BARCELONA: Barcelona will travel to London Tuesday, two days earlier than planned, to avoid having its Champions League preparations disrupted by an erupting Icelandic volcano for the second year running. Barcelona says on its website the team will fly to London at 10 P.M. (2100 GMT) local time, four days ahead of Saturday's final against Manchester United at Wembley. Dense ash from the erupting Grimsvotn volcano had already forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights Tuesday. Barcelona traveled to Italy by bus for last year's Champions League semifinal at Inter Milan after an eruption at a different volcano closed European airspace. Barcelona lost the first leg and was eventually knocked out in the semifinals. Messi ready Lionel Messi is rested and will be looking to add to his season tally of 52 goals when Barcelona plays Manchester United in the Champions League final for the second time in three years. The Argentina forward scored in Barcelona's 2-0 win over Man United in the 2009 final in Rome, but is expecting a tougher challenge at Wembley Stadium in London Saturday. “It's a final, a special game to play,” Messi said Monday from Camp Nou Stadium. “There are great memories of Rome, but those are behind us now — this will be a completely different game.” Messi hasn't scored since striking twice in the 2-0 win at Real Madrid in the first leg of the semifinals on April 27. The leading scorer in the Champions League with 11 goals, he hopes that playing in Europe again will help end his four-game drought. Messi and Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo have both scored more than 50 goals in all competitions this season. Since Guardiola took charge, Messi has 137 goals in 158 matches for Barcelona. But he acknowledged feeling slightly frustrated at having to sit out the last two league matches with the title already secured for a third straight year. “I wanted to play but this is also good for me after so many games this season. I'm well rested and ready to go,” Messi said. One of the key components of Barcelona's possession-based attacking style of football, Messi is hoping his team can win a third European Cup title since claiming its first in 1992, also played at Wembley.
