Man Utd Make It An All English Champions League Final

After beating Barcelona 1-0 courtesy of a fantastic goal from Paul Scholes Manchester United last night ensured that for the first time in the history of the European Champions League that there will be an all English final on May 21st in Moscow.

It was always going to be a tight affair in the 2nd leg at Old Trafford but Barcelona without Ronaldhinho and Samuel Eto certainly do not look the same side and although they had plenty of possession you sensed that this was always going to be United's night.

Now the attention switches to who Sir Alex Ferguson's team will be playing in the final as Chelsea and Liverpool do battle tonight again this is a tough match to predict and although Chelsea have had the better Premiership season and have the away goal from the 1st leg at Anfield in the bag Liverpool will not be unduly concerned as more often than not they seem to have the upper hand against them.

Fergie would probably prefer to face Liverpool as they have tended to come out on top in recent encounters against Rafa Benitez's side but whoever goes through to take their place in the final we should be guaranteed a mouth watering game of football which will be a great advert for the Premiership as well as doing the Champions League Final justice.

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Chelsea Right Back In Title Contention

Chelsea produced a fantastic team performance to beat Manchester United 2-1 in a thrilling match at Stamford Bridge and put themselves right back in contention for the Premiership title.

Two goals from Michael Ballack either side of Wayne Rooney's equaliser was enough to give Avram Grant's men the three points and with Nemanja Vidic and Rooney going off injured it was not a good day for the defending champions.

The win leaves Chelsea level on points with United although Sir Alex Ferguson's men still enjoy top spot because of their superior goal difference and no doubt will remain favourites to win the premiership title as they have what is considered to be the easier run in compared to the Londoners.

After the game Fergie was as usual gracious in defeat naming and shaming aspects of recent refereeing performances and there were also rumours of post match bust ups between Chelsea and United players during the warm down on the Stamford Bridge pitch.

Regardless of what happens in the remaining two games for the neutral football fan at least the result breathes new life into the title race and strange things happen when teams are under pressure although Manchester United are old hands at getting over the line so should not be lacking in that department.

You get the feeling that after seeing off the challenge of Arsenal maybe United were a little guilty of thinking they had it all but in the bag and this result will leave them in no doubt that if they drop any points in their remaining games they may well finish as runners up to Chelsea.

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Champions League Semi Finals All Square

After the first leg of the Champions League semi finals we are still none the wiser as to who will be competing in the final in Moscow.

The Barcelona versus Manchester United match which finished 0-0 was not the best game of football you will ever see although that may be a little harsh with what is at stake and on another night the Red Devils may have sneaked a 1-0 away win if Ronaldo had managed to score from the penalty spot instead of hitting the cross bar.

I was a tad surprised at Barcelona though they do not seem to be as formidable as they once were and maybe the same could be said of the other Spanish giants Real Madrid as in years gone by these two clubs would be the teams that everyone else wanted to avoid in European competition.

The other semi final between Liverpool and Chelsea ended 1-1 after Chelsea managed a somewhat fortuitous draw courtesy of poor old John Arne Riise putting through his own goal choosing wrongly to head the ball when a welly into row z was always going to be the safer option.

Chelsea may well have the away goal but it is still anyones game as Liverpool are more than capable of winning in London just as Barcelona could well come out on top in Manchester come the second leg so it is still all to play for.

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Avram So Near And Yet So Far

After the departure of Jose Mourinho and the subsequent appointment of Avram Grant it has been a strange season for Chelsea even opposing teams fans who loved to sing f**k off Mourinho would admit to a begrudging respect for the charismatic Portuguese.

The general consensus of opinion was that English football would miss the self titled Special One and that has been proved right although as the domestic and European season approaches its climax Chelsea under Avram Grant are in theory very much in with a chance of a premiership and champions league double although you get the feeling that it is unlikely that even one of those trophies will end up at Stamford Bridge.

The style of play under Mourinho was cited as the main reason for Roman Abramovich deciding to dispense with his services but under the managership of Avram Grant Chelsea are playing pretty much the same way.

As personalities Grant and Mourinho are like chalk and cheese and this will probably be why many fans will never accept the Israeli and be quick to criticise when things do go wrong although in his defence his results albeit over a relatively short period of time are not completely disastrous but at Chelsea trophies are what is required.

After the ruthless way the owners got rid of his predecessor he should not be making himself too comfortable in the managers office unless he can pull a rabbit out of the hat.

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Premiership Title Race Hots Up

As we near the end of 2007/2008 premiership season it appears to be Manchester United's title for the taking as their overall strength in depth has been evident in recent weeks compared to their rivals indeed as fergie's team have kept their heads everyone else around them has been losing theirs for a variety of reasons.

At the time of writing Chelsea rather surprisingly are only three points behind in second place and look like the only team that are still in with a serious chance of winning the premiership title at United's expense although even if they can close the three point gap and equal United's tally of 77 points they still have the handicap of an inferior goal difference.

Arsenal need a win tomorrow at Old Trafford to maintain their interest in the title race and as good as United have been recently I would not bet against Arsene Wenger's team pulling exactly that off unlikely as that may seem it is still a game that could go any way and Chelsea will be no doubt keen observers.

Elsewhere the soap opera at Anfield continues unabated with the latest episode between one of the American owners Tom Hicks and chief executive Rick Parry with the American calling for the resignation of Parry with the turmoil in the boardroom it will be quite an achievement if Liverpool do manage to make it to the Champions League final this year.

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