 Sir Alex Ferguson guaranteed a place in the starting line-up for Paul Scholes, after the midfielder had missed the 1999 final through suspension.Ferguson made one change from the team that had beaten Wigan Athletic to secure the league title 10 days earlier, with Owen Hargreaves starting on the right side of midfield in a 4–4–2 formation in place of Park Ji-sung, who did not even make the substitutes bench despite starting both legs of the semi-final.Cristiano Ronaldo started on the left wing, where he was pitted against makeshift Chelsea right-back Michael Essien.