体坛英语资讯：Leo Messi looks to repeat 2009 Champions League win

BARCELONA, May 23 -- FC Barcelona striker Leo Messi expected to repeat the 2009 Champions League win over Manchester United as he spoke to the press ahead of Saturday's Champions League final in Wembley on Monday.

The Argentinean, who is arguably the best player in the World, attended a packed press conference filled with international journalists in the Camp Nou Stadium as part of the FC Barcelona press day ahead of Saturday's final.

Messi scored Barcelona's second goal as they defeated Manchester United 2-0 in Rome in the 2009 final and although he said he has found memories of that moment, the Barcelona striker is clearly focused on this Saturday's match.

"That was a happy memory and I hope I can score again, be it with my head or feet, but what matter is us being able to lift the cup again," said Messi, who believes that this final will be nothing like the game two years ago.

"It's a final, a special game for all of us who play. I have a good memory of Rome, but it is history, this will be totally different. We are against a great rivals with great players and it will be a close final."

"Every final is different, what happened in Rome is in the past, this will be different, Manchester have virtually the same players, but it will be different," added Messi.

He rejected suggestions that the current Manchester United team is a potent force that the side Barcelona defeated in 2009.

"They have won the English league and are in the Champions League final, I don't know if Manchester United are stronger or not, but they have great players such as Chicharito Hernandez, Wayne Rooney and Antonio Valencia. I don't know if they are better or not, but they will be very hard to beat," he said, highlighting the performances of Mexican striker Javier Chicharito Hernandez, who has scored over 20 goals in his first season in England.

"Chicharito has become a key player for them. He has scored a lot of goals and he scored against Argentina in the World Cup last year. He is a very fast player and also he is very intelligent in the way he plays," commented Messi.

However, Messi also values the Manchester United defense, that will contain players such as Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Patrick Evra.

"They have a tough defense with players who have played a lot of games together, we have to look at how we prepare to play them this week," he said.

Barcelona will travel to London with all of their squad in condition to play the game after players such as Maxwell Scherrer, Adriano and especially Eric Abidal have all recovered from physical problems. Messi was delighted that the whole squad will be available for Wembley.

"It is important that we have all the squad together and fit, this is a key game to finish a good season in which we have won the league. Nobody likes to lose a game like this, especially after the effort we had to make to get to the final. The important thing is that we are all together, no matter who plays," he concluded.