Manchested United's Patrice Evra admitted as his side arrived in London yesterday that he was guilty of over-confidence in the Champions League final against Barcelona two years ago and vowed that United would not repeat the mistake at Wembley on Sunday morning.
Sir Alex Ferguson's players are settling into their
surroundings at Marylebone's Landmark hotel after yesterday's train journey from Stockport and will get their last run-out at Fulham's Motspur Park training ground this morning.
But Evra was looking back to the 2-0 defeat to Pep Guardiola's side in Rome's Stadio Olimpico. "I am honest and I have to say I was confident in Italy - maybe too confident. I thought we were going to win," he said. "Rome was a bad feeling. I had a big frustration that summer when I was on holiday because we didn't show enough of the Man United spirit and quality. We had been in the final in Moscow the season before and had won the trophy and maybe we just believed too much.
"We had respect for Barcelona then but I was so confident. It was probably too much. The thing I remember from two years ago was that everyone was saying we were going to beat Barcelona easily in Rome, myself as well. That's why I am happy that everyone is saying Barcelona are going to win [this time]. That's good."
Though United stand at the top of the Uefa club coefficient rankings, 12 points clear of second-placed Barcelona, the Spanish champions - who will today leave the Grove hotel in Hertfordshire for Chelsea's Wyndham hotel - are odds-on favourites to win with virtually every bookmaker, with several having them 2/1 on, while United are 7/4 with many.
An intriguing statistic stands in United's favour. They and Barcelona will become the sixth pair of teams to meet twice in a European Cup final - with the last three of those rematches having been won by the side that lost the first encounter.
The survivors of 2009 have picked over what went wrong in Rome by watching DVDs of the match in recent days, with footage of the playing "habits" of Barcelona's squad also uploaded to players' iPads, according to Rio Ferdinand. The 35-year-old Hungarian Viktor Kassai has been appointed to referee the match.
- THE INDEPENDENT
