Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has told his players they have no need to fear Barcelona in the Champions League final on 28 May.
United beat Schalke 6-1 on aggregate to set up a clash at Wembley against the team that beat them in the 2009 final.
"I don't think we should be going there lacking in confidence," Ferguson said.
"We are playing a fantastic team but we can't be frightened out of our skins. Their form is there for everyone to see. Our job is to find a solution."
Barcelona defeated arch-rivals Real Madrid to book their spot at Wembley after a acrimonious semi-final against their Spanish rivals.
But Ferguson is planning to speak to Real boss Jose Mourinho in his quest to avenge his side's 2-0 defeat to Barcelona in the 2009 final in Rome.
"I speak to him [Mourinho] quite a lot," added Ferguson. "I spoke to him last week.
"I think we will depend on our own knowledge of Barcelona. It's not as if we haven't seen them before. We've watched them many times this season.
Sir Alex FergusonIt will be a fresh team on Sunday [against Chelsea] and we will go for it.
"But the experience Real Madrid have from Jose's angle, you always take information from him like that because he is very helpful in that way."
When asked if he would have chosen to play Barcelona to earn revenge, Ferguson replied: "We'd choose Brechin City or somebody like that. No disrespect to Brechin City, I love that wee club."
He continued: "I think we'll be quite well prepared for that game [the final]."
The comfortable manner of United's victory over Schalke was not in keeping with the type of challenge they might have expected in a Champions League semi-final.
Antonio Valencia and Darron Gibson added to the Old Trafford club's 2-0 first-leg lead before the Bundesliga outfit responded with a Jose Manuel Jurado strike.
But two goals in quick succession Anderson emphasised United's dominance as the second leg finished 4-1.
Ferguson even had the comfort of giving several key players a rest against Schalke as Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand were rested, while Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Ryan Giggs and Javier Hernandez were on the bench.
In all, Ferguson made eight changes from the Premier League defeat to Arsenal last Sunday.
"It wasn't an easy decision," Ferguson commented on his team selection. "It was one of these ones I wrestled with for a few days.
"The Arsenal result forced the situation. I think there was emotional tiredness on Sunday and these European games can do that.
"I had to make that decision. If it was a tight result in the last game there is no way I could have done it. With a two goal lead there was just enough leeway to do it."
Ferguson's side lost to Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League finalFerguson's side next play Chelsea at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday in a crucial game in the title race.
Chelsea are three points behind United and can overtake them with a win.
The two clubs also met late last season in a game that had a significant say in the title race - the Blues won 2-1 and went on to be crowned champions.
But Ferguson believes his players will be better prepared this time around.
"There is a massive difference from last year when we had to go into the game after losing to Bayern Munich," he reflected.
"In the first half of that game we were really tired so it will be a fresh team on Sunday and we will go for it."
0 comments:
Post a Comment