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Wembley ready for ultimate final
Prepare for a coming together of giants. Barcelona against Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League decider ranks alongside Brazil meeting Germany in a FIFA World Cup™ Final, promising nothing less than a clash of history and cultures. For tomorrow's contest, read the latest instalment in a long-standing rivalry between Latin flair and Anglo-Saxon power, with the bulldog spirit of Wayne Rooney and Co cast against Barça’s famous tiki-taka.
Add in two of Europe’s most successful clubs since the turn of the century, a pair of charismatic coaches, and stars desperate to shine in front of a global audience, and the stage is set for the greatest spectacle the club game has to offer, with the iconic setting of Wembley as the perfect backdrop.
The English capital will welcome two teams at the height of their abilities, with both targeting a fourth European crown having already clinched their domestic titles. The storied duo will be at full strength too, meaning both will have prepared in ideal circumstances to meet rivals they already know inside-out.
The most significant development since the Camp Nou outfit dispatched the Red Devils 2-0 in the 2009 Rome final is that Barça captain Carles Puyol and eight of his team-mates have now been crowned FIFA World Cup winners. Like Spain, the Catalan giants operate a game plan based on constant circulation of the ball, but United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will not be overly concerned. He has pored over their meetings with Arsenal and, to a lesser extent, Real Madrid, noting how both sides caused the Blaugrana problems by pressing high up the pitch to launch rapid counter-attacks. The key to victory could reside in the midfield battle, but both teams possess supremely gifted players capable of turning a match on its head with a single burst of magic.
Road to the final
United and Barcelona set off down similar paths to Wembley right from the group stage, when both topped their sections thanks to four wins and two draws. They then made a slow start to the knockout phase, with United recording a goalless stalemate away against Marseille while Barcelona lost 2-1 at Arsenal. That was as close as the duo came to harm, however, and Josep Guardiola’s men bounced back by downing Arsenal 3-1 on home soil before breezing past Shakhtar Donetsk 6-1 on aggregate and defeating old foes Real Madrid 3-1 over two legs. The Red Devils fared even better, and they will head into the decider on a run of five consecutive wins, having beaten Marseille 2-1 at Old Trafford and compiled 3-1 and 6-1 aggregate triumphs against Chelsea and Schalke respectively.
United and Barcelona set off down similar paths to Wembley right from the group stage, when both topped their sections thanks to four wins and two draws. They then made a slow start to the knockout phase, with United recording a goalless stalemate away against Marseille while Barcelona lost 2-1 at Arsenal. That was as close as the duo came to harm, however, and Josep Guardiola’s men bounced back by downing Arsenal 3-1 on home soil before breezing past Shakhtar Donetsk 6-1 on aggregate and defeating old foes Real Madrid 3-1 over two legs. The Red Devils fared even better, and they will head into the decider on a run of five consecutive wins, having beaten Marseille 2-1 at Old Trafford and compiled 3-1 and 6-1 aggregate triumphs against Chelsea and Schalke respectively.
Key players
Now enjoying a more central role, Lionel Messi can transform a game like no other player, as borne out by the statistics in this year’s competition. Not only does the Argentinian forward lead the individual scoring stakes with 11 goals, he has unleashed more shots on target than anyone else (31) and suffered more fouls than any of his peers (30). The beneficiary of visionary service from his almost telepathic conspirators Xavi and Andres Iniesta, Messi is capable of the most breathtaking skills with a ball at his feet. He will nonetheless be anxious to end a jinx atWembley, having hit the net in 19 countries but never on English soil despite eight previous visits.
Now enjoying a more central role, Lionel Messi can transform a game like no other player, as borne out by the statistics in this year’s competition. Not only does the Argentinian forward lead the individual scoring stakes with 11 goals, he has unleashed more shots on target than anyone else (31) and suffered more fouls than any of his peers (30). The beneficiary of visionary service from his almost telepathic conspirators Xavi and Andres Iniesta, Messi is capable of the most breathtaking skills with a ball at his feet. He will nonetheless be anxious to end a jinx atWembley, having hit the net in 19 countries but never on English soil despite eight previous visits.
In the United camp, danger can spring from a wide variety of sources – from Korea Republic midfielder Park Ji-Sung, Bulgarian marksman Dimitar Berbatov, Welsh wizard Ryan Giggs, talented Portuguese livewire Nani and, of course, the powerful and sublime England forward Wayne Rooney. For all their established performers, however, the Premier League side’s undoubted revelation of the season has been Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez, the 22-year-old Mexican striker having exploded on to the scene this term.
In the dugout
Their obvious age difference notwithstanding, Josep Guardiola and Sir Alex Ferguson have much in common, not least the passion they share for their respective teams and a pair of CVs replete with titles. The younger of the two men, Guardiola is a proud member of that select group of individuals who have won the Champions League as both player and coach. Already highly respected by his peers when he pulled the strings in Barça’s midfield, he now has the club’s exceptional current generation playing fantasy football, and has collected more silverware in three years than many revered coaches have managed throughout their entire careers. Sir Alex, meanwhile, has been the heart and soul of United for more than a quarter of a century. Closing in on his 70th birthday, the Scottish veteran remains an uncanny talent spotter and an unparalleled motivator of men, while maintaining strict discipline within his squad.
Their obvious age difference notwithstanding, Josep Guardiola and Sir Alex Ferguson have much in common, not least the passion they share for their respective teams and a pair of CVs replete with titles. The younger of the two men, Guardiola is a proud member of that select group of individuals who have won the Champions League as both player and coach. Already highly respected by his peers when he pulled the strings in Barça’s midfield, he now has the club’s exceptional current generation playing fantasy football, and has collected more silverware in three years than many revered coaches have managed throughout their entire careers. Sir Alex, meanwhile, has been the heart and soul of United for more than a quarter of a century. Closing in on his 70th birthday, the Scottish veteran remains an uncanny talent spotter and an unparalleled motivator of men, while maintaining strict discipline within his squad.
Facts and figures
Saturday’s opponents can pride themselves on having dominated the global game in the 21st century. United have amassed no fewer than seven Premier League crowns in 11 years and can also look back on one Champions League title, an FA Cup, three English League Cups, a FIFA Club World Cup triumph and four Community Shields. Barcelona’s record is no less inspiring, featuring as it does five Spanish league titles, two Champions League wins, one UEFA Super Cup, a Copa del Rey and a FIFA Club World Cup.
Saturday’s opponents can pride themselves on having dominated the global game in the 21st century. United have amassed no fewer than seven Premier League crowns in 11 years and can also look back on one Champions League title, an FA Cup, three English League Cups, a FIFA Club World Cup triumph and four Community Shields. Barcelona’s record is no less inspiring, featuring as it does five Spanish league titles, two Champions League wins, one UEFA Super Cup, a Copa del Rey and a FIFA Club World Cup.
The stat
10 – The number of times the two sides have met. Something will have to give as both can point to three wins, their four other contests having ended in draws.
10 – The number of times the two sides have met. Something will have to give as both can point to three wins, their four other contests having ended in draws.
What they said
"The level of the teams right now is very close. We’re two very effective, very strong sides who can easily line up in four of five different ways, each of them competitive,” Josep Guardiola, Barcelona coach.
"The level of the teams right now is very close. We’re two very effective, very strong sides who can easily line up in four of five different ways, each of them competitive,” Josep Guardiola, Barcelona coach.
"We’ve played against Barcelona three times with Messi in their team. There’s a solution for dealing with every good player,” Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager.
Are you sure that’s the right score?
The history of football is littered with big wins and unbelievable comebacks. And while modern formations and tactics mean teams are far more adept at keeping the ball out than they once were, that does not mean to say that outrageous scorelines are a thing of the past. FIFA.com proves the point by reliving some of the more outlandish results of recent times.
Goals, goals and more goals
Our first port of call in this round-up of goalfests is Colombia and the Clásico Regional between Atletico Huila and Atletico Tolima, which ended in a 7-4 win for the visiting Tolima, an eye-popping scoreline made all the more incredible by the fact that the away team were 6-3 up at half-time.
"It makes me very sad, and I’d like to apologise to the fans. I’m seriously thinking about my position," lamented Huila coach Guillermo Berrio, whose status as the club’s all-time leading goalscorer did not prevent him from getting the sack shortly afterwards.
Portsmouth and Reading ran up the same scoreline in an English Premier League match in September 2007, with most of the fun coming after the half-time interval. Leading 2-1 at the break, Pompey eventually ran out 7-4 winners after a crazy second half that brought two own goals, a missed penalty for the visitors, which would have brought them level at 3-3, and a third goal for the home side’s Zimbabwean striker Benjani Mwaruwari, who scored twice in the first half.
Another memorable 11-goal spectacular came in the group phase of the UEFA Champions League four years earlier, when eventual runners-up Monaco thrashed Deportivo La Coruna 8-3, the biggest win in Champions League history. Four of the French side’s goals came from their Croatian forward Dado Prso, who just happened to be celebrating his 29th birthday that day.
Swiss outfit FC Wil went three better than Monaco in a league meeting with St. Gallen in 2002, inflicting the most emphatic of 11-3 defeats on their hapless guests, all this after Gallen had taken the lead.
Memorable shut-outs
One result Feyenoord fans will not forget in a hurry is the 10-0 thrashing Eredivisie rivals PSV Eindhoven meted out to them last October. "It’s difficult to understand what happened," said shell-shocked left-back Tim de Cler after the Rotterdam club’s worst ever defeat. "We all did our own thing after the first goal and the sending-off, and the team just fell apart."
Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona did their best to outdo PSV just a few days later, putting eight past Almeria without reply and then dishing out an unforgettable 5-0 hammering to championship rivals Real Madrid. And staying on the subject of one-sided wins, 2007 proved to be a vintage year in the Champions League, with Liverpool outclassing Besiktas 8-0 at Anfield only a few weeks after compatriots Arsenal had crushed Slavia Prague 7-0.
The 2006 La Plata derby between Estudiantes and Gimnasia y Esgrima was an equally one-sided affair, El Pincha chalking up a 7-0 win, the like of which had not been seen in an Argentinian clásico since 1940, when Independiente beat their Avellaneda foes Racing Club by the same scoreline. "We’ve achieved something historic today," said Estudiantes striker Mariano Pavone afterwards. "When we’re old and grey the people who were here today will remind us of this game."
To score five goals away from home and still not win is frustrating. We’ve dropped two points today.
Marseille coach Didier Deschamps after his side's 5-5 draw at Lyon
Letting it slip
Scoring a hatful of goals is not always a guarantee of success, as Real Salt Lake can vouch for after falling 5-4 to Cruz Azul in the group phase of the 2010 CONCACAF Champions League. Seemingly in control at 3-1 up midway through the second half, the MLS outfit were rocked by a Javier Orozco hat-trick, the last of his goals coming in the 90th minute. The Americans somehow grabbed an injury-time equaliser only to lose the lead again, and the match, when Christian Gimenez slotted home with seconds remaining.
Austria’s Sturm Graz nearly had a similar tale to tell after their 2008 league match with SV Mattersburg. Five goals to the good at half-time and in complete command, Graz then eased off, allowing their opponents to pull level at 5-5 before restoring order with a late winner. Another 6-5 scoreline came in the final phase of the 2007 Bahia state championship in Brazil, with Vitoria squeaking home against old foes Bahia in a topsy-turvy match in which the lead changed hands continually, Bahia coming back from 5-3 down only to lose out.
Few fightbacks have been quite as exciting, however, as the one Bobby Robson’s Barcelona served up against Atletico Madrid in a 1997 Copa del Rey quarter-final tie. Three goals from Ronaldo and further strikes by Luis Figo and Juan Pizzi helped the Catalans overturn a 3-0 half-time deficit and run out 5-4 winners against the reigning league champions.
Marseille faced an even bigger task in a Ligue 1 match with Montpellier the following year, finding themselves 4-0 down at the break. "The game is lost," L’OM coach Rolland Courbis told his charges in the dressing room. "All you can do now is salvage your pride." They did more than that. Led by Christophe Dugarry, the scorer of two goals in a heroic second-half performance, Olympique emerged 5-4 winners after current France coach Laurent Blanc converted a last-minute penalty.
Score draws and unlikely feats
Marseille served up more unfeasible entertainment two years later, drawing 5-5 at Lyon, with half the goals coming in an extraordinary final 11 minutes. Though he described the game as amazing for the fans, visiting coach Didier Deschamps was not a happy man: "To score five goals away from home and still not win is frustrating. We’ve dropped two points today."
Scottish Premier League rivals Motherwell and Hibernian each went a goal better when they faced off in May that year, though the Edinburgh side were kicking themselves after leading 4-1 and 6-2, with Hibs goalkeeper Graeme Smith even saving a penalty three minutes from time, with his side leading 6-5. The Steelmen were not to be denied, though, and Lukas Jutkiewicz levelled the score in the third minute of stoppage time. It was the first time such a result had been seen in the UK since April 1930, when Leicester City and Arsenal shared 12 goals.
It was at around that time that the mighty Barcelona suffered the two biggest league defeats of their history: a 12-1 drubbing at the hands of Athletic Bilbao in 1931, and an 11-1 defeat to Sevilla a decade later.
However, the undisputed masters of improbable scorelines are surely newly-crowned German champions Borussia Dortmund, who have taken part in the four highest-scoring matches in Bundesliga history. Drubbed 11-1 by Bayern Munich in 1971 and 12-0 by Borussia Monchengladbach in 1978, Die Schwarzgelben racked up a 9-3 win over Kaiserslautern in 1963 and trumped that achievement in crushing Arminia Bielefeld 11-1 in 1982.
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