New Delhi: When Manchester United met Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League final, Barcelona were simply the better team and United were left chasing their shadows.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has the perfect opportunity to avenge the 2009 Champions League final defeat but he must get his tactics absolutely spot on if he wants to lift the trophy for the third time in his managerial career.
Sir Alex's first task will be to somehow stop Lionel Messi from influencing the show, though it looks next to impossible. But with rock solid defenders like Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic in his arsenal, he can hope to limit the diminutive Argentine's influence.
In 2009, Barcelona started with Samuel Eto'o, who normally played centre forward on the right wing and Messi was up front on his own. In the heart of their midfield Xavi and Andres Iniesta ran the show and United's midfielder Michael Carrick was totally lost that night and had no answer how to storm their midfield masteros.
United will have to consider that prospect once again should Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola adopt the same tactic at Wembley. How would Vidic and Ferdinand cope the second time round?
Barcelona hardly ever pass the ball more than 10 yards to a team-mate. To counter this strategy, Manchester United need to play at a high tempo, to beat the press and get at the Barca's back four.
United has to somehow test the defence of Barcelona who are untested so far. Such was Barcelona's dominance in both legs of their Champions League semi-final that their suspect defence was rarely tested.
The key for United will be to stop Sergio Busquets. Watching them play Busquets has the ball more than any other Barcelona player, even more than Xavi and Iniesta.
Nani can be crucial for United in this game. Their right-back Dani Alves spends so much time in the opposition half that Nani will fancy his chances of getting into the space behind and with his speed United can hit them on the counter.
Watching Barcelona's tactics against Real Madrid, United have to be careful of Barcelona's play-acting. United's players will have to be careful not to lunge into tackles and not to lose their cool if Barcelona are dominating with the possession.
The first goal will be crucial in this game. United has to draw the first blood and that will surely put Barca under pressure. And the key man for United here will be Wayne Rooney who could play as a play-maker behind Javier Hernandez.
The 25-year-old has formed a deadly partnership with Hernandez and the Catalans will see Rooney as the biggest threat to their dreams of a fourth European crown.
If Rooney plays to his potential and United's counter game clicks then this could surely be their year.
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