Andy Gray

If Manchester United beat Barcelona on Saturday then Sir Alex Ferguson's team will have completed a Premier League and Champions League double that might well be his greatest achievement.

Although I disagree with those who say that Manchester United haven't been great this season, I do recognise that Sir Alex's current squad lacks the star talents of previous year: Wayne Rooney is a fantastic player and Javier Hernandez is becoming a terrific striker but there are no Cristiano Ronaldos or David Beckhams in this team.

The 2011 vintage is exactly that - a team - and while this may not be their most exciting group of players, it is certainly their grittiest. The fact that they haven't conceded an away goal in this competition is emphatic proof of that.

Sir Alex has had to be manipulative this season in the way that he has tweaked his starting line-ups, rotated players and deployed them in different ways. He's provided a tactical master class to all other managers. With this squad, the whole is better than the sum of its parts and it's a unit that I believe can overcome Barcelona.

Sir Alex has said that his side are ready for Barcelona. Since wrapping up the title a couple of weeks ago, Ferguson and his coaches will have been focussing on their tactics for the final. They will have impressed upon each player exactly what is expected of them against Barcelona.

Lionel Messi and co deserve a lot of respect but Manchester United will be determined to avenge their defeat of two years ago. I only hope they won't be too keen but Sir Alex learned from that defeat in Rome and, when he says his team will be ready, he's showing us that he has faith in them.

If I was still playing, I would want to be a Manchester United player. I would be desperate to get out there at Wembley and Saturday night couldn't come soon enough.

These are the nights you dream about and, once his players cross that white line, Sir Alex will have to trust his players in the way that he has done for the last 20 years. That's often produced great results and I believe it will again on Saturday.