Ronaldo Saga Rumbles On

Now Portugal have departed Euro 2008 Cristiano Ronaldo has arrived back in Manchester to be examined by United's medical people prior to an expected foot operation.

Real Madrid appear to be leaving the ball in the player and club's court (at least publicly) and as Alex Ferguson is still on holiday there is no real news on the situation emanating from Old Trafford at the moment.

They say all players have their price and some of the figures being talked about such as £75 million are astronomical and while they may be slightly wide of the mark surely the previous world record for Zinedine Zidane's transfer will be broken if the deal goes ahead.

No wonder crafty old Phil Scolari was advising Ronaldo to sign for Madrid it would certainly make his task of winning the premiership title next season considerably easier if it materialises.

If it does happen then United have been there before and all great players have to be replaced at some point but saying that Fergie has stuck his neck out for Ronaldo in the past and will probably feel somewhat miffed how things have developed in recent weeks.

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Man Utd Win Champions League Final Via Penalty Shootout

Manchester United have conquered Europe for the 3rd time in their history by beating Chelsea 6-5 in a nail biting penalty shootout although at one stage Chelsea were on the verge of winning with the penalties poised at 4-4 skipper John Terry stepped up to take his teams fifth and final penalty and a successful conversion would have seen him lifting the trophy himself but he slipped as he was about to make contact with the ball which undoubtedly had an effect on the kick which hit the post.

During the match itself United had the better of the 1st half and Christiano Ronaldo scored his 42nd goal of a great season with a nice header and just before the break Frank Lampard put away his 20th goal of the season to leave the best two teams in England neck and neck.

In the 2nd half Chelsea seemed to get stronger the more the game went on with Didier Drogba hitting the post and Lampard hitting the bar and as the match went into extra time with players from both sides suffering from the effects of cramp a penalty shootout seemed more and more inevitable.

Nicolas Anelka was the unlucky player who had his and Chelsea's 7th spot kick saved by United keeper Edwin van der Sar to send the red and white contingent in the stadium delirious.

It was a little tough on Chelsea who will quite rightly think overall they had the better of the match and in particular John Terry who looked distraught after his penalty miss.

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Man Utd Win Premiership As Reading And Birmingham Relegated

Manchester United clinched their 10th premiership title in 16 seasons with a win at Wigan Athletic on the final day of the season finishing a clear 2 points ahead of nearest rivals Chelsea who only managed a draw with Bolton at home although in fairness the news from the JJB stadium filtered through to just about everyone inside Stamford Bridge anyway and the miracle that the blues needed never looked like materialising.

It will be interesting to see how Chelsea react to missing out on the premier league crown when they meet United in the champions league final as they will need to get over this disappointment and pick themselves up.

At the other end of the table Reading despite a 4-0 win at Derby were still relegated and after a great season last year which surprised many observers this term has been much the opposite and the loss of Steve Sidwell was probably a factor.

Joining Reading and already relegated Derby was Birmingham City who like Reading conjured up an emphatic win against Blackburn Rovers to no avail the brum fans apparently gave the board some stick which led to David Gold and David Sullivan hinting that they may now quit the club.

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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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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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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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The Year Of FA Cup Shocks

The FA Cup this year has seen quite a few shocks, upsets and giant killings as some of the old romance of the competition seems to have returned Barnsley are arguably the story of this years competition thus far after dumping the mighty Liverpool out of the competition at Anfield in the last round they then proceeded to knock Chelsea out at Oakwell winning 1-0 again although the game itself was entertaining enough it was not quite like watching Brazil as their song goes.

The other shock from yesterday came at Old Trafford where Man Utd lost to Portsmouth 1-0 who would have thought that Man Utd and Chelsea would both end up being knocked out in this round i wonder what sort of odds you could have got on that outcome prior to kick off?

Sir Alex was not a happy bunny in the slightest and roundly criticized the referee's performance as well as the referees chief Keith Hackett for not doing his job properly his anger seemed to center around the no nonsense treatment Portuguese star Ronaldo is getting from opposition teams and the lack of protection Fergie feels referees are giving him.

Maybe one or two decisions could have gone their way but it is not often that you see a referee award a penalty to the away team at Old Trafford and there have been many stonewall penalties waved away over the years with the refs usually bottling it.

I have a feeling that it may well be Harry Redknapp's men that are destined to lift the FA Cup this year.

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Happy New Year From Fergie

It seems there was more than a few hangovers from the new years eve celebrations the night before at Old Trafford on new years day as Sir Alex Ferguson slammed the home crowd after watching his players make hard work of a 1-0 win over struggling Birmingham City.

"The crowd were dead that was the quietest I have heard them and it's disappointing because we needed the crowd today. We have come through a difficult period of game after game and in moments like these we need a lift. But it was like a funeral out there."

Fergie stopped short of giving it the full throttle Roy Keane rant about prawn sandwiches and the like but it was amusing nonetheless presumably Sir Alex (and maybe his players) were the only people in the stadium not feeling a little worse for wear from the night before.

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