Hate to say I told you so

I'm not going to be smug about correctly predicting a United v Barcelona final way back before the Champions League semi finals were played - it's hard to gloat over something that was plain for all to see. It was always the most likely outcome and never really looked in much doubt at all.

What I'll freely admit that I did not see coming, was quite how embarassingly easy it would be for United in particular.

I had suggested that Schalke might find the biggest stage to which they had ever performed a step too far. Yep, just a bit. Hopefully their fans can take heart from the achievement of getting this far - and they will always have the incredible 5-2 San Siro win to look back on; but the club would do well to omit the semi final from any end of season DVD. It's difficult to think of a team ever being so comprehensively outplayed over 2 legs of a Champions League semi final - and United have surely never had such an easy stroll to the big show.

Even with the foregone conclusion of last night's game, rubber stamped with the first half goals, it still surprised and slightly annoyed me to see the empty seats with 5 minutes left. Get to the European Cup Final every week do you? Spoilt bastards...Southampton are getting 32'000 fans on Saturday to our own (hopefully) dead rubber match, and I guarantee not one of them will be leaving before giving our team the congratulations and appreciation they deserve for their achievement.

It is testament to the continued success that Ferguson's team enjoy, that the fans were able to treat this with such meh-ness. Disdain? Apathy? We'll go with meh-ness, why not. 3 Champions League finals in 4 seasons is phenomenal, and if Barcelona weren't always in the way the wins column would be higher than it is.

But Barcelona are in the way.

As obstacles go, they don't come much bigger. United have reached the biggest game in domestic football, in their home country. It could not be better- and many teams fail when the venue is so tantalisingly fitting and historic. Over recent seasons the number of favoured teams who would have had a final in their own country only to fall short is plenty; so United should be basking in the glory of their achievement and enjoying their status as overwhelming favourites with a vociferous home advantage.

Instead, just as no-one set up an appreciation group for Kate's arse, all the attention has gone elsewhere. Barcelona have their own history with Wembley, winning the European Cup there the last time it staged the final. More than this though, the fact that everyone is focussing on Pep Guardiola's men more than Ferguson's, is that they are just so bloody good. Beautiful to watch, many of us don't get to see them very often but when they are around you don't want to look anywhere else...the Pippa to United's Kate. The attention is no doubt deserved...but Kate is fit in her own right god damn it and people should pay her more thought. (I'm not sure if I'm still talking about football here, the analogy has kind of extended itself due to my distraction any time I think of those two).

What I'm clearly stating (?) is that Ferguson clearly has to pay heed of his illustrious opponents, but on such a big stage it may be right to remember his own strengths and go out there to play their own game. If they change too much to accomodate the myriad threats posed by Barcelona, they might come off looking a pale imitation of themselves. No doubt he will find himself lying awake at night, unable to shake the images from his mind, unable to picture anything else.

Hang on, I think I'm talking Pippa again...