Chelsea In Champions League Final

I was in one of my old jaunts on the King`s Road to see last night`s semi-final of the European Champions League between Chelsea and Liverpool. What a game. I havent been that much excited by a match in a long while. Even partook in some Chelsea chants , most of which i`d rather not repeat here. We won. Deservedly so. Chelsea showed more hunger and desire. Drogba was relentless as Essien was industrious, Lampard was resolute and composed dispatching the penalty kick that gave us the lead with utmost precision. If the dead do see us living im sure his recently deceased mum,Pat would have been proud of him. Matter of fact each and every Chelsea player stood up when it mattered.
Everytime the camera beamed Sir Alex Ferguson`s face the whole place erupted with chants of `who are you`? I think the psychological advantage lies with Chelsea in the final against Manchester United in Moscow. Why? Simply because we beat them in our last encounter with them. A game we totally dominated and was unlucky to gift them a goal due to lack of concentration. Having said that you know what they say about footballl being unlike mathematics. I am, however, optimistic that we stand a good, nay, a very good chance of bringing the Champions League Cup to Stamford Bridge from Russia. Blue is the colour!

Manchester United Wins The League

Yes United won the Premiership title today as far as im concerned. Chelsea gifted United the title by failing to beat Bolton . We started well enough and so confident was i in the balance of play that i wasn`t the least bothered when Bolton went ahead. Was taking a call from Morag then and i said `Hold on Bolton just scored but go on it doesnt matter we will beat them`. True we pulled one back then went ahead. Only heavens know what Mourinho said to them at the interval. Chelsea were just flat in the second half. Why did he pull Shevchenko off so early like that? It was a different team that came out in the second half. I was even getting embarassed when it seemed all we were doing was sending long balls to Drogba. Completely bereft of ideas.

With three games left in the Premiership season there is no way we can catch United now. A glance at the rest of Chelsea`s fixtures and United`s is enough to quell any fantasy or illusion of turning the tables against The Red Devils. We have Arsenal,United then Everton to contend with while United have ourselves and two of English Football`s finest, Manchester City and West Ham to deal with! See why i said United got the League today?

Personally i think we showed some spirit to be where we are now in the Premiership. The League was lost way back in January. I said so in my post then. Lets hope we play better against Liverpool in the Champions League return leg.

Manchester United 1-Lille 0

Last night`s Champions League match between Manchester United and the French side Lille proved to be a good showpiece for the game. Well as far as i am concerned. It proved what i have always said to those who claim there is nothing worth appreciating in a bunch of overpaid millionaires chasing after a piece of inflated leather. The game of football is as good as any opera.It's of such dramatic richness even Shakespeare would be appreciative of. Every genre of comedy is well represented in the game. Not only the players are on stage, the coaching staff and the fans too take part in this interactive open air affair the Romans would have envied.

Take what happened last night in Lille. First the French team had a seemingly legal goal disallowed in the first half of the match. Then came the free kick towards the end of the game. Luis Saha was fouled just outside the Lille 18 yard box,the referee whistled for a foul and as the French were just building their defensive wall Ryan Giggs whipped the ball straight into the net without waiting for the go ahead by the referee. Goal disallowed? Er er no. Were the Lille players in place,ready to defend the kick? No. Did the referee signal the go-ahead? Er er No.Were the French players right to feel aggrieved ? Yes,naturally.
So aggrieved were they that their coaching team signalled to them to leave the pitch. Which they did. Alex Ferguson was mad at his players for milling outside the field with the French players. He even seemed to shove Gary Neville. According to him Lille should be dealt with seriously by EUFA. I beg to disagree with Ferguson on this. Yes there were missiles thrown at United players after this but missiles probably would have been thrown anyway without the Lille bench calling their players off the field. They were angry at what they perceived as poor officiating with regards to the disallowed goal and the dodgy goal by Giggs. So i dont see why Eufa need to take any special action against the club. Of course emotions were high but that to me was quite logical given the events. If anything it just added to the whole entertainment value.

There is going to be a lot of pressure and temptation on the new Eufa President Michel Platini to use this match as a warning of what to expect under his regime.I know the game needs some cleaning up but this is not the occasion to flex any muscle Michel