Ferguson: take chance to join greats I Case for defence must come first I Winners can expect £100m windfall I Defining night for Messi and Ronaldo I O'Shea ready to tale place against best I Guardiola happy to follow Shankly's lead I Pique hopes to help United's downfall I Graphic: Barcelona v United likely line-ups

Pep Guardiola learnt his football in Barcelona’s incomparable Dutch school overseen by Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff, but as he prepares for the biggest match of his fledgeling career it is increasingly apparent that he was also influenced by a legendary Scot. Bill Shankly’s famous contention that “football is a simple game made complicated by those who should know better” has found itself an unlikely Catalan champion.

As Sir Alex Ferguson agonised over his final team-talk into the wee small hours yesterday — “These things usually come to me in the middle of night,” he said — Guardiola was happy to tell the world of his precise instructions to his players: go out there and play. The Barcelona coach conceded that his injury-hit defence could be “drowned” by Manchester United, although if their dream of an historic treble dies a death, it will be one hell of a spectacle.

“It’s possible we play badly and are completely drowned by United, but we’ve shown throughout the season we can play well,” Guardiola said. “I want the players to feel beautiful, to feel they’re playing in front of the entire world. I want them to be daring and feel that we’re here so we should perform as we can. That will be our attitude.

“In the finals there’s always an element that it’s all or nothing. This is something we have to leave in the dressing-room and go out and play. I want us to show what we’ve been doing all season. I wouldn’t want to play tomorrow thinking we could have done it differently. We’re going to carry the ball and play football.”

On the subject of Scottish managers, Guardiola has recently discovered that he has more in common with Ferguson than he realised, despite a 29-year age difference that explains why the United manager has taken charge of 140 more Champions League matches than his opponent before their first meeting.

If Scots feature unusually prominently in Guardiola’s thinking then there is a reason, because what could be remembered as the greatest season in Barcelona’s history began with friendly matches away to Dundee United and Hibernian last July.

“The other day I read an interview with Ferguson saying fear makes you play better and I agree,” Guardiola said. “This fear factor, being scared, can help you perform. We’ve not been scared all season, and from the first game in Scotland we’ve been courageous. Everyone will be watching us tomorrow, but that will not change the way we play. I’d like to play from behind, with good transition and ball.

“I never imagined I would be here at the start of the season. I wanted to do a good job, but this is too much, winning the league, the cup and having the opportunity to be the best team in Europe.”

The one nagging doubt in the back of his mind does not surround a patched-up defence — Yaya Touré will move from midfield to partner Gerard Piqué at centre back, with Carles Puyol switched to right back — but his most recent experience of the Champions League final.

Guardiola was at the heart of Barcelona’s so-called “Dream Team” thrashed 4-0 by AC Milan in Athens 15 years ago, but he claims his side are in a far better mental condition than that complacent team prepared by Cruyff. “We lost in the final for two reasons,” he said. “They were a very strong team. We had won the league three days ago, whereas they had won their league ten days before and had more time to prepare.

“When you win the championship you have to do lots of things, everyone tells you how good you are, and we lost concentration, that’s why we lost that final. This year we’ve had more time to prepare and have arrived with the right attitude.”

Another drowning on the banks of the Tiber seems unlikely.