This could be the final of a decade: Ferguson

London: Sir Alex Ferguson predicts Manchester United's match against Barcelona could be "the final of the decade".

Speaking ahead of the Champions League final on Saturday, Ferguson spoke enthusiastically about the prospects of coming up against the side many say are the best in the world and he also talked highly of his counterpart, who has only been managing the Catalan side for three years, comparing him to legendary Dutch coaches such as Johan Cruyff.

"It could be the best final of the decade," Sir Alex told reporters.

"The attraction of two great teams with great history is obvious. It’s an appealing final in terms of what could happen in this game.

"Anything could happen. There could be a lot of goals, a lot of excitement. Hopefully it turns out that way.

"I don’t think anyone can question the attacking players that will be on view tomorrow.

It would not necessarily be a case of fighting fire with fire, however.

"As we always do, we recognise the qualities of our opponents," he explained. "It’s unwise not to focus on what the other team can do. We always do that and respect the opponent."

Discussing his counterpart on the touchline, Ferguson added: “I think that the most revealing thing about Pep Guardiola is that for a young coach who came to the club and in many ways [he has] changed the way they played.

“I think we all recognise that he’s brought maturity to the team from beating us in Rome to the present day you see that maturity and also he’s changed the way that they press the ball, which has been very impressive in the last year in particular, so for a young coach who's done fantastically well, he has a good presence about him.

"He’s played for Barcelona which helps and if you look at the past history of Barcelona’s Dutch coaches, he’s made a big step forward for Spanish coaches."

Ferguson has often lamented that United have not won as many European trophies as they should have, but he feels that past defeats have helped them progress into a more experienced side.

Comparing the United side now to the one who were hammered 4-0 at Camp Nou in 1994, he said: "All these teams have different qualities of course. I think the great quality this team has is its unity and you see their record in Europe this year – it’s been very, very good.

"They’ve found a good way of playing in Europe and it’s different from other teams in some ways, but if you look at the team in 2008 to today there’s not a great deal of changes, maybe just in experience and being used to playing in Europe.

"Far more experience of playing in Europe now, different qualities but very pleased with what we’ve achieved in playing in Europe."