LIVE SOCCER/FOOTBALL TV: 29 May 2011

FC Barcelona Vs. Manchester United
The UEFA Champions League

The best teams from the European Competitions will try to become the best of Europe in this Champions League (CL). Mostly the winners of the big leagues and several 2nd/3rd ranked teams in their league are taking part in this competition. Who will be the best of Europe this season? Watch this and you will know!

Match scheduled:
Saturday, 28-05-2011
18:45 +00:00, May 28, 2011
The Final :: UEFA Champions League 2010/2011 ::
At Wembley Stadium, London, England

This year, the home of football plays host to the most prestigious prize in the European club game - the Champions League - and two better teams could not have been handpicked as English champions Manchester United take on Spanish champions Barcelona.

• Venables on Barca and La Masia
• Duerden: Asian hopes pinned on Park
• Jolly: Carrick has point to prove
• Jolly: Rio out to blunt Barca attack
• Rewind: Cruyff builds his Dream Team
• First XI: European Cup finals

The game at Wembley is a rematch of the 2009 final that was won 2-0 by Barcelona in Rome and pits the competition's best defence (United's four goals conceded in 12 games) against its best attack (Barcelona's 27 goals in theirs). It also sees two of the best performing sides over the last few years meet: Barcelona have made three finals in the last six editions, while United reached their third in the last four when they beat Schalke.

On paper, it is very hard to separate the two, although Manchester Utd are the only unbeaten side in the Champions League this season, with nine wins and three draws.

Sir Alex Ferguson is bidding to become the most decorated manager in the competition's history - tied with Liverpool's Bob Paisley on three titles - but has a tough choice ahead of him over how he will set his side up. In European games, Fergie has preferred to use the industry of Park Ji-Sung on the flanks, but that means a place on the bench for either Nani or Antonio Valencia. In central midfield, too, the boss must make a tough choice to leave out Anderson, Paul Scholes or Michael Carrick as he prefers a central role for Ryan Giggs. Chances are that Fergie will opt for the same team that beat Schalke 2-0 in the semi-final first leg and, with supposed 'home' advantage, will be confident of pulling off an upset.

Barcelona's previous visit to Wembley, in 1992, saw a late-gasp defeat of Sampdoria to win their first European Cup, but their only defeat in the Champions League this season was in London, when they lost 2-1 at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium last February.

There is no secret as to how the Catalans will set up. Their 4-1-2-3 system, playing tiki-taka possession football, is revered around the world and the stats are impressive. Barca are the only side to have completed more than 90% of passes in the Champions League this season, whilst Xavi and Sergio Busquets are the only players to have completed more than 1,000 passes (1,103 and 1,035 respectively).

In terms of team selection, the only question mark for coach Pep Guardiola comes in the left-back role. Guardiola must decide whether to bring Eric Abidal back into the fray after surgery on a liver tumour, but may worry that he is not yet ready for a game of such magnitude. The other option available is that Carles Puyol moves to the flank and defensive midfielder Javier Mascherano resumes the position he took up against Real Madrid in the centre of defence.

Mascherano's inclusion would seem a gamble given the current form of United striker Javier Hernandez (in stark contrast to Dimitar Berbatov who has failed to score in his last 1134 minutes of action in the Champions League), but the battle for supremacy in European football could hinge on it.