A Chelsea v Manchester United Champions League Final

Chelsea booked their place in the European Champions league final with a 3-2 victory after extra time over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge last night going through 4-3 on aggregate.

It was the stereotypical game of two halves as after completely dominating the 1st half Chelsea looked strangely out of sorts in the 2nd and did not really get going again until extra time got underway.

Rafa Benitez and his pre match attack on Didier Drogba only seemed to fire up the striker as he netted twice in addition to Frank Lampard converting from the penalty spot.

For Liverpool Fernando Torres scored once more before being substituted and great things are expected of him after an impressive first season in English football while Ryan Babel scored a late consolation.

Over the two legs the Chelsea versus Liverpool semi final provided much more entertainment compared to the other semi between Manchester United and Barcelona but perhaps that should be no surprise considering they are both English Premiership teams.

As the final whistle blew to signal the end of extra time and the match the Chelsea players danced their way around Stamford Bridge while their manager Avram Grant showed a rare glimpse of emotion after having led the club to the Champions League Final an achievement that his predecessor could not quite manage during his tenure at the club.

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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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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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The Spoilt Brat Culture

After the show of petulance from Chelsea defender Ashley Cole in midweek and the less than favourable media attention it generated you would have thought that the penny might start to drop with the big name premiership players but apparently not as Liverpool's Argentinian midfielder Javier Mascherano tried his level best and succeeded to out do Cole's behaviour.

Mascherano nor his club can have any complaints as he was continually confronting, complaining and swearing at Steve Bennett and short of physically assaulting the referee there was not much more he could have done to receive his marching orders.

There seems to be a complete lack of respect for officials in general sure they will make mistakes occasionally who doesn't? maybe it is the fact that referees and linesmen do not earn enough for the premiership stars to take them seriously but the players seem to behave like spoilt brats who don't like it when they cannot get their own way contrast this with the sport of Rugby those guys just get up and get on with the game whether they agree with decisions or not.

Quite often especially during the televised games you can see players overstepping the mark and hurling abuse at the referee or linesmen and it does not require the services of a lip reader to work out what is being said.

I wonder what the late great Brian Clough would make of it all he always use to instruct his players not to argue with the the match officials no matter what.

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Another Grand Slam Sunday

This weekend sees another of those grand slam Sundays as Sky calls them where the big four clubs lock horns as always these games look great on paper but quite often can be an anti climax to say the least hopefully this will be one of those occasions where the actual games live up to the pre match expectations.

This Sunday will also go a long way to deciding the outcome of the 2007/2008 Premiership title race with Manchester United looking as though they have stepped up a gear and you have to say they do look like the team that is best equipped to pull away from the pack given that they have the most strength in depth and that factor alone will probably see them home.

In complete contrast is Arsenal who despite topping the table recently have been stuttering of late while Chelsea have put some results together after the disappointment of losing the Carling Cup final which leaves us with Liverpool who are not title contenders at this stage having had something of a troubled season both on and off the pitch Rafa Benitez's team were written off even by their own admission some time ago so securing a Champions League spot will be their priority.

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Who Will Win The 2008 Champions League?

This years UEFA Champions League is now hotting up nicely with the draw having been made for the quarter finals.

English footballs big four comprising Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all feature with the latter two sides drawing each other meaning with the addition of a premiership game sandwiched in between they will actually play each other three times in the space of seven days.

Manchester United will again meet Italian side Roma who will no doubt be eager for revenge after the seven goal drubbing they received at the hands of the red devils last season.

Chelsea will probably be satisfied with their draw against Fenerbache and a trip to Turkey which nevertheless will be no walk in the park.

Quarter Final Draw

Roma v Manchester United
Schalke 04 v Barcelona
Arsenal v Liverpool
Fenerbache v Chelsea

For what it is worth my prediction will be Man Utd, Barcelona, Liverpool and Chelsea to win their respective ties and go into the hat for the semi final draw.

A lot of focus seems to be on the English teams but I have a feeling Barcelona may well be one of the sides contesting the Champions League final on May 21st 2008 in Moscow.

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