{"id":1134,"date":"2011-05-05T11:13:45","date_gmt":"2011-05-05T09:13:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.footballticketsbarcelona.com\/fc-barcelona-news\/?p=1134"},"modified":"2026-10-19T10:40:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T08:40:52","slug":"the-stage-is-set-for-a-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.footballticketsbarcelona.com\/fc-barcelona-news\/the-stage-is-set-for-a-classic\/","title":{"rendered":"Bar\u00e7a vs Man Utd : The stage is set for a classic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Barcelona<\/strong> are, if anything, an even better and more rounded team than the one that beat United in Rome to complete an unprecedented treble of <strong>Champions League<\/strong>, <strong>Spanish league <\/strong>and cup in <strong>Pep Guardiola&#8217;s<\/strong> debut campaign as coach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Striker <strong>Eto&#8217;o<\/strong> was offloaded and won Europe&#8217;s elite club competition with <strong>Inter Milan<\/strong> the following season, while the brief experiment with <strong>Zlatan Ibrahimovic<\/strong> ended when <strong>Barca<\/strong> moved him on to <strong>AC Milan<\/strong> and bought <strong>David Villa<\/strong> at the end of last season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While <strong>Villa<\/strong>, one of eight <strong>Barca<\/strong> players who won the 2010 <strong>World Cup<\/strong> with Spain, has been going through a barren patch in recent weeks, his work rate is an important component of <strong>Barca&#8217;s<\/strong> play and he has formed a highly effective frontline alongside World Player of the Year <strong>Lionel Messi<\/strong> and <strong>Pedro<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Argentina forward <strong>Messi <\/strong>has gone from strength to strength since the 2009 triumph in Rome and is top scorer in this season&#8217;s edition with 11 goals, including two in the semi-final first leg at arch rivals <strong>Real Madrid<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Xavi <\/strong>and <strong>Andres Iniesta<\/strong> provide the creative spark in midfield, backed up by the mobile and tough-tackling <strong>Sergio Busquets<\/strong>, while <strong>Gerard Pique,<\/strong> who spent several seasons at United between 2004 and 2008, has been immense at centre back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The stage is set for a classic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Barcelona are, if anything, an even better and more rounded team than the one that beat United in Rome to complete an unprecedented treble of Champions League, Spanish league and cup in Pep Guardiola&#8217;s debut campaign as coach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7,3862,3877],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-barca","category-champions-league","category-match-schedule-info","category-messi"],"yoast_head":"<title>UCL Final : FC Barcelona vs Manchester Utd. 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A classic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"more rounded team than the one that beat United in Rome to complete an unprecedented treble\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.footballticketsbarcelona.com\/fc-barcelona-news\/the-stage-is-set-for-a-classic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FC Barcelona headlines\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/footballticketsbarcelona\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-05T09:13:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-19T08:40:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Football Tickets Barcelona\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@footballtixfcb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@footballtixfcb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Football Tickets Barcelona\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.footballticketsbarcelona.com\\\/fc-barcelona-news\\\/the-stage-is-set-for-a-classic\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.footballticketsbarcelona.com\\\/fc-barcelona-news\\\/the-stage-is-set-for-a-classic\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Football Tickets Barcelona\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.footballticketsbarcelona.com\\\/fc-barcelona-news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b11011f373c8d5dec523e4d16d5bd808\"},\"headline\":\"Bar\u00e7a vs Man Utd : The stage is set for a classic\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-05T09:13:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-19T08:40:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.footballticketsbarcelona.com\\\/fc-barcelona-news\\\/the-stage-is-set-for-a-classic\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":228,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.footballticketsbarcelona.com\\\/fc-barcelona-news\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Bar\u00e7a\",\"Champions league\",\"Match and schedule info\",\"Messi\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.footballticketsbarcelona.com\\\/fc-barcelona-news\\\/the-stage-is-set-for-a-classic\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.footballticketsbarcelona.com\\\/fc-barcelona-news\\\/the-stage-is-set-for-a-classic\\\/\",\"name\":\"UCL Final : FC Barcelona vs Manchester Utd. 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