This time Alex Ferguson is not taking it lightly. There will be no complacency. No certainty. The talk of entering the final as underdogs will not be the product of typical footballing false modesty. History suggests he and his team need to beware.

In 2009 Manchester United were torn apart by Barcelona in the Champions League final, lucky to lose 2-0, their defence, like the rest of us, standing back in admiration to watch Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o score. His side carved open time and again, creating little in response, afterwards the United manager could do no more than articulate what

You wonder how the conversation went between Ryan Giggs and his solicitor the day the MP used parlimentary privilege and the player found himself the lead item on News at Ten and his face on every newspaper front page.

For those whose interest lies in him solely as a footballer, the fiasco brewed by Schillings, the London law firm specialising in defamation, privacy and reputation management, could not have been worse timed.

Giggs faces his most important match of the season on Saturday and the principal question that needs to be addressed is this: how will the farrago affect his form?

After

It's one of the oldest clichés in the managerial lexicon: the league table doesn't lie. And there is truth in it: usually the teams at the bottom deserve to be there.

But this season, apart from poor old West Ham, sleepwalking their way to the Championship, it would be hard to make a case that any of the likely candidates for the other two relegation slots have brought it upon themselves. All of them, at one time or another, have contributed to this the most competitive Premier League since the competition's inception. All of them will believe the swing of the trap door to be the most unjust

It was a game many were looking forward to, Chelsea's power coming up against Barcelona's artistry, brawn against brain, lung capacity against grey matter. 'Beauty and the Beast', one of the Barcelona newspapers called it. Which is a little harsh on Chelsea's personnel, but we got the point.

Guus Hiddink had predicted a classic, just like Chelsea's wonderful quarter-final against Liverpool a fortnight earlier. The Camp Nou was full, the television audience massive, the expectation jangling. And what did we get? A stalemate.

Sure, it was on a more elevated level tactically and skill-wise than

You need to be careful what you mock in football. Six years ago, Arsenal fans arriving at the Millennium Stadium for the FA Cup final against Manchester United had great fun at their rivals' expense. United had just been taken over by Malcolm Glazer, and in mourning for the passing of their great club into a future of debt, the Manchester fans had dressed entirely in black. Arsenal supporters waved stars and stripes flags and flourished fistfuls of fake dollars, hooting at the thought of American owners making life miserable for their northern rivals.

Six years on, and, like an audience at a

Judging by his teamsheet last night, Sir Alex Ferguson turned his attention to Barcelona long before a shadow Manchester United side finished off Schalke at Old Trafford.

Ferguson has just over three
weeks in which to ponder this: what does he have to do to ensure his team are
not humiliated again in the manner they were the last time these two sides met
in the final, in 2009.

Back
then, there were many - me included - who thought United's victory against
Arsenal in the semi-final pointed the tactical route to victory. Particularly
in the away leg at the Emirates, Ferguson's side had given a

In a season when nobody appears to be any keener on winning the Premier League title than they are on being relegated, the two most overworked words in football are being given a pounding. If and Maybe are everywhere in this run-in.

Here's one for Arsenal fans: if their team beat Tottenham tonight, then beat Manchester United in their league fixture on May 1, then get a favour from Chelsea in their game with United, then maybe the title could be on its way to the Emirates. If and Maybe: they are mentioned so often in connection with Arsenal this season they could do service as Arsene Wenger's

Back in 1968, when Manchester City last won the title, their neighbours callously spoiled their party by winning, a couple of weeks later, a far more significant prize when they collected the European Cup. Forty-three years later, the chances are United won't even give them a fortnight to enjoy local supremacy.

Tomorrow, if form is any guide, Alex Ferguson's men are likely to gain the point required to be crowned champions at Blackburn a few hours before Carlos Tevez has a chance to lift the FA Cup. Even if, that is, Stoke acquiesce. There are United fans already planning to dash back from