Manchester United vs Barcelona: Key battles
Patrice Evra vs Leo Messi
Messi may be one of the world’s finest but Evra believes he can deal with the threat the Argentinian poses. Can Evra deal with the pace of Messi? One of the areas where Messi can exploit is when Evra decides to go forward looking to help the wingers and forwards. Plus, Messi’s dibbling ability could be difficult to handle.
Verdict: Things could get Messi for United
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Gerard Pique
On paper, it looks a simple task for Ronaldo, but it will be far from it. Pique has improved since his move away from Old Trafford and is now a first team regular. But Ronaldo has been bang in form lately and always loves to perform on big games like these, it could be his night.
Verdict: Ronaldo to shine
Anderson & Michael Carrick vs Xavi & Andres Iniesta
This is going to be an interesting battle, and maybe the most important. Barcelona tend to rely on the central midfielders when going forward, with Xavi and Iniesta the foundation to most of their attacks. Carrick and Anderson have been exceptional in the heart of midfield, particularly in Europe. Against Arsenal, they gave them no breathing space and will attempt to do the same again.
Verdict: Too close to call
Nemanja Vidic vs Samuel Eto’o
Eto’o has been among the goals many times this season, but he will be up against Manchester United’s player of the season Nemanja Vidic. The Serbian has been like a rock at the back and featured in every single game during United’s 14 game run of consecutive clean sheets. Vidic rarely has an off day, and although he may be up against a side that has scored 106 league goals this year, but he can frustrate the opposition as he may be the best defender in Europe at the moment.
Verdict: Vidic too solid
One response to “Manchester United vs Barcelona: Key battles”
Leave a Reply
NewsNow.co.uk
Manchester United News 24/71999/00: David Beckham scores a fine solo goal
Reliant on Robin
Recent Comments
 | The Tireless Midfiel… on Ferguson’s small victori… |
| Nicholas Kituno on Ferguson’s small victori… |
 | Twenny-Four on Ferguson’s small victori… |
| Nicholas Kituno on Ferguson’s small victori… |
Featured Links
Stalk us elsewhere
You forgot to mention another key area, which is Rooney’s battle against either Puyol or Silvinho. Neither of the latter will be up to marking Rooney in the way Evra should hopefully shackle Messi, and in my view Roo could end up having a huge impact on the game if he plays out on the left as he did in the semi final against Arsenal. In fact, given Barcelona’s weakness at the fullback positions, and their overall frailty against set pieces, particuarly with the cobbled together defense they have, I wouldn’t be surprised if Fergie pulls off a surprise and keeps Ronaldo on the wing so that he and Rooney can either rain in passes to Berbatov and company or cut in destructively for shots on goal, as they’ll be able to with ease against the two stand-in fullbacks.
It’s a long shot, but I wouldn’t mind betting that one of the Barca defenders ends up getting sent off in their frustration and desperation to contain Rooney and Ronaldo, because they just have too much pace in counter attacks for what little Barcelona has to offer at the back. That creates red card situations for defenders desperately trying to stave off shots on goal – trips, pushing, shirt pulling, clumsy and obvious fouls, etc.