Manchester United/Barcelona

[VoiceofReason101]

pet peeve sorry

The level of competition in La Liga is terrible. Barcelona beat Real Madrid 6-2 on the weekend, but Liverpool beat them in both legs of the Champions League as well. They're the best team in a bad league - kind of like Celtic up in Scotland.

Manchester United will have better players in nine or ten of the eleven positions in this match. Sure, Abidal and Alves are much better than Evra and O'Shea, but neither of them will play. Ferdinand/Vidic is a better central defense pairing than Pique/Toure. Pique couldn't cut it at Man Utd and they offloaded him to Barcelona. Ronaldo is better than Messi, Rooney is better than Eto'o, Berbatov/Tevez are better than any other Barcelona striker. Henry plays wide left for Barca in a 4-3-3, but he's injured and he's not THAT much better than Park or Giggs or Nani. Scholes/Carrick/Anderson is a weaker central midfield than Xavi/Iniesta but really and truly, Valdes is the only clear cut Barca player that's better than his counterpart, van der Saar.

It will be Pique/Puyol

Puyol is back from suspension so the loss of Marquez is overrated. Losing both backs and possibly Henry is a pretty big deal though. The line is perfect, its a pick em game.

Also Barca has the stronger midfield/attacking squad if Henry goes, Iniesta/Xavi/Toure are great at their roles. Eto'o play has dropped off but to say Rooney is better, maybe. Ronaldo is better than Messi but not by much. When you have an offense that has 5 players (Iniesta/Xavi/Henry/Eto'o/Messi) playing at above average levels you will be foolish betting the other side big, maybe a small wager on United is justifiable but nothing more.

Bottom line Barca wasn't comfortable without Henry, if he plays this will be a classic.

FIFA got what they want

 

[VoiceofReason101]

Henry will probably not go, even he does go he wont be 100%


Thierry Henry could miss Champions League final


BARCELONA, Spain (AP)—Barcelona striker Thierry Henry may miss the Champions League final against Manchester United because of a knee injury.

The club said Friday he strained a ligament in his right knee and will miss Barcelona’s next four games, including Wednesday’s Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao.

Henry injured his knee during Barcelona’s 6-2 win at Real Madrid on Saturday and missed Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea. The draw advanced the Spanish league leader to the Champions League final on May 27.

Henry, who has scored 25 goals in 39 appearances in all competitions this season, will miss league matches against Villarreal, Mallorca and Osasuna.