UEFA Champions League Final Preview – Manchester United versus http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604: Rooney versus Messi (Part 4)
After expanding on the histories of both Manchester United football club and Barcelona football club in the UEFA Champions League and their paths to the final at Wembley on 28th May, 2011, it is now time to take a look
at the formations of both Sir http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alex-c4752 Ferguson and Pep Guardiola’s teams.
Manchester United’s team and formation
Manchester United have fully fit squad at the moment barring the fitness concerns that have surrounded http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Owen-Hargreaves-c28918 for the past two years. The Englishman has been struggling with a shoulder injury after he successfully recovered
from a hamstring problem which in fact was preceded by a knee surgery.
Nonetheless, Hargreaves was never a part of United’s UEFA Champions League campaign due to his fitness problems. Moreover over the past two years, Manchester United have learnt to deal with their defensive midfielder’s absence
and have also decided to let him go in the summer transfer window.
United’s main formation this season has been a 4-4-1-1 formation which has http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wayne-Rooney-c36736 in a traditional no. 10 role behind the speedy Javier Hernandez. Rooney drops into the midfield region when Manchester United are without the
ball and makes it five in the midfield department for the Red Devils’ which not only gives them defensive solidity but it also allows them to break with pace on the counter attack. Rooney acts as a link up man between United’s midfield and Hernandez as well.
At the back, Rio Ferdinand’s return to fitness has been a welcome factor for Manchester United as their partnership was the back bone of their success in the 2008 UEFA Champions League final. On the wings, Luis http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nani-c27299 and Antonio
Valencia have taken a liking to their roles as well giving the Red Devils, a well balanced outlook.
Barcelona’s team and formation
Alternatively, Barcelona usually use a 4-3-3 formation which is very fluid in attack for the Catalan giants. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Daniel-c9879 Alves and Eric Abidal are the first choice full backs for the men in red and blue as they give them width on either
side of the field. With http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Villa-c10629 playing as inverted forwards/wingers, Barcelona stretch their opposition.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296 has been playing as a false nine role throughout the present season for Pep Guardiola’s team but they have several injury concerns ahead of the match against Manchester United at Wembley. Eric Abidal is a fitness
doubt ahead of the encounter against United as he is still regaining full fitness levels after his liver surgery which was conducted to remove a malignant tumour. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Carles-Puyol-c8331 has also experienced difficulties with his fitness difficulties throughout the season
as he has been struggling with a knee injury similar to the one sustained by Owen Hargreaves.
However, Puyol featured in the semi-final against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Captain-c8314. Barcelona’s 4-3-3 formation is based around their obsession with possession. Their game is
built around the fact that they seldom lose the ball when they have it at their feet. Moreover their cheat-code man is Lionel Messi. The current FIFA World Player of the Year is also the present top scorer in the UEFA Champions League with 11 goals. It will
be interesting to see how the Argentinean forward performs at Wembley on 28th May, 2011.
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