The frenzy of Wembley will be an oasis of calm for Sergio Busquets tonight. Having been in the cross-hairs of Madrid's unproven racism allegations and branded the biggest cheat at the Nou Camp, Busquets can simply get his head down and do his day job against Manchester United. The midfielder, already, at just 22, a Champions League and World Cup winner, insisted he will not allow the storms of the past few weeks to affect him. "It's been a tough year but I have no anger at what has been said about me," said Busquets. "This is a game like any other and I will be just as focused as normal."All the other stuff goes on outside of what matters. I do not have to prove anything. "And I don't care what people think about my game. You have to ask Vicente Del Bosque and Pep Guardiola why they both pick me. "I am a team player who tries to play for the team. Here all of us feel important. I can't do anything without my team-mates and they can't do anything without me - that is the attitude here." It all hinted at a brooding discontent from the youngster. Then again, being a controversial Barcelona figure is something Busquets has always been able to ask his father about. Carles Busquets was the understudy goalkeeper to Andoni Zubizarreta for a decade, although he did play against United in the 1991 Cup Winners Cup Final defeat in Rotterdam. More colourfully, the elder Busquets was viewed by his team-mates as being "connected" with the city's leading criminal gangs and - it is claimed - was the go-to guy for assistance whenever any of the squad's car radios were stolen. His son still lives in a working-class district of the city, but the only thing motoring tonight will be the Barcelona side. "It's very hard to reach a final but it's what you work all year for," added Busquets. "But you always want more. It doesn't matter if you have won a lot - you want more. "My aim is to enjoy it. The manager says it could be our last and so we have to enjoy it. "Both teams like to have the ball and I imagine we'll that want to have possession and then pressure the other side when they don't have the ball. "In 2009, it was hard; it took a long time for us to get into the game. The second half was much better. But it was hard for a long time. "I reckon the final will be decided on a small details. Look at the World Cup Final, the Copa del Rey, there tends not to be many goals. "We will have to be at our best to win. United have great players in every department. That is why they have reached so many finals as well. It will not be the same as 2009. Except, I hope, the result."
Barcelona will hold their Champions League final after-party among dinosaur skeletons after shunning the usual tacky footballer haunts. The club has arranged a spectacular post-match bash until 3am tomorrow at the Natural History Museum in west London. Messi and co will relax among exhibits including the giant diplodocus skeleton, Charles Darwin statue and 1,300-year-old sequoia tree. The club is thought to have paid more than £30,000 for the party - the grand Central Hall alone costs £17,200 to hire.The stars are expected to turn up after their clash with Manchester United at Wembley tonight. Previous bashes held at the attraction include the Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire premiere after-party in 2005. A source said: "Barcelona are not really about players falling out of nightclubs and wanted something which befitted the club's standing. "The museum is not worried about the exhibits, some of them are insured for more than the players are worth." A spokeswoman for the museum said: "The party is being managed through our events department. "It is a private, closed event and no further details will be released."
Barcelona's Lionel Messi demonstrates his control in the buildup to scoring against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty
Keep an eye on him even when you have possession
Andoni Iraola, Athletic Bilbao The thing that is most striking about Leo Messi for me is the fact that you have to be so careful of him when you have the ball. Because Barcelona steal the ball back so quickly and take advantage of those spaces you leave with incredible speed, you need to be aware of Messi at all times. Normally when a team wins the ball, they think about attacking. Against Barcelona, you have to be attentive and alert to Messi instead. Communication is vital between team-mates to make sure there is always someone very near him and that, collectively, you are well positioned to deny him space. Not just when he gets the ball but in case he gets the ball. You cannot leave him alone at any time because he's so swift. If he catches you at all out of position, you are in real trouble. The hardest thing when you play him is maintaining that level of intense concentration throughout the game. You almost have to forget about playing. Barcelona rob the ball so high and move so quick, they are almost as dangerous without the ball as with it. Stop him getting the ball by anticipating passes to him
Gonzalo Rodríguez, Villarreal There isn't a secret formula for stopping Leo Messi, unfortunately. He has such variety that there are many ways that he can get free and make things happen. Once he has the ball at his feet it is very hard to prevent him punishing you so you have to try to make sure that he cannot receive the ball in the first place. You need to anticipate and get in ahead of him. That is hard because he moves all over the pitch and becomes very involved so you have to defend as a very compact unit and prevent him having spaces into which he can run. He is very, very fast with the ball at his feet. Show him outside away from your penalty area
Juanma Ortiz, Almería We have really suffered from Leo Messi. They beat us 8-0 in the league and 5-0 and 3-0 in the Copa del Rey, so maybe I'm not the best person to explain how to stop him! He is a very complete player who has the kind of dribbling skills that make him very hard to stop. If he gets one-on-one against you, you have problems. He has a great deal of variety in the way he carries the ball. His control is very good, the ball stays very close to him, and he is extremely quick. The most important thing from Manchester United's point of view is not to offer him the chance to come inside into space. You have to try to keep him as far away from your area as possible and when he starts to attack you, you have to try to show him outside – that is an unnatural movement for him. You have to watch him very closely and make sure he doesn't have that space to exploit – and in his case it only needs to be the tiniest space. It's very, very hard to stop him. As we found out. Stay narrow to ensure he doesn't isolate one player
Ricardo Costa, Valencia If Messi gets one-on-one he is almost impossible to stop. If you find yourself in that position the key is always to try to show him outside, away from goal. You have to offer him that passageway in the hope that he doesn't take the inside option, but it is risky. Above all, though, you have to try to make sure that he doesn't isolate a solitary defender. Against Barcelona, you have to play with the lines very close together and the players quite narrow. You play with pressure and intensity, to try to prevent them from playing and that's true of Messi too – he is best if you can stop him receiving the ball in comfort. You can't try to put two or three players on him, though, because if you do that you will leave space for others, for [David] Villa or Pedro or for the midfielders coming through. Communication is very important. Messi plays nominally as a centre-forward but he drops deep to receive possession and get involved. The centre-back cannot afford to follow him out, because if he does he just leaves space for someone else to take advantage of. You have to then pass him on to another player to pick up as he enters into their zone. That's why it is vital that the collective organisation is good – and the communication too. Don't try to kick him out of the game – you will fail
Javier Chica, Espanyol Leo Messi is more complete than Cristiano Ronaldo and harder to stop. He is harder to stop because it is not just about him. Ronaldo is a more individual player who looks to go one-on-one against you and that makes him predictable, up to a point. Messi is different: he looks to run at you, or play the one-two, or simply keep the move going. He is harder to second-guess. And if he does go at you, the combination of speed and control is astonishing. Ronaldo runs at you and plays very physically. Messi will avoid the contact if he can; he will evade you. There are players who pick up more fouls than Messi, like Ronaldo, but that is not because no one tries to foul Messi; it is because their characteristics invite fouls more. You can't foul Messi! Two touches and he's gone. Better is to try to make sure that he only receives the ball with his back to goal and unable to turn; if he turns and faces you, if he can see all his options clearly, he is very dangerous. Messi can employ any option that presents itself to him … and if not, invent something totally new. He is different from all the rest. Watch his team-mates – he uses them to his advantage
Julien Escudé, Sevilla The thing that makes Messi so striking is that he is so different. Modern football is set up for big players, strong ones, athletes. And then you have Messi. He doesn't fit the characteristics of the modern game at all: with him it's about mobility, positioning and precision. That changes your whole mind-set. Defenders are set up – mentally, tactically, physically – to stop a certain type of player, an identity of footballer that just isn't the case with Messi. That forces you to be 100% focused all the time, at every minute, because as soon as you are out of position he takes advantage. That can be very hard mentally. The other problem is that we are talking about a player within a great team. So if you focus only on him, someone else will catch you. He knows how to use his team-mates to his advantage and also how to help them take advantage. He is not a player that dribbles a lot in the traditional sense of going round players; he goes past them instead with incredible speed and control. It's about mobility rather than fancy tricks. He is not trying to confuse you, he is just very, very hard to stop: it is one thing knowing what he does and how, in theory, to stop that; it's another actually succeeding. He is a great, great player – one of the best in history.
Hands up anybody who won't be watching tomorrow night? What on earth are you doing reading this, then? UEFA's movers and shakers could not have dreamed of a better way to finish their season than the two giants of the Champions League clashing under the glimmering Wembley arch. Now all we need is a match fit to grace the stage, a match worthy of Manchester United and Barcelona.No questions, of course, who are the favourites. Pep Guardiola's Barca side are the finest footballing team I have seen in my working life - utterly mesmerising on their day. Of course, there are some negatives, too. Not everything in the Nou Camp garden is beautiful. But I'm prepared to put up with the histrionics of Dani Alves and Sergio Busquets, the cynicism of Javier Mascherano, to witness Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Lionel Messi pass teams to death. If you're not, then you don't have football in your soul. While Xavi was wrong to suggest there is only one way of playing, if more teams tried to play like Barcelona, there would be a great deal more joy in the game. And if you ask me whether I'd watch Barcelona trying to destroy a team, or Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid try to destroy a game, I do not have to think too hard. Yet for all Barcelona's majesty, for all the memories of them beating United in this fixture in Rome in 2009, this is not a one-horse race. How can it be when United can offer the defensive resolve of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, the pace of Antonio Valencia, the age-defying brilliance of Ryan Giggs, the energy of Ji-Sung Park, the vision of Wayne Rooney and the goal nous of Javier Hernandez? The likelihood that Sir Alex Ferguson - his eyes set on a place in the history books, at the venue where Sir Matt Busby revelled in his finest hour as United manager 43 years ago - will play the team he probably did not envisage six weeks ago could add to the spectacle. At the start of April, if you have told Fergie he'd be playing Barca at Wembley, with everybody fit and available, he would probably have anticipated 4-3-3 - in effect 4-5-1. That would have been Valencia and Park wide, dropping in to aid the midfield trio of Giggs, Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher, with Rooney up top. It might have made sense in a game-plan about stifling Barca, trying to drive them to distraction, giving no space and seeking to take advantage of a moment of brilliance from Rooney or a set-piece. Indeed, it is a plan that might have appealed at many levels... and would probably have ended in the same scoreline we witnessed in the Olympic Stadium, but with even fewer reasons for talking about what might have been. Now, though, it seems we will see a different, more cavalier United. A United more in tune with the way they played in 1999 than in their Moscow triumph over Chelsea. Valencia and Park wide, Carrick and Giggs in the middle, Rooney dropping off, Hernandez seeking to exploit the spaces off the shoulder of the last defender. The displays at Schalke - when it could have been eight or more - and perhaps more pertinently in that effervescent, stunning demolition of Chelsea, turning Carlo Ancelotti's team into pensioners in the first hour, have helped Ferguson think again. He knows the dangers, all right. With Barcelona having their own midfield trio of Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets, Messi dropping in to help and David Villa stretching the back line with his pace, the risk is of United being out-manned in the engine room, left chasing balletic shadows all night, until their legs finally give way. If that comes to pass, if it become the tiki-taka show, all about Barca's magical mastery, it could become ugly and humiliating. Three, four, maybe five. But if United are going to win, to beat the unbeatable Barca, they have to hurt them, have to play the game United's way. They still may not win. I have never seen a team as adept at hunting the ball down in packs, front to back and all over the pitch, as Guardiola's men. Yet if United can impose themselves, even for five minutes here and there, if they can ask the sort of questions Barcelona rarely have to answer, and may not, after all, be able to answer, then something truly special could be achieved. It will take arguably their greatest night. Greater than '99, better than Moscow. But the prize is so huge, they have to strain every single sinew to make that dream a reality. In my heart of hearts I can only see one winner. And yet. And yet. And yet..... only an idiot would ever write off Fergie and United. And, despite plenty of claims to the contrary, I am not an idiot.