At 38, Guardiola is 29 years Ferguson’s junior. Ferguson is in his 23rd year in charge of United, while Guardiola is in his first year in charge at Nou Camp. However, he has already secured the Spanish league title and the Copa del Rey.

Guardiola has lifted the trophy as a player, back in 1992 with Barcelona, and is now close to tasting great success as a coach. Ferguson is attempting to match Liverpool’s Bob Paisley’s record of having won three continental titles.

Despite their differences, the pair shares a common footballing philosophy – mobile and wide offence without sacrificing defensive steel.

Lastly, though Barcelona came out the winner in their semis against Chelsea, it’s widely regarded that Guardiola lost a touchline duel against maestro Guus Hiddink and that Barcelona were lucky to get into this year’s final. So the Catalan is looking forward to showing that he is no stranger in the European football manager elite.

Ronaldo vs. Messi

Much of the talk ahead of the final has been devoted to who will win the personal battle between best player in the world contenders Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo is the reigning FIFA world player of the year after his 42 goals last season guided United to both the Premier League and Champions League trophies. Messi was second in the voting, despite Barcelona enduring a second straight season without a trophy.

This season, however, Messi has already collected two trophies and netted more goals than Ronaldo, and the result of Wednesday's final could be the deciding factor when votes are cast for next year's award.

Despite Barcelona’s loss, Messi stole the show when the two went head-to-head in last year's Champions League semi-final, so one can bet that Ronaldo will be doing everything in his power not to get upstaged again with the eyes of the world watching.

50,000 fans flock to Eternal City

Lionel Messi

A security operation involving 10,000 Italian police officers is underway as Rome faces the arrival of 50,000 football fans.

More than 30,000 Man United fans have made the trip to Italy, despite the club only being allocated 19,500 tickets.

Wednesday's final comes two weeks after rioting in Rome, following local side Lazio's domestic cup triumph. The authorities fear that fans of the city's other team, Roma, will cause trouble. Violence flared between Roma's Ultras and United fans on the last two occasions the English side visited the city. A ban restricting the sale of alcohol in central Rome has been enforced.

Rome's Mayor, Gianni Alemanno, said:

“Rome welcomes the British fans with open arms, and we look forward to celebrating this sporting festival together.”

The Foreign Office has warned Manchester United fans to stay away from known trouble spots. Duncan Drasdo, the chief executive of the Manchester United Supporters' Trust, said: “My experience of the Italian police, particularly in Rome, is pretty poor.”

Italian officers will be able to call on the assistance of British counterparts.

Possible Team line-ups:

Manchester United (possible, 4-3-3): Van der Sar; O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Carrick, Giggs, Anderson; Park, Ronaldo, Rooney.

Barcelona (possible, 4-1-4-1): Valdes; Puyol, Pique, Toure, Sylvinho; Busquets; Henry, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi; Eto'o.

Referee: Massimo Busacca is 40 and from Monte Carasso in the southern, Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. Busacca has been an international referee since 1999 and has officiated 77 UEFA matches. He has taken charge of 32 UEFA Champions League matches, six this season.

Manchester United will play in an all-white strip just as it did when it beat Barca in the 1991 European Cup Winners' Cup final.