When in Rome...

Matt, Merse, Thommo and Charlie give their final predictions

Last updated: 27th May 2009  

When in Rome...
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Champions League Final
Barcelona v Man Utd
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The road to Rome has been a long and exciting one - and on Wednesday night either Manchester United or Barcelona will walk away from the Stadio Olimpico holding aloft the greatest prize in European football.

The Champions League final sees the champions of England and Spain going head to head as Sir Alex Ferguson's men bid to retain the trophy and deny Pep Guardiola's team an unprecedented treble.

It looks like it will be one of the most unpredictable finals in years, but who is going to come out on top?

Can United stop the goal threat of Barcelona? Will the suspensions to Barcelona's first-choice full-backs prove to be decisive? Who will turn out to be the matchwinner - Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?

Those are some of the questions we posed to the Soccer Saturday panel ahead of Wednesday night's game, which you can see live on Sky Sports 1 & HD1.

Before they signed off for the summer, Matt Le Tissier, Paul Merson, Phil Thompson and Charlie Nicholas gave us their insight into the biggest game in European football...

What are the strengths and weaknesses of Barcelona?

Matt Le Tissier: The amount of goals they've scored this season has been incredible. Lionel Messi has been in great form, but having said that he's never had a good game against an English team. Samuel Eto'o is a great player, but Thierry Henry may not be fully fit which could be a big advantage for United. Both of their first-choice full-backs will be suspended so that is certainly an area where Man United can take advantage. It wouldn't surprise me to see Cristiano Ronaldo on one side and Wayne Rooney on the other.

Paul Merson: Barcelona play great passing football, starting at the back and working their way through the team. However, I watched them against Chelsea and for all of their great football, they never really looked like scoring in 180 minutes. They have broken records for goals in La Liga but our league is so much better; you play against Tenerife and Mallorca in la Liga, but you don't play Camber Sands in the Premier League! We've got top-drawer defenders over here, especially at the top clubs, and on Wednesday we will be able to judge how good Barcelona really are.

Phil Thompson: People talk about the wonderful forwards in the Barcelona team, but I think the ability of Andres Iniesta and Xavi to keep the ball in tight situations is fundamental to the way they play. Those two central midfielders rotate their positions and nobody knows where they're going to pop up. Even in an intense game they never give the ball away and they're always looking for a killer pass. I really think it's those two that Manchester United have got to look out for, rather than Eto'o, Messi or Henry. Ferguson will also be targeting Barcelona's weakness in the full-back positions in the absence of Alves and Abidal and I expect United to have a bit of good fortune in that area.

Charlie Nicholas: The obvious strength is their variety in attack, especially in the wide areas. I've never been a big fan of Samuel Eto'o, who is a good finisher but everybody else has to do a lot of clever football for him to reap the benefits. For me, the essence of the team is Messi, Henry, Xavi and Iniesta. The latter two are small and nimble and do their defensive duties without being overly aggressive, while Thierry Henry and Messi out wide cause mayhem for midfield trackers, so it will be interesting to see who Fergie picks. Does he bring in Paul Scholes to go head to head with Xavi or does he pick Ryan Giggs who can still get forward and hurt them with his intelligence? Barca's weaknesses are at the back with Alves and Abidal out. The former Man United defender Pique has improved considerably, but he doesn't have the class of Ferdinand or Vidic.

What about United?

Matt: The main strength of Manchester United lies in the defensive partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic. They are probably one of the best partnerships the Premier League has ever seen - alongside Adams and Bould or Pallister and Bruce. Then you've got to look at the flair up front from Ronaldo, Rooney and Carlos Tevez - who has something to prove at the moment. Maybe Dimitar Berbatov's form is concerning Fergie but it would take a brave man to try to guess which players he's going to pick on Wednesday. I'm clutching at straws to find a weakness - maybe the right full-back area because it's not quite as strong as the rest of the team?

Merse: We're talking about strong lads against much smaller Barcelona players and United are much better defensively. Chelsea let the Barca goalkeeper roll it out every time, but I think United should squeeze forward and make him kick it because Eto'o will never win a header against Vidic and Ferdinand. Pressure high up the pitch will frustrate Barcelona because they don't want to play that way and that could be the key to United winning. Darren Fletcher will be a big miss because he's been outstanding, but I don't really see any weaknesses in the United team because there's plenty of experience to bring in.

Thommo: Because of the lack of pace in the Barcelona defence, the speed of the United players, particularly Cristiano Ronaldo, is the area where they can win the game. But no matter where you look on the pitch you see strength in the Man United team. It will be difficult to cope with Messi, Henry and Eto'o but United have high-quality defenders and they have enough experience to cope with them. The only area of weakness is at right-back and it will be interesting to see whether Ferguson opts for the pace of Rafael da Silva or the experience of John O'Shea up against Henry.

Charlie: If United get the team structure right they can hurt Barcelona. I love the energy level of Wayne Rooney and with Alves out he can do some damage on the left flank. Not many players have the control and speed that Rooney has - and even fewer can combine it with aggression. Barcelona have two potential matchwinners in Henry and Messi - but United have one in Rooney. I'm not excluding Ronaldo, but when Barcelona beat Arsenal in 2006 they doubled up on Henry and I'm convinced they will try to choke Ronaldo this time. I think that will leave room for Rooney to come to the party and he could be the main man.

Who would you rather have in your team - Ronaldo or Messi?

Matt: I'd probably take Messi, simply because of his attitude to football. The way he conducts himself on the pitch is a million times better than Ronaldo. I've been disappointed with some of his sulking because with the ability he's got, he should be able to carry himself in a much better way. Perhaps Ronaldo has a slight edge when it comes to ability, but in terms of the whole package I'd say Messi.

Merse: I'd take Ronaldo all day long. He does it over here week in, week out and in my opinion Spanish football is nowhere near as good as English football. Messi, Eto'o and Henry have scored more than 90 goals in La Liga, but they hardly got a kick against Chelsea. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Messi over here in the Premier League but it's a different game over here and it would take him a while to settle. Ronaldo would walk it in Spain.

Thommo: It doesn't really matter because both are fantastic players but I'd probably have Ronaldo. He's got better free-kicks and more pace, although I would say Messi has a little bit more close control. At times, Messi knows when to deliver a pass more than Ronaldo does but in terms of overall ability I would have to side with the Manchester United player.

Charlie: Can I not have the two of them? At this moment in time I would go with Messi because his form is a little bit better. Ronaldo hasn't quite hit the same heights as last season and we've seen signs of frustration creeping in recently - but you never see a big drama with Messi. However, overall I think Ronaldo has got more assets. He can score with his head, with both feet and with pace to burn. If you take current form out of the equation I would have Ronaldo.

Stick your necks out. Who is going home with the trophy?

Matt: I can't go against the English team and I still think it's a shame we're not seeing an all-English final. I'm hoping we'll see a nice open game and perhaps it will be 2-2 with United snatching it in extra time.

Merse: I don't see anything except a Man United win and I think it will be 2-1. United will get two goals in this game, something I can't see Barcelona doing and the Spaniards are not the best at the back. It'll be interesting to see what Ferguson does with Ronaldo. Will he play him up front like he did against Arsenal or will he play him up against an inexperienced full-back? Either way United will win.

Thommo: I would dearly love to see an exhibition of attacking football from these two sides - and you might as well toss a coin to try and predict who will win it. I've gone for Barcelona to win the Champions League for some time now and I'm not going to jump ship now. My tip is that it will go to penalties after a 2-2 draw - and this year Manchester United will suffer the heartache of defeat.

Charlie: It's a toss of a coin and I can't wait for it because both sides have so many assets. I think we'll get an absolute treat, a 2-2 draw, and it will go into extra time with drama all of the way through. It's hard to pick a winner, but I'll go for Barcelona to nick it through Henry and Messi up against John O'Shea and Patrice Evra when the game gets stretched late on. I hope I'm wrong and United do it, but it will definitely be a game to enjoy.