Three guesses who UEFA President Michel Platini is supporting in the Champion's League final? You probably don't even need three, one guess should be enough. The head of UEFA (who should be impartial) has heaped tons of praise on Barcelona.
Speaking to the newspaper El Mundo, Platini said, "Barcelona represents my philosophy, not just in their style of play, but how they form their footballers.
"I believe players should be protected until they are 18 [is that a swipe at United?], more for moral reasons than economic ones."
"They [Barcelona] embody the ideals of Spanish football, which represents technique, an easy and open style of play.
"It seduces me."
"Xavi is very good, the best player of EURO 2008, and so is Iniesta.
"Even players like Eto'o, Henry or Keita have all adapted brilliantly to their system."
Michel Platini should be biased and I know that is hard in football but he shouldn't say it to the whole world. These quotes aren't just going to annoy Man United fans but they will also annoy Chelsea fans who are still bitter (quite rightly) after being robbed of a Champion's League final place.
Going back to the youth system, Barcelona don't wait for players to turn 18 before they go after them. What about Lionel Messi, he was 14 when he was moved to Europe to join Barcelona.
Here is what wikipedia says about Messi's early career: At the age of five, Messi started playing football for Grandoli. In 1995, Messi switched to Newell's Old Boys. At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but did not have enough money to pay for the treatment of the illness that cost $1500 a month. Carles Rexach, the sporting director of FC Barcelona, was made aware of Messi's talent, and FC Barcelona signed him after watching him play, offering to pay for the medical bills if he was willing to move to start a new life in Spain. His family moved to Europe and he started in the club's youth teams.
English clubs are NOT the only clubs who buy young talent and I am getting pretty sick of the comments which come out of UEFA about England and their teams.
Suppose Blatter will come out insupport of barca too.United to win by a big margin to show the world how poor the Spanish league is.There's only one team in the Spanish league that's why Barca are after the treble,All the other teams are useless this season.
Hi Anonymous, thanks for your comment. I totally agree with what you say and it really wouldn't surprise me if Blatter came out with some comments ahead of the final.