Barcelona striker Thierry Henry is relishing renewing rivalries with Manchester United in the Champions League semi-final later this month and insists talk of the Premiership club being favourites is wide of the mark.

Barca were unconvincing when beating Schalke 1-0 in the Camp Nou for a 2-0 aggregate win last night but the former Arsenal striker insists it is a level playing field from here on, but conceded that United are Europe's form team at the moment.

"This is a game to get excited about, but we will have to play well because we will be up against a team who are playing incredibly. They are on great form," he said.

"People will say they are favourites but nobody can really know," he said.

"They are a team in first place in their league and Cristiano Ronaldo is having an incredible season, so we know them pretty well. They won't be able to surprise us," he said.

Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard also believes the favourites tag is futile.

"I never talk about favourites. I am happy to play these two games, I am sure they are too. I will not talk about favourites, but they will be two great games and we'll see what happens," he said.

The Dutchman rejected the idea that it will be easier for his side to face an open, footballing side like United rather than more defensive-minded teams such as Schalke.

"I don't think that is the case. We have to be prepared to play two great games against a team who are on form and we'll see two teams who play very good football."