Manchester United’s Paul Scholes: Barcelona are the ultimate team & we want to play like them

FA Cup Semi Final- Manchester City v Manchester United, Paul Scholes

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Paul Scholes has praised Barcelona and said that all clubs want to copy their style of play.

The Manchester United midfielder is looking for a place in the starting line-up against the La Liga champions when they meet each other at Wembley next Saturday in the Champions League final.

But he is confident that his side can cause them enough problems of their own as they look for revenge after losing 2-0 to the Spanish giants in the 2009 final.

“We’re a very good football team as well,” Scholes told the club’s official website.

“Barcelona are probably the ultimate team when it comes to playing football and their brand of football is something we all look up to and want to play like.

“But we’ll be focusing on our strengths and finding ways to beat them. We’ve got a lot of pace in our team and a lot of quality and we know we can play football just as well as them. Let’s just hope we can prove that.”

Scholes started the season well but has struggled to get into the United team in recent matches, something he attributes to an injury picked up earlier in the campaign.

“I felt great up until Rangers in December where I did my groin. I should have only been out for a week but it ended up dragging on for six weeks,” he said.

“From then on, I’ve found it quite difficult, to be honest. I’m looking forward to a good end to the season, though, and hope we get the right results.”

The former England international is expected to stay at Old Trafford for another season and was recently described by former team-mate Gary Neville as the best player he had ever seen.

He admits that the club were disappointed after the defeat two years ago to the same opposition, but he believes their performance was not as bad as others say it was.

He added: “That Rome final was disappointing.

“We’ve had a quick look back on it recently and there were actually some good things in that final, things I didn’t remember, to be honest with you. I hadn’t ever watched that game again.

“We were all disappointed after that game. It wasn’t nice and there’s a determination to do better this time. Barcelona are a top team but I think we’re a top team as well.”