely say about Busquets it is that he is out of place. Busquets protects and serves. In La Liga, only Xavi has completed more passes per match; in the Champions League only Gerard Piqué has regained possession more. The centre-back likens Busquets to a snowplough, sweeping all before him. Busquets says: "I would rather cut out 10 passes and win the ball back than play a load of one-twos."In a team of Lilliputians, he provides the mala leche – the bad milk, the nastiness that others don't have. He winds up opponents: accusations of gamesmanship abound, from England particularly, against a player who has drawn more fouls this season than even Messi. If Barcelona like to present themselves as the good guys, Busquets is the bad guy. Now more than ever before. And that's the way they like him