Spanish giants Barcelona will take on Premiership powerhouse Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League final that will take place in Paris on Wednesday, in what promises to be an extravagant European finale. Both Arsenal and Barcelona reached the finals unbeaten with eight victories and four draws each in their first 12 matches, which is happening for the third time since the inaugural competition. Barcelona, who scored 22 goals during their Champions League campaign, are expected to launch a steady attacking line against Arsenal, who only conceded two goals throughout their campaign, to deep-root their status as the team with the tightest defense, with their last conceded goal on September 27th, 2005. Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard is expected to depend mainly on star players Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o, Deco and Ludovic Giuly and their individual skills to infiltrate the solid Gunners defense. On the other hand, Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger will be relying mainly on striker extraordinaire, Thierry Henry, in carrying out quick and deft counter attacks. Nevertheless, Barcelona remain favourites to be crowned as European champions, given their second consecutive win of the Spanish league, unlike Arsenal, who only secured their place in next season's UCL in the Premiership's final round, after hold fourth place.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will be depending mainly on Theirry Henry Rijkaard, however, played down talks of Barcelona being the favourites in Paris and stressed that his team were only fully focused on winning their second European Cup. "If we believe we are, it will complicate matters for us. The players are all clear in their minds about what they can do," Rijkaard was quoted as saying by Sky Sports on Tuesday. Wenger, on the other hand, had high hopes of his team's success and said that they had a good shot at clinching the European title given their recent outburst in the Premiership. "I believe we have potential to achieve success and results, and this team has shown that recently by coming back in a strong way in the championship and by doing what we have done in the Champions League," Wenger said. The Gunners look all set for the match with a complete starting line-up after the recuperation of Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell, Philippe Senderos, Mathieu Flamini and Jose Antonio Reyes from different injuries they picked up during their side's local and European campaigns. Barcelona also announced a complete starting line-up, including Argentine rising star Lionel Messi, who is still recuperating from a thigh injury, on the bench. Arsenal will cash in on $48-million if they win the UCL final, and $44-million if they don't, while Barcelona get $40-million if they clinch the European title, and $37-million if they fail.
