Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson will have a plan against Barcelona – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manchester United (Getty Images)

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Manchester United have learned their lesson from their defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League final in 2009 and “have a great chance” of winning the competition on Saturday, says the English club’s former striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The 38-year-old, who played for United between 1996 and 2007 and won the Champions League in 1999, believes that manager Sir Alex Ferguson has a plan to get the better of the Spanish champions in tomorrow’s final of Europe’s premier club competition.

Referring to the Rome finale in which Barca comfortably beat United 2-0, the Norwegian said that this time United will not make the same mistakes and told Uefa.com: “Barcelona have been the world’s best team for the last two or three years, for the way they play as well as the way they conduct themselves.

“But if you look back to the 2009 final, for 10 or 15 minutes you think ‘this is going to be our night’, and it looked like that until they scored and [Lionel] Messi started floating with Xavi and you could never get hold of them. [They played with] two wide strikers, so you always had a man or two less in midfield so you couldn’t get possession off them.

“But I’m sure the manager’s [Sir Alex] got a plan. I’m sure he’s watched that game and thought about it and he’s looking forward to playing them again. He will relish the challenge to test the boys.”

Solskjaer added: “I don’t think it’s going to be a tactical battle. I think it’s about going out there with the right attitude, with the right belief and composure.

“United, playing the way they normally do, have a great chance, because they are a special club with a special winning mentality.”