The Classico of Europe...

In little under 12 hours, Wembley Stadium will play host to the Champions League final for the first time since 1992. Barcelona were the victors that night, and will go into this match as favourites.

They are playing football at the moment that, at times, is out of this world; and they have the top three players in last year's Ballon D'Or vote. All three. Lionel Messi is, frankly, not human. They strangle the life out of opponents with obsessive ball retention and frantic possession in the rare minutes that they don't have the ball. They know how to rile the opposition and are smart enough to capitalise when something is there to be capitalised on. Busquets and Mascherano provide the steel/gamesmanship to back up the artistry of the rest of the team. In short, they are freaking awesome.

And yet, and yet...

Their opponents tonight are Manchester United. Alex Ferguson's Manchester United. Limited perhaps in terms of personnel, but not in terms of determination and that irrepressible Ferguson inspired ability to confound the odds and just, plainly, win.

I can't wait for this game (even with the 4:45 am start). The Champions League final has become the biggest game in club football, and the presence of an English side always adds to the excitement for me. I'm struggling to think of a more compelling fixture in all of inter-country club football than Man United v Barcelona. The best team in the world versus probably the best supported club in the world. The chance to claim further tangible evidence for the claim to be the best team ever, against the chance to achieve perhaps the most unlikely of titles and gain some much-deserved credit in a year when it has been in relatively short supply.

Colours to the mast - I want Barcelona to win this match. I think that Barca are probably the best team I've ever seen in club football, for the past three years in particular they continue to perform at ever higher and more superlative levels. This is all well and good, but in years to come when telling bored children about the best team ever, a series of consecutive European titles will back up the claim better than any anecdotal evidence or Youtube 4.0 footage. I never saw the Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Ajax dynasty teams, but the record books show in plain English how good those teams must have been. For Barca to win 4/5 titles in 6/7 years would provide the best possible evidence for what they are threatening to become.

I wouldn't rule out United. Any other team in England, forget it, but never ever rule out United. Javier Hernandez is precisely the type of player Barca fear - look at the panic they get themselves in every time they face Theo Walcott - and United are the masters of overcoming adversity. That being said, I still think Barcelona are simply too good, the midfield in particular should utterly dominate United and the goal threat of Messi and Villa is realer than Really McReal the Lord Mayor of Realtown, South Real.

Whatever happens, I hope the game is as open, expansive and exciting to watch as it has the potential to be. Would a 5-4 win for Barca be too much to ask? We'll see. Time to set the alarm....