I’ve travelled to France, Italy and Portugal in recent weeks and every taxi driver said the same thing: Manchester United are the best team in Europe. This tie is an opportunity for United to prove it, because a convincing win over Barcelona would be an impressive statement.

It should happen — for me, United are firm favourites. This season the reality has not lived up to the reputation for Barcelona. Well behind in the Spanish League, they have had serious problems on the pitch and off it, with speculation about the future of Frank Rijkaard, the coach.

The argument goes that a team with so much flair, the Harlem Globetrotters of football, can always pull out a performance. But I haven’t seen one this season.

Ronaldinho is injured. Lionel Messi is just back from injury and Patrice Evra is quick enough to cope with him. They are vulnerable at the back and Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o are not the players they were 18 months ago.

There is no reason for United to be afraid because they can equal the Catalan giants’ flair and have superior workrate and athleticism. The Barcelona players can be lazy and spend too much time admiring each other, and when things are going badly they are not convincing. With suspect temperament, if United go for them, they could be exposed. They’ve not got the belly for a fight.

They aren’t good at defending set-pieces — so play two strikers and get in attacking areas to win dangerous free kicks. Ferguson will probably just go with Wayne Rooney up front but I’d like to see Carlos Tévez there, too, most likely at the expense of Paul Scholes. Tévez and Rooney can pick holes in the defence.

In midfield, Michael Carrick is better at retaining the ball than Scholes and Owen Hargreaves can put in a busy shift intercepting the little passing interchanges that Barcelona love. If he plays at right back, Wes Brown needs to be wary of Henry’s pace and not stick too tightly to him.

As for Cristiano Ronaldo: the accusation that he doesn’t perform in big games is unfair since he was outstanding for Portugal in the 2006 World Cup finals. The second leg is more likely to be his moment. This tie is a chance for him, like United, to confirm what we all think: he’s the best on the Continent.