Barcelona and Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has warned that Manchester United face a humiliating roll over in Wednesday nights Champions League final in Rome. Predicting that Barca would see the face-off as a revenge outing for last years semi-final loss,Messi said that the Catalan giants were now better prepared and that Manchester United would not be able to repeat its 2008 heroics.
Messi told SunSport: 8220;I don8221;t think Manchester will play like that again. They have players to play football and will be a bit more open. We8221;re the best team in Europe in an open game and this will give us the advantage. If they come out to play it will be a beautiful game 8211; and I hope it will benefit us. 8220;I remember last year8221;s semi-final. They were two evenly-matched games,very tight. The tie was decided by the great goal they scored.8221;
Back on May 2,Barcelona thumped Real Madrid 6-2 at the Bernabeu in La Liga8221;s title sealer.For Messi,that game proved any team,however great,which attacks Barca does so at their peril. In this season8221;s dramatic Champions League semi-final against the Catalan giants,Chelsea spent practically 180 minutes camped inside their own half with Barcelona frantically trying to find a breakthrough.
Messi added: 8220;The game in Madrid shows why Chelsea did what they did 8211; sit back and try not to leave any spaces for us to play our football. 8220;For that reason,I say that for us it8221;s an advantage when a team plays football and tries to match Barcelona as equals. Manchester can be that team with the players they have.8221;
Messi said: 8220;I was very frustrated and angry after last year8221;s semi-final loss to United. I was so sad we couldn8221;t make the final after coming so close. But the way we8221;ve turned things around this season gives us more desire and hunger to beat them this time. I8221;m very confident we8221;ll win.