Thierry Henry is a player who United fans will ever be fond of, due to his affiliations with our former title rivals. The Arsenal hero, who left the club in the summer just gone for Barcelona, has failed to make much of an impact on the Spanish giants, who booked their place in the semi-finals of the Champions League last night. With the Frenchman scoring just 14 goals in 39 appearances this season, Henry’s side currently lie in 3rd in La Liga, 7 points behind Real Madrid.
Manchester United did the same after a victory over Roma, who currently stand second in Serie A. After beating the Italians 2-0 away from home, it was almost a forgone conclusion that United would progress to the next stage in the competition, however, that looked to be less secure when the referee awarded a penalty against Wes Brown in the first half. I’ve yet to see a replay, but from the stands, it looked like a superb challenge. Regardless, de Rossi blasted over the bar meaning we don’t have to give too much thought on whether it was the right decision for the ref to point to the spot.
With Barcelona always looking like favourites against Shalke, it was no surprise to hear on the final whistle that they were the team we were going to play in the semi’s. I am extremely excited about the game, intrigued to see how our lads will measure up against an attack minded, world class, side. It appears I am not the only one though, with Henry speaking to the press this morning about the game.
Henry has had a sly dig at United, claiming they aren’t necessarily the favourites and he doesn’t expect us to be able to surprise Barca. Whilst recognising the brilliance of Ronaldo, who is three league goals short of equaling Henry’s best record in the Premiership, Henry claims he knows our side well enough to do the job.
“This is a game to get excited about, but we will have to play well because we will be up against a team who are playing incredibly. They are on great form,” he said. “People will say they are favourites but nobody can really know. They are a team in first place in their league and Cristiano Ronaldo is having an incredible season, so we know them pretty well. They won’t be able to surprise us.”
Are you looking forward to playing against Henry again? Is he any match for Ferdinand and Vidic?
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