Ferguson prepares United for Barcelona game expecting best final in 10 years

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson reckons Saturday’s Champions League final against Barcelona could be the best final of the last 10 years.

With Barcelona now regularly lauded as one of the greatest ever club teams and Ferguson insisting that his players are better prepared than when the teams met two years ago, the United manager said Friday that the ingredients are in place for a classic.

Barcelona has already clinched a third straight Spanish title and such is the fashion in which Lionel Messi and his teammates routinely frustrate and dismantle opponents that bookmakers rate United as a big underdog despite having reached a third final in four seasons.

But Ferguson expects a far better performance from his side than when it was rattled by Barcelona’s early goal in the 2009 final and went down 2-0.

“The success both teams have had in the past decade has been enormous,” Ferguson said. “It really could be the best final of the decade. The attraction of two teams with such history is obvious. Anything could happen in this game.”

With a penalty shootout to follow if neither team wins through regular or extra time, one side will depart Wembley level with Bayern Munich and Ajax on four titles. Only Real Madrid, AC Milan and Liverpool have won more.

Barcelona won its first title at Wembley in 1992 before picking up two more titles in the past five years. United also won its first at the north London stadium in 1968, long before the ground was demolished and rebuilt to its current 90,000-seat configuration.

“It’s at Wembley and that gives you an awareness that this is a big game,” said Ferguson, the most decorated manager in English football. “And I like big games.”

A win for Barcelona is so widely anticipated that British bookmakers rate a side that has just won a record 19th English title the biggest Champions League final outsider for more than a decade.

But odds of 3-1 against United winning are more a reflection of the amount of money wagered on 21-20 shot Barcelona than any shortcomings in a side that advanced to the final without conceding an away goal and is drawing close to two decades of dominance in England.

“I don’t think that matters to us,” Ferguson said. “Anyone coming to a game of this nature doesn’t care what the experts say or the bookmakers say.

“We will be going out there with a genuine chance.”

Ferguson acknowledged that he had consulted Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho for ideas on how to approach the match, with his friend one of the select few to have engineered a victory — albeit one that was followed by a humbling defeat in the Champions League semifinals — over Barcelona this season.

“I’ve had a small conversation with him and he’s wished us all the best,” Ferguson said. “He knows we’re prepared.”

Ferguson’s players are looking forward to the chance of getting some payback after the disappointment of 2009.

“It doesn’t bother us who is favourite and who is not,” United midfielder Michael Carrick said. “It is about performing in a one-off game. We respect them for what they are, the way they play the game and the strengths they have. We are well aware of how they play but at the same time it is about us as well.

“We have gained a lot of experience over recent years and hopefully it will all come together on Saturday night.”

Carrick is likely to start Saturday, with the veteran Ryan Giggs or more defensive Darren Fletcher alongside him. It will be their job to keep the ball from the likes of Messi and Spanish world champions Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and Sergio Busquets.

Barcelona’s passing football has secured close to two-thirds possession in this seasons Champions League matches against supposedly Europe’s best sides.

But if United can score first, things could be very different to 2009.

“They haven’t only got talent; they work well in defence, they are compact, they have many variants in attack,” Xavi said. “If they score a goal, they close up at the back and play on the counter, they have a lot of tactical options.”

England striker Wayne Rooney is likely to sit deep behind Mexico international Javier Hernandez for United, with David Villa dovetailing with Messi for Barcelona.