Forlan Backing Barca To Beat United

Former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan, now with Atletico Madrid, reckons Barcelona will beat his old club to reach their second Champions League final in three years.

Uruguayan forward Forlan spent two years at Old Trafford - arriving from Independiente in January 2002 and leaving for Villarreal in August 2004 - and having been playing in La Liga for the last four seasons he understands the threat posed by Barcelona.

“I always want teams to do well where I have a lot of friends and in this case I have so many friends with United,” said Forlan on the Setanta Sports website.

“But the same also applies to Barcelona and in particular to Gabriel [Milito]. We are very good friends and if I have to choose someone to win, I want Barcelona.

“Messi is a big danger for any team and can prove decisive in helping them to win the game. Barcelona are more than capable of beating Manchester United if they stick to their style of play.”

Forlan is familiar with Sir Alex Ferguson’s management style, knows what his former club are capable of, and respects the threat they pose, too.

“Ferguson does not have fixed ideas on how to play a game and if he sees that something is not going well, he will change things and react to the situation,” he explained.

“When you have two teams as big as this in the semi-final of the Champions League, anything can happen.”