Barcelona midfielder Xavi terms Manchester United favourites to clinch UEFA Champions League title
Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez has claimed that Manchester United are the favourites to win the UEFA Champions League crown after both international giants qualified for the final showdown of Europe’s most elite competition.
While terming the Red Devils as favourites for the May 28, 2011 final, the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011 international insisted that he always thought that United have the best chance to take the European Cup home even before they went on to beat Schalke 04 convincingly in the
semi-final.
Manchester United were not bothered by the German outfit Schalke a great deal in the semi-final, as they thrashed them by a record 6-1 margin over the two legs.
Schalke were short of ideas against the Red Devils as they after going 2-0 down in the first-leg at Gelsenkirchen, came to Old Trafford on Wednesday for the second-leg. However, the unstoppable Sir Alex Ferguson’s men demolished them once again by an impressive
4-1 margin.
The 31-year-old Xavi, whose worthwhile contributions helped Barcelona to cruise into the finals by overcoming their archrivals Real Madrid 3-1, puts Manchester United on the forefront.
He said, “Manchester are the favourites. They’re a great team that also likes to play football and perhaps that’s good for us. We finally got our reward and we’re going to the final. We feel so happy. I hope we can win but Manchester are also a great team.”
In 2009, United were the favourites when they took on the Catalan giants in the final of the Champions League in Rome. However, Barcelona came out on top as they won the competition 2-0. The Red Devils will be itching to take their revenge from Barca when
they meet them later in May 2011.
On the subject of exchange of heated words between Josep Guardiola’s men and Jose Mourinho’s charges, Xavi said, “It is a shame things like this happen in football. When Barca lost the cup [final to Real] we congratulated them. If they aren’t like that,
it shows the difference between Barca and Madrid.”
It will be hard to make a prediction as both teams are equipped with some of the best footballers of the world. Barcelona, who are chasing their fourth UEFA Champions League title, have all the skills and firepower to repeat the Rome history, but they can
expect Manchester United to come hard for their revenge as well.
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