Manchester United Wins Champions League Final
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Champions League Final - Photos 1
Champions League final: Sir Alex Ferguson sealed as Manchester United legend
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo goal : 1-0
Chelsea's Joe Cole, left, and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand challenged for a ball late in the game. The two started their careers together at West Ham United.
frank lampard
Manchester United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson hoisted the European Cup for the second time. He led Manchester United to the Champions League crown in 1999.Manchester United Wins Champions League Final
MOSCOW — A domestic rivalry splashed over international borders on Wednesday when England’s two best soccer clubs took their tenacious battle to the banks of the Moscow River to play for Europe’s most coveted athletic prize.
Amid thickening rain and an unbreakable 1-1 tie, the game came down to a penalty-kick shootout. After an unfortunate slip by the Chelsea captain John Terry sent his potential winning kick off the post, Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar blocked a shot by Nicolas Anelka, giving United the championship. A deafening chorus of English fans sent shudders through Luzhniki Stadium.
This first all-English final in Champions League history became an extension of a season-long battle in England’s Premier League, where United won the title on the season’s final day.
After a lethargic beginning to Wednesday’s game, the clubs seemed to find their footing on the newly installed turf. Cristiano Ronaldo, United’s dazzling Portuguese wing, struck first, rocketing a header past goalkeeper Peter Cech. After Chelsea’s Frank Lampard redirected a bumbling deflection for the tying goal shortly before halftime, the clubs battled through the second half, then two overtimes, pummeling each other’s goalkeepers, even as fatigue caused tempers to flare and injuries to mount.
Manchester United’s win, its third European title, dashed Chelsea’s hopes of a first, relegating it to a now customary position as runner-up.
“It’s very hard to lose in penalties,” Avram Grant, Chelsea’s coach, said with a scowl and his typical reticence. “We hit the posts, we hit the bar, yet we dominated the game.”
The loss ended a 21-game streak without a loss for the Blues, and could prove devastating amid persistent rumors that team stars like Didier Drogba, who spent much of the night in the periphery and became only the second player ejected from a final, may move elsewhere for next season.
Grant’s position may also be in jeopardy. The team’s billionaire Russian owner, Roman Abramovich, could seek a manager who will give him more of a return on his billion-dollar investment.
For United, the match was laced with emotion, coming during the year of the 50th anniversary of the 1958 Munich air crash that killed eight of the team’s players as they returned from a European Cup game.
The young players who survived the crash formed the core of the team that won the title a decade later for Coach Matt Busby.
“We won’t live the memory of the Busby Babes down,” said Sir Alex Ferguson, United’s coach. “I feel proud.”
This season’s game was the third Champions League final between clubs from the same country in less than a decade. Spain’s Real Madrid defeated Valencia in 2000, and A.C. Milan beat Juventus in an all-Italian final in 2003.
A multicultural mélange took the field Wednesday in the stadium where, last October, Russia defeated England, effectively evicting the visitors from Euro 2008 qualifying.
Russia won another victory last night, proving itself a worthy host for major international competitions and further allaying lingering doubts about its competence to hold the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, a Black Sea resort. There were fears that a perpetual diplomatic spat with England might spill from the political arena to the soccer stadium, overshadowing the championship contest.
The Kremlin, however, bit its tongue. Keen to raise their country’s athletic profile, Russian officials greased an often unwieldy bureaucracy to squeeze some 40,000 beer-loving English fans through a typically tight border, waiving visa requirements for ticket holders and providing a fleet of nearly 1,000 buses and shuttles to ferry fans between the stadium and Moscow’s three airports.
The hospitality seemed to pay dividends. Although there were some scattered reports of fighting among fans, prematch warnings about rioting and bloodshed proved hollow.
Instead, a bellowing chorus echoed from the subway’s depths to the gates of the stadium as fans clad in Chelsea blue and United red joined Russians in bursts of song and cheers.
“I’ve been a fan of Manchester for more than six years,” Anya Shetinina, a 19-year-old Muscovite, said as she photographed the singing Englishmen. “It’s great that this is happening in our city.”
source: nytimes.comMonday, May 12, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
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Champions League logoAnderson puts it as "my dream final."
Ricardo says he must fly to Old Trafford or Nou camp to see the match live.
Torres seems to be talking more about this semi final than his own team's.
Surely, Manchester United-Barcelona is a footballing extravaganza that no football crazy would like to miss. It is hence, not an understatement nor an offense to the remaining teams (Chelsea and Liverpool), when people say this match is as good as a final.
Both United and Barcelona play this beautiful game the way it ought to be played, with the flair attacking style. Both teams consist of the finest footballing talents in the world.
No wonder footballing pundits are sitting on the fence on this one. They are abstaining from making any predictions because the match is truly very tight to call.
Both Barca and Manchester United are undefeated in this season's Champions League.
So what is the difference between these two teams?
At Nou camp, Barcelona must be careful enough not to concede while scoring a few themselves. It is imperative though that Barca don't go gung-ho trying to kill the tie in the first leg itself.
United are deadly fast on the counter and the tie can slip away from the hosts before they know it!
The one thing that is sure to make a difference in this tie is the defense. United have a clear advantage here and with Vidic back it is hard to see them conceding lots of goals.
Also, United are more organized than Barca. And with the attacking flair that United boasts, the Barca defense will surely be tested.
Another factor that comes into play is the Ronaldo-Messi battle.
Both are breathtaking talents. But here again, since Messi is returning from injury, Ronaldo might come away victorious from this little battle. One remembers how Gatusso played him out last year in the semis, but Yaya Toure is no Gatusso.
On the other hand one sees Hargreaves and Evra fully equipped to handle Messi.
With Ronaldinho out and Messi coming back from injury the onus falls on Henry and Eto'o to inspire Barca. Even though they are not in their best form, their quality cannot be undermined and it is here that Barca can edge out United.
Even though Rooney+Tevez might match Henry+Eto'o on paper, the latter are more conventional forwards and more prolific and proven goal scorers. Also one wonders whether Sir Alex will play a 4-4-2 rather than his favored 4-5-1.
With all these factors taken into account one might say that United have a slight advantage going into this tie.
But football is never played on paper, especially with so much talent gracing one field, nothing can be certain.
For the first leg, I see United getting at least one away goal and not conceding more than one themselves. It's a tough call, but such games don't come often and neither does the chance to predict their scorelines.
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