SID LOWE argues if the Champions League final is supposed to be between the best two clubs, the right pair progressed

JOAN LAPORTA said on Tuesday night that Barcelona against Manchester United was the “dream final”. But then he would say that. He is, after all, the president of Barcelona and he had just sat at the Emirates watching United tear Arsenal apart, less than 24 hours before his side faced Chelsea for a place in Rome.

He was not so much articulating a dream final as articulating his dream of being in the final. United came as part of the package, not a personal preference.

And yet Laporta was right. Self-interest may have guided him but Manchester United versus Barcelona probably is the European Cup’s dream final.

Chelsea fans would disagree, Real Madrid supporters too, the pair of them coming together in a kind of unholy alliance for 90 minutes last night, but the majority of neutrals got the final they wanted when Barca found a way through in dramatic fashion.

For those of a puritanical bent, so has “football”.

Success spawns imitators; the message sent by Greece winning Euro 2004 was a miserable one; the message sent by Spain winning the tournament four years later could hardly have been more different.

United and Barcelona belong to the latter school. Forget vicious circles, a final between two attacking sides is a virtuous spiral. Who would you rather watch? Not just this year but for years to come.

What is your lasting memory of last season’s Champions League final? Is it a brilliant run, a one-touch move or a thundering shot? Of course not. Let’s face it, it is Cristiano Ronaldo missing his penalty or John Terry slipping as he was about to take his.

It had been a dramatic match but for those without a vested interest in either side, those two moments of supreme schadenfreude were the best thing Moscow had to offer.

Manchester United versus Barcelona is, at least in principle, a different prospect.

“With Barcelona and United, no one can imagine a match so poor [as last year’s final],” runs one gleeful Spanish report. “It’s impossible when you’ve got Ronaldo and Messi, Euro 2008’s MVP, Xavi Hernandez, and Spain’s best footballer, Andres Iniesta. Manchester United-Barcelona could be the perfect storm.”

Wishful thinking? Perhaps. Biased? Certainly. But strip away personal preferences, and ask whether you could have picked two better teams. After all, Real Madrid are a joke, Atletico too, Jose Mourinho’s Internazionale were unable to take their domestic dominance into Europe, Bayern were sliced to bits by Barca, Arsenal likewise by United, and Milan are not even in the tournament.

Barcelona and United are closing in on the title in the two strongest leagues in the continent. It is the world’s best team of last year – winners of the European Cup, the World Club Cup and the Premier League – against the side that many consider the world’s best this year.

Alex Ferguson reckons this is his strongest team ever; Catalan commentators have described Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona as the greatest of all time.

Could any side other than Barcelona deny United their right to the tag of favourites?

If the European Cup final is supposed to be between Europe’s best two clubs this is the right pairing.

Rome will be historic: between then United and Barcelona have appeared in eight finals but they have never met there.

They have met before, though. And if Chelsea-United conjures up penalty shoot-outs, Barcelona-United brings to mind Romario and Stoichkov, Yorke and Cole at their peak. A 4-0 to Barcelona, a 2-2, two 3-3s.

Nor is it just history: United may have parked their own bus in last season’s tournament, most unashamedly against Barcelona themselves, but only Liverpool have scored more Premier League goals and this year’s semi-final aggregate of 4-1 should have been greater still.

Ferguson is a realist but there is a streak of romance too. Few teams can boast the attacking options of Ronaldo, Rooney, Berbatov and Tevez. Except Barcelona.

Just look at the players, starters to a man: Henry, Eto’o, Messi, Alves, Iniesta, Xavi. Barca have scored 100 league goals this season. Their front three alone have 94.

Asked if Barcelona would ever play any other way, Guardiola was adamant: “Not with me in charge.” There have been those who leapt upon Barcelona’s failure to circumnavigate the bus Chelsea parked on the Camp Nou goalline.

There has been distaste too at the Catalan reaction to that failure. But it would take a cold heart not to be uplifted by the way they play. And when they got through last night, Laporta was not the only one getting the final he wanted.

• Guardian Service

Pique admits handling ball

BARCELONA DEFENDER Gerard Pique admitted he did touch the ball with his hand in last night's game but insisted it was not deliberate.

After the game the Chelsea players were incensed by a number of decisions by referee Tom Ovrebo, one when the ball struck Pique's arm inside the area for what appeared a clear penalty.

The former Manchester United man said: "To be fair the ball touched my hand but I didn't want to touch it. The ref can decide what he wants and he decided not to say it was a penalty and you have to respect the decisions."