MOSCOW, May 20: Manchester United go into Wednesday’s Champions League final against Chelsea with the psychological advantage of having pushed the London club into runners-up spot in the Premier League.

For the second successive season, United face Chelsea in a cup final as newly-crowned English champions and they will do all they can to ensure Chelsea do not mug them again.

Almost exactly a year after Chelsea shattered United’s domestic double hopes by beating them in the first FA Cup final at the new Wembley Stadium, England’s top two teams clash for the far bigger prize of the European Cup.

What a global television audience desperately needs to pray for though is that the match at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium bears no relation to last year’s tedious Wembley game in which little of note happened until Didier Drogba scored the only goal four minutes from the end of extra time.

A year on and there is still little to chose between the two teams and an equally close game is in prospect with both defences tough to break down.

Although United are capable of playing the more expansive and open football and have scored 109 goals in all competitions this season, a tight, evenly-balanced match looks likely.

Chelsea prefer a more patient build-up with an incisive, dagger-like pass splitting open the opposition.

All that, of course, could be changed by an early goal or by a touch of genius from any of the outstanding talents on display.

Cristiano Ronaldo has spearheaded United’s assault on the Premier League and Champions League this season with 41 goals in all matches.

Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez scored 57 of United’s 80 league goals between them and have contributed 78 of the overall total.

No-one has been as prolific for Chelsea with Frank Lampard topping their scoring charts this season with 19 goals while Drogba had a relatively tame season with 15.

United will not under-estimate Chelsea’s midfield threat, though, as Joe Cole and Michael Ballack, who could prove to be a key player in the game, are always capable of scoring.

Ballack, after a low-key first 18 months at the Bridge, has started to play superbly, as he proved against United three weeks ago when he scored both goals, one from the penalty spot, in their 2-1 home league victory.

United can provide goals from midfield too of course as Barcelona can testify after Paul Scholes’s 25-metre screamer that decided their semi-final tie at Old Trafford last month.

The contrast between the teams is not confined to their styles of play; there could hardly be a greater contrast between the coaches.

Alex Ferguson has been in charge at United for nearly 22 years and has overseen 151 Champions League matches with them plus another 12 in the old European Cup with Aberdeen. He has already won 28 trophies with United and first tasted European success with Aberdeen 25 years ago.

Chelsea coach Avram Grant has experience of 15 Champions League games – 11 with Chelsea and two each with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa – and has been in charge of Chelsea only since taking over from Jose Mourinho last September. He has yet to win his first trophy with the club.

United also take the baggage of their past with them to Moscow. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster that all but wiped out the Busby Babes team.

It took Matt Busby, who survived the crash, 10 years to re-build the club and his team, taking them to a first European Cup victory 40 years ago this month when they beat Benfica at Wembley Stadium.

Ferguson emulated Busby when he led United to their astonishing last-gasp triumph over Bayern Munich in Barcelona in 1999.

Chelsea would love to repay their Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich’s investment in the club by winning European club soccer’s greatest prize in his homeland.

If they end the day as European champions, losing the English title to United would be a disappointment they could easily accept.

Possible teams:

Manchester United: 1-Edwin Van der Sar; 6-Wes Brown, 5-Rio Ferdinand, 15-Nemanja Vidic, 3-Patrice Evra; 7-Cristiano Ronaldo, 18-Paul Scholes, 16-Michael Carrick, 13-Ji-Sung Park; 10-Wayne Rooney, 32-Carlos Tevez.

Chelsea: 1-Petr Cech; 4-Michael Essien, 26-John Terry, 6-Ricardo Carvalho, 3-Ashley Cole; 10-Joe Cole, 13-Michael Ballack, 4-Claude Makelele, 8-Frank Lampard; 11-Didier Drogba, 21-Salomon Kalou.—Reuters