Friendly with the Enemy

What an odd situation to find ourselves in. A friendly against Barcelona, only 2months after being defeated by them in the last competitive match of the season. Although this now looks like a disastrous fixture for United, it was arranged well in advance of the Champions league final (announced on 29/03/11 to be exact) and poised to be a show case between the two greatest club sides in the world, to show America how good the game can be.....unfortunately that seems to be exactly what has happened with the two clubs meeting on the 28th of May for the crown. (even more unfortunate that United lost)

Many people have been talking about this game being a chance to get revenge, others saying that will be the cry if Manchester win but if we lose it line will be that it was only a friendly.

I view it slightly differently in that if we win, everybody will state its only a friendly and if we were to meet again (towards the end) of next season we couldn't repeat the feat. Then if we lose they will use this as a platform to once again question Uniteds credentials alongside the likes of Barca. To me it seems we cannot win in this situation, it will be played down if we win and blown up if we lose.

Fergies has stated this week that he would happily play his youngsters against Barcas youngsters as it would be very interesting. I also think it would void the result as an opportunity for the sports media to pounce on us and create pressure within the squad before the start of the new season.

I think I have come across very pessimistic in this post, I don't mean to and I am looking forward to the Barcelona friendly more than I have any of the rest. And the result will be meaningless when the season starts, regardless if we do meet Barcelona or not. I am not looking forward to the the media hype, whether we win or lose, which will more than likely follow the result. I'm just hope the tie has no negative effects on the mentality of the squad.

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