[TheRiddick]

Jason,

You're saying it doesn't take skill, and lots of it, to deny a highly touted team such as Barca, a goal for what, 170 minutes of play? Please tell me you're kidding. If anything, Barca should feel extremely lucky that all Chelsea has as a striker is the like of Drogba, any other striker would have killed the game a long time before. How many chances did Barca create for all the possession they had over he 2 games? Not many, by any count, and the likes of Messi and Eto'o can only score on teams that allow them to roam freely wherever they want. EPL is a whole new paradigm, no wonder they dominate CL for the past few years and Platini is doing everything in his power to stop that. I am convinced now the ref knew what he had to do on orders from UEFA's office, there is no other explanation possible, no one is that blind and stupid all in one.

A great team will break down any opposing defense. Barca proved they cannot accompish that. Not over just one game, but over 2. Both Messi and Eto'o will have even harder time against United, where Chelsea's game plan allowed Barca players time on the ball, United will be very, very different and save for Iniesta, who played balls out in the second half yesterday, no one else on Barca had any clue what to do with the ball, possession or not. They also showed just how inept they were with Chelsea's counter attacks and United are WAY quicker and deadlier in that respect. Rooney will eat Messi alive on that left side, Carrick should do fine shadowing Iniesta. That leaves who to do what? Eto'o? He's clueless when he is not allowed time on the ball. Henry? Maybe, he's a step or two slower than in his best days, but may be dangerous if given space. That's about it.

Possession is meaningful if you can SCORE. If not, what does "possession" mean? Possession all over the place but the last third is useless and meaningless, and Barca did just that. I'll gladly save my energy by letting you run all over the place for most of the game as long as I know you're nowhere near a scoring chance nor able to create one. That's called experience and tactical advantage. I play with a guy who literally runs circles around entire teams, incredible stamina and speed, and for all of that and his great skill on the ball, we learned he is actually a player that is better off NOT on your team as you'll loose more often than not. Possession is a stat with no meaning. Playing "beautiful" footy means nothing, WINNING is the point of the game last time I checked (look at Italy's record in World and European Cups).

Look up my prediction some time ago when I said that I will not be surprised with an all EPL final, I pretty much nailed it save for dubious officiating (something that is not predictable). I also said that Barca will face a very different opponent than they did in CL all season long. Overall, I'd rather see United play Barca than Chelsea, on paper, at least, I will easily take United.