2010/2011 UEFA Champions League

[Starvinho]

Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets will be able to play in the Champions League final against Manchester United after being cleared of racial abuse.

Uefa has dismissed claims from Barca's Spanish rivals Real Madrid that Busquets racially insulted Brazilian full-back Marcelo in their semi-final.

A statement on Barca's website read: "Uefa has rejected the complaint filed by Real Madrid."

Biscuits will play in the final then, which is good because I don't want Barca to have any excuses when we beat them!

[Baddar]

Oh well, at least now we know racism is ok in football and we aren't trying to ''kick it out'' anymore.

[Colly]

A banning for singing the monorail song? Don't be daft. Is there a chance the track could bend?

[METALMAN]

Oh well, at least now we know racism is ok in football and we aren't trying to ''kick it out'' anymore.

He was cleared...

[Whole Fn Show]

Regarding the right back position im kind of hoping O'Shea starts. He has much more experience than the 2 twins.

Both Rafael and Fabio like to play as wingers, getting up to their goal as much as possible, which leaves uniteds defence open to a Barca counter attack.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Personally I'd rather one of the twins all day long over O'Shea. I'd even take Smalling at RB over O'Shea. It's not like Barcelona are a massively powerful team with extreme height up top, which is the only benefit we'd seemingly get from him. I don't see the guy adding a great deal going forward against Barcelona, which we're going to need in a huge game like this. And it's not like he's light years ahead of the twins defensively.

I'd probably go with Fabio. Rafael looked like he was suffering a touch from little match time when he played against Blackpool, whereas Fabio has been pretty bloody brilliant over the last couple of months when playing on a more regular basis. I'd rather we just take a risk rather than try to play safe with O'Shea who will likely not give us a great deal on the night.

[Starvinho]

I hope one of the twins starts, and in most of our big games this season one of them has started, usually Fabio in the last few months. So Fabio is my pick. Some people may see his attacking play as something Barca will exploit but with Valencia on that wing he'll cover him as will Carrick, and in my eyes Fabio's attacking runs might be the key to us nicking a goal. The thing we have to watch is if the game isn't going our way and he lunges in with a stupid challenge, 10-men against Barca and we have no chance.

[Sam]

Plus Fabio seems to get injured in every match. I would rather start with O'Shea as I think both twins are still too rash and it's not a risk I would want to take for added attacking impetus.

[Starvinho]

Barcelona are flying out to London tonight, 2 days earlier than scheduled, just incase this ash cloud disrupts flights across Europe like last time.

[Baddar]

Fabio in the stands with other first teamers, while O'Shea played most of G Nev's Testimonial would probably indicate that he's starting on Saturday. A good move indeed.

[The Future]

Chuffed for Fabio, his performances this season have warranted this and I am pleasantly surprised at how quickly he shot past his twin brother and O'Shea who despite all the stick he gets is very solid.

No game time for Fletcher makes me think he's going to miss out yet again, poor guy just can't catch a break we need a big big game from Michael Carrick if we are to win this, he's the key.

[Baddar]

I agree with Johnny on O'Shea - whilst I like him more than other United fans on here, playing him against Barcelona won't really benefit us at all. We have Ferdinand and Vidic to defend set pieces. There's not too many guys over 6ft to trouble us in the air, and having a RB who can run and cause them problems going forward on the counter will help a lot, because like it or not, we're seeing about 35-40% of the ball on Saturday.

[Pesci]

Yeah, the strength of Man Utd's counter-attack will be pretty key on Saturday. You hear all this "you can't give them too much respect" bullshit but pretending the likes of Park and Valencia are on the same level as their team is even worse. Finding the right balance is crucial. I liked Inter's approach last season of trying to use as little of the ball as possible but it takes a lot of luck to pull that off. I think it'll be a very interesting game, largely because it's in England.

[Lineker]

Dreamt about the match last night. Utd won on penalties. At the Barca end.

[Lineker]

Missing the match to get to my night shift.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Early speculation that Hernandez will be on the bench with Fletcher coming in to a five man midfield. Just speculation right now though, something I hope isn't true.

[Jimmy]

I think it'll be a mistake if Fergie doesn't go with Hernandez up front. United need that outlet and Rooney is much better when he can come deep for the ball instead of being a lone striker.

[Dynamite]

So excited about the game now. It's a shame there isn't a big-screen showing somewhere in the city centre, the atmosphere today is brilliant. Everywhere I went I could see United shirts, there's people selling special scarves for the game, 'U-N-I-T-E-D' chants breaking out on Market Street. The parade on Monday should be great but will be extra special if we can add that Champions League trophy to the mix. Having to wait 4 more hours for the game to start is gonna kill me.

[Lineker]

Fifa president Sepp Blatter is skipping the Champions League final to prepare for his appearance at a bribery scandal hearing on Sunday, according to his adviser Brian Alexander.

[Lineker]

Man Utd start with Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez up front, with no place for Darren Fletcher. Rafael and Dimitar Berbatov are not even on the bench - Michael Owen is. Same Utd team that faced Schalke.

Van Der Sar, Fabio ,Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Giggs, Park, Rooney, Hernandez. Subs: Kuszczak, Smalling, Fletcher, Scholes, Anderson, Nani, Owen.

Rumours abound, too, that Barcelona have gone with Carles Puyol at centre-half, Eric Abidal at left-back, with no room for Javier Mascherano. That is unconfirmed as yet, though.