All English Champions League: Who will face Man Utd in the final?

It was a moment of greatness! Paul Scholes goal came at a time when Barca was firing all cylinder attacking the Man Utd defence, and suddenly the goal came. Congrats to Man Utd fans. They are in the final again after 10 years, and 10 years ago it was a hell of a final when they score 2 in the final minutes and win the cup. That was also a the turning point of English football. Before that English football are deemed "low class" after a ban on English teams playing in European Competition.

10 years on, they are on top of Europe, with an all English final. Today's game in Stamford Bridge is really an even game. Though Chelsea is at home, they should know Liverpool has the ability to score against them. Liverpool has the match winners in Stevie G and Torres. Liverpool has luck (based on previous Champions League performance), and Liverpool has support all around the world. They have been unlucky to draw at Anfield, and if they really want to prove a point that "they are Champions League team" to Chelsea, they gotto do it tonight at Stamford Bridge. By the way, they really have nothing more to look forward to, while Chelsea can still think of winning the league.

But facing Chelsea today is the worst timing of all. Chelsea now is brimming with confidence after beating Man Utd (though not full strength), and they will certainly want to "repay" Liverpool for knocking them out last season and in 2005. A goal for Liverpool against Chelsea may well lead to Avram Grant setting his troops all gun blazing like on Saturday. That would be an interesting spectacle to watch!.

A determined Chelsea wins the night!

Chelsea's game against Man Utd on 26th April 2008, is one of the most exciting matches seen in recent time. The final scoreline, Chelsea beat Man Utd 2-1, and are now behind Man Utd only on goal difference. The prospective outcome of the Barclays Premier League really look tantalizing, but when I say exciting match, I only mean this game, which itself is fascinating enough.

1st of all, Lampard will not be playing as his mother passed away from pneumonia on Thursday. Chelsea, is determined to win this game for Lampard and his family.

Then comes the starting line-up. I wouldn't say Man Utd had field a weak team (because they have no weak team, and also they almost hold Chelsea for a draw), but a weakened team (a team without Cristiano Ronaldo, Patrice Evra, Carlos Tevez). I believe any title contender will feel offended by a weakened Man Utd team, and will be determined to beat them outright.

So Chelsea came out attacking, with Joe Cole leading the assault. On the 20th minute, he got clear of the United defence, but after initially losing the ball, he lashed the ball against the crossbar from just inside the penalty area.

Chelsea continued to press for an opening goal and were unlucky when Joe Cole dribbled his way into the penalty area, only for Van der Sar to grab the ball at his feet. The United keeper required treatment for a minor knock as a result of the collision.

The 1st half belongs to Chelsea, as Rooney , who operate as a lone striker is clearly not effective and do not have enough support from his team mates. Terry & Co had a comfortable 1st half. Just when Fergie thought his team can go in to the dressing room nil-nil, Chelsea took the lead in the 45th minute when Drogba's cross was headed home at the far post by the unmarked Ballack.

The goal sparked emotional scenes as all the Chelsea players held up Frank Lampard's number eight shirt with the message 'Pat Lampard - R.I.P'. Ballack who had taken his shirt off, was then booked by Wiley.


United started the 2nd half stronger (perhaps as a result of receiving hair-dryer treatment from Fergie), but were still struggling to create anything to threatened Terry & Co. But Man Utd got themselves back into the game thanks to a mistake by Chelsea defender Carvalho.

The Portuguese defender passed the ball straight to Rooney, who accepted the gift by firing beyond Cech into the net. He looked to had injured himself from the goal, and he was replaced by Ronaldo on the 63th minute.


The beginning of Chelsea's attacking foray
These days, manager often play a cautious game, so it become rare that the manager will throw in all their strikers into the game even when the team is losing. But that's exactly what Avram Grant did.

On the 65th minute, Anderson was substituted for John O'Shea and Chelsea, sensing that Man Utd might want to slow down the pace and play safe, replaced Paolo Ferreira with Nicolas Anelka.

But when Anelka also don't seem to threatened Man Utd's goalmouth, Grant throw in his final striker: Andriy Shevchenko for Kalou on the 81st minute. With so many attacking player in Chelsea's side now, Man Utd drop back and defend in numbers.

Then the defining moment. Referee Alan Wiley awarded the spot-kick after Michael Carrick handled a cross from Michael Essien. Carrick got his arm in the way of Essien's cross and Ballack kept his cool to score from the spot and keep the title race on the boil.

But what is unexpected of Shevchenko's contribution is defending. In the dying minutes United were twice thwarted by goalline clearances - Ronaldo's left-foot drive being hacked away by Ashley Cole, before substitute Andriy Shevchenko nodded clear Darren Fletcher's diving header following a goalmouth scramble. After the clear Shevchenko received a appreciative smile from Cole, and Shevchenko replied with a smile of a goalscorer (back in those days when he is in Milan).

As the whistle blows, Chelsea finish the game as winner, and perhaps, Vidic's injury may had impacted the result. Nemanja Vidic was carried off on a stretcher with a facial injury after being caught by Didier Drogba's knee as he stooped to head the ball clear. Let's hope he is fine.

Unfair advantage?

So here we go again. This is the time of the year again when manager complain about fixture arrangement. And this time, Man Utd manager said "it's unfair".

'The fixture is not fair in terms of the timing between the two games,' Ferguson told reporters.

The situation now is, Man Utd will face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in a lunchtime kickoff on Saturday. With a United win,the title will head to Old Trafford for the second year running.

But if Chelsea win, they will keep their title hopes alive.

'The Liverpool fixture with Chelsea was Tuesday followed by Wednesday, so there is four days either way to get themselves ready which is a big advantage, there is no question about that.

'Unfortunately, we have 60 hours to prepare for this game. All we can do is rest them.'

The fixture is suppose to be fixed before the start of the season, so why the complain of unfair now? If Man Utd don't progress to the latter stages of the Champions League, will Fergie complain?

So the solution for Man Utd is, do not progress further to the latter stages of the Champions League if you want advantage in the BPL. By then you will have one week to prepare for the game, while Chelsea will only have 3-4 days. ;)

Nothing spectacular really..maybe except the goals

The performance by the England's midfield duo are anything but spectacular, particularly Lampard, who was totally out of sort, but luckily with the Riise goal, we can expect a really exciting and entertaining 2nd leg in Stamford Bridge.

While Lampard was pathetic, Steven Gerrard played a decent game, but should had involve more in the attack in the 2nd half. Whenever he involved, he did strike some fear on the Chelsea defense.

Overall it was a game Liverpool deserved to win. At lease they had a go at Chelsea, played some nice passing, and generated some great moves. Chelsea, on the other hand, can't even string a few passes together. They hardly in control of the ball, and when they had possession of the ball, gave it away without creating any decent moves. Disappointing performance after so long didn't see them play.

England's Best Midfield Duo

Sorry to say but when Euro 2008 comes this June, we are missing 2 of the best English midfielder around. We will be missing the typical English style: explosive, strong, have a will of iron and a great fighter. And here is 2 of the best to be display in tonight's Champions League tie: Liverpool vs Chelsea.

And if you still don't know who I'm talking about, I guess you are new to football. Ok, here comes Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.

Chelsea's Frank Lampard has made himself available for the Champions League semi-final against Liverpool after spending the last week at his sick mother's bedside.

'Frank would like to acknowledge the consideration shown to him by Chelsea FC and the media during this time of immense strain for himself and his family.'

Chelsea boss Avram Grant has been understanding throughout and told the midfielder to take time away from training.

'I tell the players all the time that football is very important but sometimes there are things that need to be taken care of.

Lampard's absence from training may swing to Chelsea's adavantage, as a fresh Lampard is certainly capable of changing the course of the game. With fellow midfielder Michael Ballack still a doubt for the match, Lampard's availability could see Grant put him straight back into the starting XI on Merseyside.

On the other side of the stadium, Stevie G is certainly the talisman for Liverpool. So when he is declared fit to lead Liverpool in their Champions League semi-final first leg at home to Chelsea, Liverpool fans are understandably optimistic. Steven G had saved Liverpool countless times when the going gets tough. The skipper trained at Melwood yesterday, and afterwards manager Rafael Benitez confirmed that Stevie G had recovered from the neck injury which ruled him out of Saturday's Premier League win at Fulham.

So, let's look forward to these 3-Lion brave hearts in Europe most prestigious club competition!

Ronaldinho will not be coming to Milan after all?

Ronaldinho's proposed transfer to AC Milan has stalled after the Serie A side failed to agree a fee with Barcelona.

Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani admitted preliminary discussions had not been successful.

'Yesterday we had a conference call but the figures have not been right,' Galliani told Sky Italia after Milan's 5-1 win over Reggina.

'Maybe Ronaldinho won't come.'

I think the Milan board owe the fans a world class striker after selling Shevchenko. This season they really have problem scoring goals, relying heavily on Kaka and "Superpippo" Inzaghi. Though Pato's performance has been satisfying, he is one for the future. The current lists of forward really do not strike any fear on any team, except for Inzaghi. Gilardino has been off form for quite some time, and Milan certainly need some replacement to the ageing Inzaghi.

Robert De Assis, Ronaldinho's brother and agent, has agreed personal terms with the Milan club but there is competition from city rivals Inter and Barclays Premier League outfit Manchester City.

Even if the Ronaldinho's proposed transfer fail, the Milan board must show support to the coach Ancelotti and spend money to rebuild the team. Milan need reinforcement in practically all position except Midfield.

Why Man Utd deserve to be Champions in 2007/2008 season

After last Sunday's win over Arsenal, and Chelsea's inability to beat Wigan on Monday, it is clear that Man Utd will be crown champion of 2007/2008, barring any unforeseen situation that may happened over the course of the last 4 league games. Mathematically, both Chelsea and Arsenal are still in the race (very very unlikely for Arsenal though), but everyone is pretty sure Man Utd will be the champions, looking at the performance of the team over the course of the season, the exploit of Cristiano Ronaldo and Owen Hargreaves magnificent free kick, one can just feel they are the champions-elect.

Ok, so now we leave the feeling away and evaluate why they deserve to win this season. Simple said, there are 2 reasons. Yes, certainly there can be more if you would like, but fundamentally, just two.

1) Strong squad
They have a strong squad that is second to none in the league, with each position well covered just in-case of any serious injury. The only area where there might be a concern is the striking department, where they only have 3 strikers in Louis Saha, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez. Injuries and suspensions can really racked their season, but for this season, with Ronaldo scoring 28 goals [equals to the combined total of goals scored by Rooney (11), Tevez(12) and Saha(5)] in the league, problem in the striking area is simply non-existence. But surely, Fergie will need to look at strengthen the striking department next season.

2) Inability of the COntenders
While Man Utd may not be leading the league comfortably, but if not for the failure of the contenders to sustain or keep up the challenge, Man Utd will not be top the league now. Some of the culprits are:

Liverpool
The most disappointing contender of the three. Started the season in renowned hope and confidence with Fernando Torres, they lost their way, indulge in boardroom fighting, and now no where near the top of the league (actually can be disqualified as contender). Their failure is self-inflicting, and this is disappointment to their fans. Besides, Rafael Benitez should start reviewing his tactics.

Chelsea
A bad start to the season and a change of manager lead many to write them off as contenders, but with 4 league games remaining, here we are, they are the closest to the champions-elect. Avram Grant had certainly work his way up quietly, but failed at vital moments when they failed to beat Wigan on Monday to stop Man Utd opening a bigger gap. But everything is not lost, and if they keep up their work, they may still have the last laugh.

Arsenal
Exciting, interesting young team who eventually fall after a great first half of the season, they can only look forward to the future after being knocked out of the Champion's League by Liverpool. But they can really look forward to the next season optimistically, as if the current squad is maintained with a few more addition, they will certainly be feared across Europe in the coming season.

Super Sunday: Man Utd vs Arsenal

After a tantalizing fixture between Juve and Milan last night, tonight comes the battle royal of Barclays Premier League: Man U vs Arsenal.

The situation:
United is top in the league, six points above Arsenal on 3rd position, with five games remaining.

Wenger's Prematch Comment Highlights:

'It will be the greatest achievement of my career to win the Premier League now because we are swimming against the stream at the moment,but I still believe this team can produce it. For us the game on Sunday is the game of the season. If we do not win this game we have no chance. I can't understand people who say the team's season is over. Why is it over? We are not too far behind. If we go there and don't believe in ourselves then it is over. We have worked so hard since the first day of the season and we will fight until the last second of the championship.'

The Gunners recent meltdown has failed to convince Wenger he must embark on a summer spending spree.

'We will continue to do what we've done. I will buy but not too much in the summer. My priority is to keep this team together because we are still young, especially in some departments. If we can add one more body we will do so, not one in each department - just one experienced guy.'


Ferguson's Prematch Comment Highlights:

'You do not win games consistently without your best team. If you do not have your best players, it is hard to get good results. We have suffered like this in the past because of injuries, as have all sides. It is a tough league and somewhere along the along you drop points when you do not expect it. We lost six to Manchester City, which we did not envisage, and got beaten by Bolton.'


The timely return

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand will face Arsenal despite needing three stitches in his foot in midweek. Ferdinand suffered the injury in the victory against Roma in the Champions League at Old Trafford.

Patrice Evra could return at left-back after missing the European game with a knock.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney are expected to be restored to the side after being on the bench against Roma.

Robin van Persie could start after coming on as a substitute against Liverpool.


Absentee:

Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini will miss the game after being ruled out for three weeks with an ankle problem and will be replaced in the starting line-up by Gilberto.

Defender Bacary Sagna remains on the sidelines with his ankle problem

Recap of Sat's Match of the Day: Juve vs Milan

Last night's game ended with a 3-2 win to Juve against 10-men Milan, after Daniele Bonera was sent off for a tackle that, according to the rules should be a sending off, but in reality, can been given more consideration as a tackle that happened at the heat of the moment. Anyway, the referee made his decision, and that change the course of the game. At that time the score was 2-2. Eventually Hassan Salihamidzic sealed the win for Juve. Milan were weak at aerial in front of the goal, clearly feeling the absence of Nesta and Kaladze, and Salihamidzic, who is unmarked in a confused Milan defence, nodded home for the winner.

Juve quickly exploited a second string defence and opened the scoring when Mauro Camoranesi hurdled a tackle and played in Alessandro Del Piero, who netted his 14th league goal of the campaign from a tight angle on 12 minutes.

The Duel
Ex-Juve striker Filippo Inzaghi, who played with Del Piero for a couple of seasons during his time with Juve, soon levelled with a trademark poacher's goal from Kaka's cross from the left. Inzaghi then showed he's still one of the best striker around with a second goal on the half hour mark, when he sidefooted in after Daniele Bonera had squared the ball following Massimo Ambrosini's clever chip.

Juve made it 2-2 just before the break when Paolo Maldini gave the ball away and Camoranesi crossed for David Trezeguet, whose header was brilliantly blocked by keeper Zeljko Kalac only for winger Salihamidizic to score.

The second half become a little cagey as both coach wanted to avoid conceding again, before Milan defender Bonera slipped and planted his studs on Mohamed Sissoko's shin and received a straight red card.

Camoranesi then made sure he set up all three Juve goals when his free kick was nodded in unmarked by Salihamidzic.

Post Match Comment:

'This has complicated the situation of course. We will try (to reach a Champions League spot) just like we have tonight,' said Milan boss Carlo Ancelotti.

'We have been able to play the match we wanted. 3-2, it's been a really great game,' Juve coach Ranieri said.

Juventus vs AC Milan: The clash of titan

Juventus vs Milan. Round 73. 33rd matchday of Serie A.

AC Milan must win. This is the only choice for them to qualify for next year's Champion's League. Milan is still chasing Fiorentina for the 4th place. Fiorentina progression in UEFA Cup may well be an advantage for Milan, as the fixtures get more pack, Fiorentina will slip up and give Milan the 4th place. Currently Milan are 3 points behind Fiorentina. If a draw between the 2 sides, which is highly likely as well, then Milan will close in on Fiorentina, provided they stumble against league leaders Inter.

Here is the list of the 20 players called up by Carlo Ancelotti for the away game in Turin, and the ones who are unavailable.

Goalkeeper: Dida, Fiori, Kalac
Defender: Bonera, Cafu, Digao, Favalli, Maldini, Serginho, Simic
Midfielder: Ambrosini, Brocchi, Gattuso, Gourcuff, Kakà, Pirlo, Seedorf
Forward: Gilardino, Inzaghi, Paloschi

Suspended: Nesta, Kaladze
Unavailable: Jankulovski, Oddo, Emerson, Pato, Ronaldo

Juve's coach Claudio Ranieri had said that "It will be a very nice game, Milan made more points away from home. They have many champions who will fight, but even we are fine, therefore it will be a very nice game. I don't want a point less than what is in our possibilities. It's a very important week and a win would represent a huge advantage for us to enter Europe."

And this could be Paolo Maldini's last match against Juve, and Juve midfielder Mauro German Camoranesi during a press conference ahead of the match against Milan said: "If we beat Milan, it will be very difficult for them to recover and the Champions League race could be over. Milan remain a very competitive team, they have players who can resolve the team at any moment. Also, Kaká has returned and he can make the difference. I hope it's not the last time I play against Maldini, he's an example and must continue playing."

So let us look on to this historic rivalry.

Ronaldinho to Milan?..

What a way to start my 1st post! Ronaldinho going to Milan! But not yet a done deal though. Well Ronaldinho has agreed initial terms with AC Milan, and Milan will now speak to Barcelona about a deal.

Ronaldinho has had a difficult time at the Nou Camp this season because of injury and more significantly, loss of form. A move has long been mooted, with him link to also to Chelsea. Currently he is out for the rest of the campaign with a leg injury and a transfer can not officially go through until the end of the season.

'In general Ronaldinho and Milan are in agreement,' his agent and brother Roberto de Assis was quoted as saying.Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani said: 'There is a general agreement with the player. Now a deal has to be reached with Barcelona. Give us time.'

According to newspaper Gazzetta, Milan will offer a deal up to 2012 worth eight million euros ($12.6 million) a year, with a few clauses yet to be agreed. Media has also speculated about a transfer fee of between 20 and 30 million euros while some newspapers have talked about Ronaldinho buying up the rest of his contract at Barca.

This news has been a great boost to Milan, which may solve their goalscoring problem this season, and also to Serie A. It has been quite some time since a real star player move to Italy, though again not a star at his best. The situation is similar to Ronaldo when he move from Real, but certainly Ronaldinho is at a better condition than Ronaldo when he moved. Despite Ronaldinho not having the form of his life, he can still contribute positively to Milan, just like Ronaldo did during his 1st 6 months in Milan. And with him around Milan fans can dream of big things again, probably the Scudetto, and a good run in European competition.

Besides, Ancelotti has been assured of his job next term, which may contribute to Ronaldinho to move to Milan, even at the expense of buying up the rest of his contract with Barcelona. In recent years, Milan has created a positive image of stability and humility, which appeals to players with undoubted class, but who had not been doing so well.

Forza Milan!..