Jack Wilshere: United must tame Barca's pass masters... like we did

The young Arsenal midfield star was outstanding against Barcelona in their two Champions League last-16 ties this season, the first a 2-1 win for the Gunners, before the Catalan side claimed a place in the quarter-finals with a 3-1 second leg success.

Be aggressive

Three passes - bang, bang, bang - and they are through. You must hold your shape. United will be really good because they have players who will get after them. You have to stop players like Xavi, Messi and Iniesta because they can just kill you. But if you can get in their faces - and we showed it in the second half at the Emirates - you can hurt them. I don't think they get tired but they seem to ease off in the second half and you have to go for them. 

In yer face: Jack Wilshere squares up to Barcelona's Daniel Alves

Don't be left light in midfield

United have a better chance than we had. They have players like Park, Valencia and Fletcher. They are runners and can stop players. We played with just Van Persie and I would play with just Rooney up front with Valencia and Park helping when they can. For most of it they'll be defending because Barcelona force you to. I'd play Fletcher as an extra midfielder. 

Beware the divers

We saw it in the semi-final against Real Madrid. They are good at that. Against us Busquets was the main one. And like United they are good at getting round the referee and  convincing him to be on their side.

Be patient

Before the Emirates, everyone kept saying you have to defend or you won't get near them. I thought 'it can't be that bad'. But for that first 20 minutes I don't think I'd ever run so far. We got the ball and they had three closing us down every time and got it back. When we had the ball the idea was to keep it and when we didn't have it the idea was to get around them with three men and press them quite high.

Tough challenge: Barcelona's Lionel Messi is challenged by Wilshere

Lionel Messi

We knew we had to stop Messi playing but if you try to stop him too much there are others who can hurt you like Iniesta and Xavi. The key is to talk to each other. Messi - who I think is the best in the world - likes to drop off and you have to go with him because if you give him time to turn and run he can destroy you. I have Messi in my team on FIFA 11 and he's the best on there as well!

If all else fails, get the souvenirs

I swapped shirts with Xavi and then asked Cesc to get me Messi's. I was a bit embarrassed to ask myself.

Match prediction

If United can stop Barcelona's passing game, they can win it. But I think it will be Barcelona because of the way they play. It's the way Arsenal play and the way I like to see it played, so, for me, they'll deserve it.