Rome Preparations and randomness

Well, I'm off to Rome in 7 hours and this time tomorrow we'll either be celebrating a 4th European Cup or commiserating over coming so close to making history by being the only team to have retained the Champions League.

I'm fairly confident that I know what the team will be in the Stadio Olimpico - van der Sar, Evra, OShea, Ferdinand (if fit), Vidic - they will be the back five. Three in midfield - Giggs Carrick and Anderson. Wide will be Rooney and Park; and ronaldo will be up front on his own.

I can't see there being much change from this but Sir Alex likes the element of suprise so who knows what could happen. Barcelona are a great side, and if they turn up - which they've failed to on a few occasions against English teams - could well tear us apart. I just hope we can put the finishing touch to what has been a fantasic season.

To win three trophies is a fantastic achievement and I hope that, if we do fail to make it four, that it is still seen as a superb season. the players deserve full credit for the way they have kept going. And although we hate it at times, the rotational policy of changing the team week in week out has worked a treat in keeping the players fresh.

So now its a trip to Rome. It's not ideal, going for half a day, being ferried around to places you don't want to be and trying to follow the conflicting safety advice given to you by different channels. Hopefully all will pass off peacefully and the Italian nutters won't be out in force, but there's always that worry. I also hate having a ticket on me worth hundreds and hundreds of pounds - I'm such a worrier! But after my last visit to Rome, who can blame me. Experiencing the vicious Italian Police with their weilding batons is not something I'd like to see a repeat of. They seem to think you're a hooligan and that's the end of the story - so therefore you deserve to be beaten to within an inch of your life - even though in reality you are a football fan, coming to a foreign city to have a good time and watch a match.

Following United gives you plenty of drama, and I've been fortunate enough to experience some great highs - 10 years ago today I was in Barcelona to witness the most dramatic final in history as Sheringham and Solskjaer scored in stoppage time to claim the trophy... hard to believe that was 10 years ago and part of an amazing couple of months of drama which saw us lift the treble.

Not much will ever top that season - even last year in Moscow, when John Terry missed the penalty for Chelsea just as we had all given up hope of lifting the cup

The there's been the last minute winners, superb unbelievable comebacks. i have been blessed to be a witness at every glorious twist and turn over the past 16 years or so...and for that i feel so lucky.

But the adrenalin still exists - the butterflies still come with every big game, as the fear of failure kicks in. i'm never the most confident of United fans - I suppose its always better when you expect to lose - although it doesn't help the pain if you do fail!

So will it be glory or pain tomorrow - we'll see