Messi v Ronaldo at the weekend can't wait.

Honestly? No, I don't think he does. A three man field is certainly our strongest option, but who to play? Giggs and Scholes have played the last 3, and were poor against Chelsea, Park looked knackered against Chelsea, he isn't used to playing this often.

Berbatov isn't a lone striker, we need a goal, so for me, the risk of sticking two up front is worth it.

Is that directed at me? I haven't watched enough La Liga this year to make a proper judgement on Messi but what i have seen in the Champions League has been impressive. From what i hear he has been as good in La Liga and would be a worthy winner of the WPOY. My opinion is that he isn't a striker though. Maybe a 2nd striker though i would view him, like i have said, as an attacking midfielder.

Anyone really.

He is the best attacking player in the world.

Yes he is.

Great timing

Like i say he most probably is. Just not a striker for me like people were insinuating earlier. Though I don't think Ronaldo is as far behind him as people are saying.

Messi and Mourinho in the same match?

I hope the tissue-makers can cope with the demand from the UK TV commentators.

I agree with Robbie he is just "Messi"

Might be alone in thinking this but i don't think Barca have been particularly impressive tonight. Thought they were better in the 1st leg. They have taken their chances very well but Arsenal gave it to them on a plate in the 1st half

Warming up for Saturday?

Messi was brilliant, Barcelona just did what they needed to do.

Wenger cost Arsenal any chance of winning the tie by risking three of his best players in the first game, a fit Gallas, Arshavin and Fabregas in the team tonight and it might have been a different story. As it was Arsenal handed the initiative to Barcelona in the first match carrying too many passengers (look how they improved when the injured players limped off and players who could actually move came on) and the result of them aggravating their injuries was a thrashing tonight, and any chance of winning the PL going.

Wenger didn't cost Arsenal the game. They would have been hammered whatever their personnel.

If you watch La Liga, exactly *how good* Messi is will come as no shock. He's with Maradona and Zidane a level ahead of everyone else in memory. But it will also be no surprise how good Xavi is, head and shoulders above any midfielder in the world (except Iniesta, who was on Barcelona's bench tonight, who may be even better than him). Far better than Fabregas (who I rate, and may get to that level), and he makes Gerrard and Lampard look like Geoff Thomas and Carlton Palmer. Arsenal couldn't get the ball off him with ten midfielders, and when he can pass it to Messi, so much the better. To have three of the top five players in the world in tandem is pretty special, and it's only the Little-Englander mentality that gave such a flawed team as Arsenal even a puncher's chance. Inter might have a puncher's chance, because they're punchers. Arsenal aren't.

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Not true. The campaign for Rooney to be regarded as teh best player in the world, has been orchestrated by the English media. Previously it was Ronaldo, and before that it was Henry.

Don't let that stop you spouting your usual tripe though

I'd go with this from the start:-

VDS
Rafael, Vidic, Rio, Evra
Valencia, Carrick, Fletcher, Park, Nani
Berba

If it is not working by HT then stick another striker off and take off one the midfield three.

I think he'll start Neville, but other than that, that could well be the team. The scary thing is that against top teams, Berba cannot play up front alone.

How did a flawed team, that were hammered by United and Chelsea at home, manage to get a draw with the greatest team ever to play the game in the first leg?

Good god, this Barca loving is winding me up. Messi is the best player in the world, bar none. Other than that they are a good team. Not this super power that nobody else can touch that people like to portray. What happened in the group games against Ruben Kazan, which they managed to get one point from? Do they not count.

Barca are an outstanding team, but they are not as unbeatable as some folk would like to believe.

Watch the first leg again they should/could have been 3 up by half time Arsenal were very very very lucky to draw that game.

I watched it! No doubt they started well and they could've been 3 up, they weren't though. Arsenal could've been 2 up if Diaby played Walcott in rather than Bendtner. He didn't. When teams can get the ball off Barca and put them under pressure, they are vunerable. Don't get me wrong, Barca are a fantastic team, with a truly great player. But the way people drool over them is cringeworthy.

I didn't say Barcelona are unbeatable, good as they are. I was saying I thought they were unbeatable by Arsenal, whatever their lineup, because of Arsenal's "flaw". That flaw being that they're only capable of playing football one way, the pure tippy-tap Barca way, and they'll never beat Barcelona at that over 180 minutes because Barcelona play it so much better. It's the same reason you'd always expect Arsenal to beat a team like Porto, but struggle against Chelsea.

If they were capable of kicking Xavi up in the air whenever he got the ball to cut off the supply, or bashing it up to a Drogba figure to terrorise their centre-halves, all the while keeping a disciplined six-man catenaccio screen at the back then they might have had what I called a puncher's chance. Inter vs. Barca should be slightly harder to call because it'll be a clash of styles. Barcelona's football (and Messi) will still probably win out, but Inter have a lot more chance than Arsenal.

To be honest pal, they are up there with the greatest footballing sides in history. Like, we're not talking about a side that just play nice football here, they're a side with an exceptional defence, a rock solid midfield and the finest attack in world football - they're complete. Their success over the past two seasons has been extremely impressive. Some people may go OTT in their praise for Barca, but it's hard to argue against it. They are flawless, they are the best team in the world and they deserve every ounce of praise they get. They combine everything that's good about football and put their own stamp on it, they're a great side, a great club and the team of 08/09 and possibly 09/10 will go down as one of the greats.

No its not, its justified.

The mass ejaculation over rooney and comparing him to messi, now THAT is cringeworthy. Thankfully its only the united fans that think that

Very few true United fans think that me old mucker. It's the journalists who have us all believe that England really can win the world cup who talk about it.

They are in a rich vein of form, no doubt. But remember, this is the same team that got beat at home to Rubin Kazan, and only managed a 1-1 draw away from home. I realise I come across as a Barca hater, and I truly am not. I love watching them play, and am a massive fan of some of their players - Xavi, Iniesta, Pique, Ibrahimovic and obviously Messi. At this moment, you'd have to say they are the form team in the world. What makes last nights result all the more impressive is that they did it without Iniesta (in the main), Puyol, Pique and Ibrahimovic - whilst basically carrying Bojan.

In short, Barcelona are a wonderful football, with the greatest player on the planet - by some distance - playing for them. I won't disagree with that. However, they have their weaknesses like any team, and if a team can rough them up, give them as little time as possible and get at that defence, they are beatable.