Barcelona will seek to seal its status as the finest team of its generation here on Saturday when it faces Manchester United at Wembley in the most eagerly-anticipated Champions League final in years.
A second triumph in three years — and its third since 2006 — will provide irrefutable proof that Pep Guardiola's team deserves to be bracketed alongside legendary teams like Real Madrid's 1950s vintage, Johan Cruyff's Ajax or the Dutch-influenced AC Milan of the 1990s.
Blocking the route to immortality, however, is United which is desperate to avenge its bitterly disappointing defeat to the Spanish giant in the Rome final two years ago.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has never spoken in detail about what he believes went wrong in 2009, when his team was taken for a dizzying ride on Barcelona's famous midfield ‘carousel' in a 2-0 defeat.
The obvious temptation for Ferguson as United attempts to avoid a repeat of that chastening experience is to bolster his midfield with an extra man.
Yet to do so would mean having to sacrifice the burgeoning partnership between Wayne Rooney, back to something close to his best, and Javier Hernandez, the young Mexican striker who has been the find of United's season.
The bolder option would be to keep faith with the midfield formation which served United so well en route to the final: a central pairing of Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick flanked by Antonio Valencia and Park Ji-Sung, with Rooney dropping deep when Barcelona is in possession.
Ferguson has hinted that he is leaning towards a tactical approach that is more in keeping with United's attacking traditions.
“We have players who can cause any team a lot of bother and hopefully those attacking players will give Barcelona the problems that everyone thinks they are going to give us,” Ferguson said.
“It's not just about Barcelona, it's about us too. We have to work out what gives us the best chance of winning the match. It will be down to how we operate the attacking part.”
Yet the threats for United are obvious and many.
To prevail at Wembley, it will have to come up with a gameplan that neutralises an attack led by Lionel Messi, operating in front of a bejewelled midfield encrusted with the twin talents of Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez.
Messi in great form
Messi has been in magical form for Barcelona in Europe, contributing 11 goals and evoking tributes from some admirers that he already deserves to be ranked alongside the likes of Pele and Diego Maradona.
One more goal on Saturday will see Messi equal Ruud van Nistlerooy's record of 12 in a single Champions League campaign.
But displaying the sort of modesty that is part of the diminutive Argentinean's appeal, Messi says he is not interested in personal milestones.
Probable teams: Manchester United: Edwin van der Sar, Fabio, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Antonio Valencia, Michael Carrick, Ryan Giggs, Park Ji-Sung, Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez.
Barcelona: Victor Valdes, Daniel Alves, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, Eric Abidal, Sergio Busquets, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Pedro, Lionel Messi, David Villa.
