Barcelona's players believe Manchester United have improved since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid in 2009.
Ronaldo played his last game for United in the Champions League final in Rome — which Barca won 2-0 — before sealing an £80 million (Dh475m) switch to the Bernabeu.
United ended up with only the Carling Cup in their first campaign following the Portugal forward's exit, but this season has seen Sir Alex Ferguson's side reclaim the Premier League title and progress to the final of the Champions League to face Barca on Saturday at Wembley.
"Their team isn't as direct as before; they like to have the ball," the Barca midfielder Xavi said. "I don't know if that's because of Cristiano Ronaldo or not, but they move around as a unit now."
Striker David Villa added: "Cristiano Ronaldo's departure has liberated them. Many great players come and go and that has allowed them to remain at the top for so long."
Wing-back Davi Alves believes United's threat is harder to nullify in the absence of the Portuguese.
"This Manchester United team is much more unpredictable without Cristiano Ronaldo," he said.
"They have formed a more balanced group and they are stronger than they were two years ago."
Andres Iniesta also believes United have improved.
"They have grown as a team," said the midfielder. "They are dominating in England and now they are fighting for the Champions League.
"Cristiano Ronaldo has left, but apart from that I don't think they have made big changes and they are always competitive."
Coach Pep Guardiola sees little difference to the side Barca beat in Rome.
"It's the same team. Only one player is missing from the team that started in Rome," he said.
"Only Cristiano Ronaldo has left from that team. (Carlos) Tevez isn't there any more either, but he didn't start in Rome."
Brazilian full-back Sylvinho, who started in the 2009 final for Barca but is no longer with the Catalan club, says the two teams are similar to the ones that met two years ago.
"The squads haven't changed much," he told Sport. "Cristiano Ronaldo isn't there any more, but United are stronger as a team."
The Barca team will travel to London this evening - two days ahead of schedule - due to fears of volcanic ash from Iceland drifting towards England.
A Barca statement read: "To avoid possible disruption due to ash from the volcano Grimsvotn, the Barca first team will travel to London today at 2200hrs [midnight UAE time]."
The eruption of the Grimsvotn volcano has already led to airlines cancelling a number of flights to and from Irish and Scottish airports.
Barca were forced to travel by bus to Milan to face Inter in the semi-final of last year's competition after flights were cancelled due to the ash cloud which covered much of western Europe. Jose Mourinho's Inter won 3-1 at the San Siro and went through 3-2 on aggregate.
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What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: from Dh155,000
On sale: now
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Squad
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.