If both teams were to merge together and form an All Star XI, there is no doubt that the final product would be a tremendously powerful force. From a subjective point of view, there could be numerous opinions on this particular topic. Is Puyol better than Vidic? Or is Villa a better finisher than Hernandez? The debate can go on and on. If we were to give you a combined lineup of these two sides based on pure statistical comparison per positions, we can get a better end result with some sort of common agreement.

Here is the All Star combined XI sorted buy player ratings:

Barcelona vs. Manchester United Combined All Star XI


Based on a 4-3-3 formation, which both sides are accustomed to, this combined lineup gives a pretty good picture of who the key players will be during the Champions League final. Of course with the exception of Adriano (injured), all of these players should be start the in the final.

This picture does not tell the whole story though; there are a couple of players that could be here if more consideration was given to statistics weighted with appearances. The main questions lies at left back. Adriano’s five starting appearance were extremely good, he averaged a rating of 7.4, almost performing better than his compatriot Dani Alves from the other flank. Patrice Evra narrowly missed out here; he had an average rating of 6.9 over eight appearances, three more than Adriano.

In centre defense, competition was intense as Ferdinand, Vidic, Puyol, and Pique are all considered world-class defenders. At the end it was the youth of Pique and fierceness of Vidic that won them starting spots.

Busquets statistically was the 3rd best midfielder with a rating of 7.6. He joins his Barcelona teammates to form an all-Spanish midfield. The closest Manchester United midfielder was Anderson, he started six times with a rating of 7.2.

The biggest surprise comes in attack where two Manchester United players (Rooney and Hernandez) make the All Star attack line. Messi, probably untouchable in any formation in footballing history would have thought one of his teammates would join him in attack. In all fairness, Hernandez and Villa were to close to call, the Mexican edges out because he played more through the centre while Villa drifted wide left. Pedro and Villa are by no means inferior, but statistics have had their say this time.

Personally this looks a lot closer then expected. Many might have predicted Barcelona to have completely dominated this All Star lineup, but Manchester United has produced some strong evidence that they are still full or surprises. This year, Barcelona edged out victorious with seven players compared to Manchester United’s four.

Interestingly, Manchester United predominately have the better “left sided” players considering Adriano’s injury, and this could be an area that United take advantage of in Saturday’s Champions League final. Barcelona obviously dominates the rest of pitch, but at least United can see that mighty Barcelona have a weakness which lies on their left side, and that United’s attack line is one to be scared of.