European Champions League

Wednesday August 19, 2009

Celtic 0 Arsenal 2

This season's Champions League offered earlier excitement than usual by throwing Celtic and Arsenal together in the final qualifying stage. Obviously this brought plenty of the usual "Battle of Britain" chat in the build up but with Arsenal involved this was never likely to develop into the typical Anglo Scottish cup tie.

Arsenal were without any British players in their starting line up and, with their passing game, it was less likely that Celtic would be able to turn the match into the sort of game that would suit them better.

To be fair to them Celtic did manage to stop Arsenal really hitting their rhythm but they spent so much time stopping Arsenal from playing that they barely threatened themselves during the entire ninety minutes.

Despite their best efforts it was also very unlikely that Celtic would be able to keep Arsenal at bay throughout. In the end the game, and surely the tie, was settled in Arsenal's favour by two fortunate goals.

The deadlock was broken shortly before half time when a Cesc Fabregas free kick deflected into the Celtic net off William Gallas. The Arsenal defender was actually trying to get out of the way of the ball when he got the vital touch.

Arsenal were able to pass the ball with increasing confidence after half time, still without hitting top form, and their second goal came at the end of one of their best, most flowing, moves. The finishing touch was again inadvertant, however, with Gary Caldwell sending the ball into his own net as he desperately attempted to intercept.

All that Celtic's huff and puff could muster was a vehement penalty claim for handball against Niclas Bendtner but the referee decided this was ball to hand and Arsenal's two goal lead remained intact.

It is unlikely that Celtic will be able to unduly fluster Arsenal in the second leg at The Emirates either and this tie would appear to be done and dusted.

Wednesday May 27, 2009; Champions League Final.

Barcelona 2 Manchester United 0

Barcelona: Valdes, Puyol, Toure Yaya, Pique, Sylvinho, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta (Pedrito 90), Messi, Eto'o, Henry (Keita 72).

Man Utd: E.Van der Sar, J.O'Shea, R.Ferdinand, N.Vidic, P.Evra, Anderson (C.Tevez 45), M.Carrick, R.Giggs (P.Scholes 75), J.S.Park (D.Berbatov 66), C.Ronaldo, W.Rooney.

Manchester United were defending their Champions League title in this massively anticipated game and looked like champions in a confidently dominant start. Moving swiftly forward with sure, incisive passing they had Barcelona penned back from the first whistle and looked capable of scoring at any time.

Typically neat passing saw United move dangerously towards the Barcelona penalty area and the attack was only halted when Anderson was deliberately blocked off thirty yards from goal.

Ronaldo obviously fancied his chances and sent in one of his wobbly specials that, having actually missed the wall, was too hot for Valdes to handle and Park must have thought he had scored as he reached the rebound first but his lunging shot was deflected over the bar by a defenders' outstretched leg and United had to settle for a corner.

This put both United and Ronaldo in the mood and the winger cum forward was soon trying his luck from long range again with an effort that wasn't far wide.

Ronaldo came closer still after a superb left wing move which involved Anderson and Rooney but owed most to Patrice Evra and when the centre came in Ronaldo took a touch on his chest before firing a left footed volley inches wide of the far post.

Nothing had been seen of the Barcelona attack in the first ten minutes but a sloppy header by Carrick saw Iniesta suddenly darting forward dangerously and when he slipped the ball through to Eto'o the striker was able to cut back inside Vidic far too easily before poking his finish past Van der Sar from point blank range with Carrick desperately trying to recover the situation.

This was an obvious blow to United but nobody could have anticipated just how big it would be. From being totally dominant they immediately became tense, unsure and somewhat frantic in their attacking efforts while Barcelona became increasingly serene in their passing.

The tension was betrayed immediately as Vidic sent a back pass miles away from Van der Sar, under no pressure, and United were lucky to escape as Barca tried an inventive corner routine.

United were still able to threaten, however, and when Giggs gave Ronaldo the chance to run at Pique one on one the defender could only crudely block off his run just outside the area. The yellow card was inevitable, you could have argued the case for it being red.

The free kick favoured a left footer but it was still disappointing to see Giggs actually given preference and his shot, predictably, wafted harmlessly over the bar.

The two main men in the build up to the game then traded blows with Messi firing a vicious drive just over at one end before Ronaldo wriggled out of a challenge to drill a low thirty yarder wide of the post at the other.

There was no doubt that Messi, along with Iniesta and Xavi, was becoming increasingly influential while Ronaldo and his colleagues were being forced closer to the borders of the game.

Barcelona's passing was now far more assured than United's but it should also be noted that their pressing game was much more pronounced and concerted and one factor no doubt contributed to the other.

Xavi came close from a free kick conceded by Anderson, who was fighting a losing battle with Carrick against a Barcelona midfield that came in waves of four and sometimes five, and the shift in impetus was clearly indicated when Toure was able to carry the ball deep into United territory before finding his full back, Puyol, storming forward likewise to win a corner.

Once again United were at full stretch to clear the corner and there was now little conviction in anything they did. While Carrick and Anderson clearly had their work cut out they were at least trying to stem the flow of Barcelona possession. Giggs was a complete passenger and Park almost as anonymous. Rooney was now finding himself consistently going backwards on the left hand side and Ronaldo was an isolated spectator up front.

Messi demonstrated his growing confidence with a fine break down the left and Van der Sar was just about able to deal with his low centre to ensure that United reached half time only one goal in arrears. Despite their excellent start they could be grateful that the deficit was still manageable.

Half Time: Barcelona 1 Manchester United 0

United had reached half time clearly second best and being passed to death in midfield. Alex Ferguson obviously had work to do and eveybody would have been hoping for some inspiration from the man in charge.

What we got was surely the most wildly optimistic substitution of all time. Rather than look to shore up the midfield and try to ensure a share of possession Ferguson withdrew Anderson and sent on Carlos Tevez.

Theoretically this was an attacking move but you need the ball to attack and it was impossible to see how United were going to get it now with Giggs dropping back to accompany Carrick in central midfield.

Sure enough it was Barcelona who started as they had left off, attacking with ever increasing confidence and regularity. Henry was found in space and skipped round Ferdinand before seeing Van der Sar save with his legs at the near post and when Giggs presented Eto'o with the ball just outside his own area the striker was inches away from finding Messi in front of goal.

It was telling that Tevez's first contribution came in conceding a free kick right on the edge of his own area as Iniesta threatened to glide through the entire United defence and it required the post to keep out Xavi's low shot.

United finally managed a little burst of pressure as a superb centre from Rooney, now on the right, evaded Park at the far post, Carrick's through ball for Rooney was just too strong and then Rooney saw his cross deflected behind after another decent break.

In general, however, United were squandering possession far too cheaply, often in dangerous areas, and simply could not test Valdes while Van der Sar's involvement was increasing by the minute.

United's keeper saved from Henry at his near post but was powerless to intervene when Xavi clipped in a precise centre to the far post and Messi rose well to direct the header back across goal into the far corner.

This was beautifully created and executed but came about because United had twice gifted possession back to Barca within range of their goal in the space of ten seconds.

To have any hope of pulling this chestnut out of a roaring fire a tired and slightly demoralised United side needed a quick response and almost found one. Berbatov, on for Park, got away down the right to centre but both Giggs and Ronaldo found their shots blocked in front of goal and the remaining twenty minutes became a painful exercise in Barcelona possession with Van der Sar standing in the way of further Barcelona goals.

While the United goalkeeper was saving from Iniesta and Puyol, among others, all United had to offer was a crude foul by Scholes, finally replacing Giggs, and a couple of childish barges from Ronaldo which gave ultimate Spanish arsehole Puyol the opportunity to ham it up to maximum irritation levels.

The final whistle came as a mercy to United who had completely lost their way after starting in such imperious fashion. Credit obviously has to go to Barcelona who were hugely worthy of their victory but questions must be asked about United's feeble response to going a goal down.

Barcelona accepted the early bonus of Eto'o's goal (is that punctuation legal?) with relish and proceded to put on a dazzling display of football which was centred around outstanding passing and movement but included moments of extreme individual brilliance.

United simply capitulated despite the fact that they had started the game superbly. From building up moves swiftly and precisely they began hitting more and more hopeful early balls forward which simply gave Barcelona the ball back and their formation became increasingly difficult to fathom with each of Ferguson's substitutions.

The most telling sight of the night was that of the ultimate warrior Rooney, who had been shifted from pillar to post but never really allowed to play in his normal position, looking like a man who had surrendered; frustrated and impotent on the right wing.

Ferguson can point to many occasions this season when such improvisations have worked but here, against a team of absolute quality, his decisions and his team imploded.

Full Time: Barcelona 2 Manchester United 0

Friday May 8, 2009

Semi Final 2nd Legs

The second legs of this seasons' Champions League semi finals obstinately refused to deliver the free flowing, attacking football that many people had predicted, and everybody had been hoping for, but they brought isolated moments of supreme quality and more than enough drama.

Unfortunately most of the drama was provided by suspect refereeing.

Arsenal and Manchester United went first with The Gunners hoping to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg. Arsene Wenger and his team made plenty of positive noises beforehand bigging up their chances but this tie was over inside eleven minutes as United swept into a two goal lead and long before the end his team looked like little boys lost.

Kieran Gibbs chose a bad moment to fall over and presented Park Ji-Sung with the opener before Manuel Almunia got nowhere near a Ronaldo free kick that travelled forty one yards before going in at the goalkeepers' near post.

Arsenal were immediately left needing to score four goals to have any hope of progressing and seldom looked like managing one.

United rubber stamped their passage to Rome with an hour gone with a move of absolute brilliance. Breaking from defence Ronaldo released Park with a back heel and then sprinted sixty yards at breakneck speed to convert Rooney's final pass in emphatic style.

Game over but the real drama was still to come. Arsenal managed a consolation goal from the penalty spot after Darren Fletcher was erroneously adjudged to have brought down Cesc Fabregas. Fletcher was sent off for the challenge and will now miss the final.

This was not a good decision but the fuss over this incident was completely dwarfed by the events of the following night when Chelsea entertained Barcelona in the second semi final.

This tie was goalless from the first leg but it wasn't long before Chelsea had grabbed the lead at Stamford Bridge. On nine minutes Michael Essien put the home side ahead with a stunning volley that ripped into the net via the underside of the bar.

Barcelona passed and passed but were able to make little headway against a determined Chelsea defence and whatever chances did arrive were all at the other end.

Chelsea were unable to find the second goal, however, through a combination of weak finishing and questionable refereeing. For every decent chance they spurned, Drogba being the main culprit, they had an equally decent penalty appeal turned down.

With only a one goal cushion Barcelona were always in with a chance even after they had been reduced to ten men after Abidal was dismissed, harshly, after bringing Anelka down, perhaps inadvertantly, as the striker was breaking clear.

There is no question that everyone connected with Chelsea felt that the scales of the referees' justice were still loaded heavily on the side of Barcelona despite this decision as he continued to ignore their penalty claims and this sense of injustice reached new heights when the official somehow failed to punish a blatant handball offence by Pique.

All this suggested that a dramatic ending might still be in store and so it proved. Three minutes into stoppage time Barcelona managed to produce their first effort on target and they made it count, Iniesta's stunning twenty yard drive arrowing into the top corner with Petr Cech powerless to intervene.

There was still time for Chelsea to have their fourth vehement penalty claim but once again the Norwegian referee was unmoved and Chelsea were out.

The final whistle did not bring an end of the incidents, however, as Chelsea players swarmed around the referee to vent their angry complaints.

They certainly had reason for complaint but, as usual, the manner in which they made them was completely unacceptable with Drogba, who hadn't even finished the game on the pitch, being the worst offender.

To look back at the penalty claims in a less emotional mood I think it is fair to say that three of the four appeals provided the referee with judgement calls. Reasons could be given for awarding the penalty just as reasons could be given for denying it.

In seeing all three denied Chelsea were bound to feel a sense of injustice.

What could not be argued, however, was the incident in which Pique clearly, and deliberately, handled as Anelka flicked the ball past him inside the area in the second half.

My personal reading of the claims was as follows;

1; Alves on Malouda; possibly outside the box, possibly obstruction, possibly not even a foul. NO PENALTY.

2; Drogba goes down in box; who knows what's happening when that tosser is involved? Might have been caught, might have just overrun the ball and decided to hit the deck. NO PENALTY.

3; Pique handball; PENALTY. Stevie Wonder's giving that one.

4; Eto'o handball; people seem to be saying that this one hit his back. No, it hit the underside of his upper arm. It's also suggested that he didn't do it on purpose and was trying to get out of the way. No, he simply turned his back because he wanted to block it but didn't want it to hit him in the face and he had his arms stretched out with a wingspan that an albatross would have been proud of. Basically if a player isn't prepared to take one on the chin to confirm a place in the European Cup final then he deserves to be penalised. PENALTY.

So Chelsea had cause for complaint, just as Barca could have complained about not getting a penalty in the first leg and Abidal's sending off, but the violent manner of their complaints after the final whistle were totally unjustified.

Once again it was Drogba who went furthest over the top in his actions.

It would do arseholes like Drogba good to remember that he, and plenty of other players, spend half their lives trying to con referees into making bad decisions. They actually want the referee to get it wrong, only it has to be in their favour.

As long as players are trying to con the ref into making the wrong decision then the likelihood of bad decisions is always going to remain high. And bad decisions are always going to go both ways so you'll get some and you'll be on the end of some.

I think it's known as living by the sword and dying by it as well.

Friday May 1, 2009

Semi Final 1st Legs

The much anticipated/hyped Champions League semi final 1st leg games seem to have disappointed many people as they failed to deliver the wild excitement and glorious attacking football expected of them.

This shouldn't really be a surprise. It takes an incredibly brave and confident team to go all guns blazing at this stage of the competition.

While the two games this week did not serve up the box of delights craved by so many what they have done is set up next weeks' second legs perfectly. Whether we get games for the purist remains uncertain but the second legs should certainly bring great drama and tension.

Chelsea went to Barcelona and stifled the home team almost completely to come away with a goalless draw. Advantage Chelsea but they will no doubt remember that they came away from Liverpool with a 3-1 lead in the last round and ended up scraping through.

If Liverpool can go to Chelsea and score four then surely Barcelona can go there and score at least one. There is still definitely work to do for Chelsea to appear in their second successive final.

Barcelona have big questions to answer at Stamford Bridge. They have this glittering reputation for being a wonderful attacking side but they lost in the semis last year to Manchester United without managing to find the net over the two legs and have now been held at home by Chelsea as well.

I seem to remember Liverpool winning in the Nou Camp recently as well.

Fantasy football is all very well but you need players who are capable, and willing, to produce when a few bullets are being fired.

Petr Cech earned most of the plaudits after keeping out the noted Barca attack although the saves required of him were mostly routine as the men in front of him tracked their men diligently throughout.

Barcelona only really approached the urgency required to unsettle Chelsea late on and should have grabbed a vital lead in stoppage time but some bloke headed over an open goal at the back post following a magnificent centre by the right back Daniel Alves.

Much more will be expected of Barcelona when they go to Stamford Bridge but the same can also be said of Chelsea. Drogba had one decent chance at snatching an away goal but was left to feed on scraps for the rest of the night.

Chelsea will no doubt be more positive at home but will that allow Barcelona to show their class on the break?

Let's just hope for better fare all round.

The game at Old Trafford between Manchester United and Arsenal was much more open and better to watch although it was rarely an even contest as United dominated most of the proceedings.

They were particularly forceful in the first half and took the lead through John O'Shea's smart, half volleyed finish. In allowing Arsenal to reach half time only one down, however, they had blatantly let their rivals off the hook and they were not so much in command after the break.

United remained the more likely scorers but saw Ronaldo's blockbuster cannon back off the bar and a Ryan Giggs effort ruled out by a borderline offside decision.

Arsenal's one real chance of scoring an away goal came when Bendtner headed over a gaping goal as Van der Sar charged rashly from his line at a free kick.

This incident might still be crucial in Arsenal's favour overall, however. The goalkeeper got nowhere near the ball but ploughed straight into Rio Ferdinand who departed holding his ribs.

If Ferdinand misses the second leg because of this friendly fire it will be a huge bonus for Arsenal.

My guess is that the second legs will also start out as cagey affairs but a goal in either will surely light the blue touch paper.

Thursday April 16, 2009

Quarter Final Review

All four English representatives were involved at the quarter final stage but, with Liverpool drawn against Chelsea yet again, only three of them could progress. Predictably three of them did go through to the semi finals but not exactly in the manner most people would have envisaged.

To start with the holders Manchester United. They were paired with Porto and many people probably thought this was the easiest draw available. This thinking was made to look ridiculous in the first leg at Old Trafford as the Portuguese champions came with serious attacking intent and made the entire ninety minutes extremely uncomfortable for United.

The visitors took advantage of sloppy play by Ronaldo and hesitant defending to snatch an early lead and continued to come forward at every opportunity in search of further goals, sound thinking against a suddenly fragile United defence.

United, fitful in their attacking play, were grateful to the alertness and endeavour of Wayne Rooney for their equaliser as he stormed in from the left flank to intercept a careless backpass and Rooney was also involved as they then took a scarcely deserved lead late on as he backheeled a throw into the path of Carlos Tevez who swept home at the near post.

There were only a few minutes left for United to hold on to what would have been a precious lead but they were still incapable of doing so.

Porto continued to attack with belief and they levelled the scores at 2-2 in the last minute when United found themselves outnumbered at the back following a right wing raid.

There was nothing about this performance to inspire confidence that United would be able to become the first English team to win away to Porto in the second leg but that is exactly what they did.

Inspired by a truly magnificent forty yard drive by Ronaldo in the opening minutes, no toe bunging involved in this one, United finally played with the swagger of champions in the opening half hour and threatened to take the tie completely away from Porto.

The second goal wouldn't come, however, and as the night wore on the tension increased as United ended up mainly in defensive mode protecting the slenderest of advantages.

With Rio Ferdinand back in tandem with Nemanja Vidic the fragility of the first leg had vanished and the champions managed to progress with surprisingly few alarms despite plenty of Porto pressure in the second half.

Once again United had done enough without really setting the pulse racing, Ronaldo's wonder goal aside, but a pragmatic approach is probably necessary when you are challenging on as many fronts as they are.

Arsenal were the team to progress with real ease and security. They went behind in the first leg away to Villareal and had a few worrying moments as the Spanish team looked to press home their advantage but the second half saw Arsenal increasingly confident and dangerous and it was no surprise when Adebayor brought them level with a smart overhead finish.

Their confidence was then evident as they made no attempt to shore the game up at 1-1 and they might easily have scored again to bring home a lead to the Emirates.

They were unable to do so but they would have approached the second leg with few doubts, especially given the absence of Senna from the Villareal line up.

At home Arsenal simply brushed their opponents aside with a fast, fluid attacking display that was near their best. Theo Walcott revelled in the performance and flicked Arsenal ahead with a confident finish after ten minutes. There was little doubt as to the outcome from that moment on.

It took The Gunners until the hour mark to completely settle the issue when Adebayor scored with ease after fine work by the impressive Van Persie and then the Dutchman slammed home a penalty minutes later to complete the scoring at 3-0.

The penalty, dubiously awarded for a challenge on Walcott, was harsh on Villareal but their demoralised state was highlighted by the dissent that followed which ended with the dismissal of one of their members.

Even without the penalty there is no question that Arsenal were cruising through to the semi finals.

The only shadow on Arsenal's horizon at the moment are the injuries in defence which have been compounded while these games were taking place. This might cost them in the long run but, with their attacking players generally fit and fresh, they remain well in the hunt for two trophies at the end of a season that had threatened to become truly galling.

And then there was the all English clash between Liverpool and Chelsea. This fixture has become a Champions League ritual and it might have been supposed that familiarity would breed staleness, caution and predictability.

Nothing could have been further from the truth as these two juggernauts went straight for each other with feet pushed firmly on the accelerator pedal from the word go. At the end of the three hours nobody could quite believe what they had seen.

Liverpool started quickly at Anfield and took the lead through Torres. They could have increased that lead before half time but then found themselves on the end of a Chelsea backalsh which brought three goals and could have brought several more.

Ivanovic was the surprise scorer of two of these as Liverpool froze at set pieces and the frightening Drogba slid home another after a sweeping left wing move involving the bafflingly impressive Malouda.

This seemed to be game over but Chelsea then proceeded to give a woeful first half display at Stamford Bridge in the second leg which allowed Liverpool right back into the tie.

Aurelio started a hugely uncomfortable night for Petr Cech by slamming a free kick past him at his near post from way out and then Xavi Alonso banged home a penalty to bring the scores level on aggregate.

Just a word about this penalty. It was awarded for what amounted to a rugby tackle at a free kick. This was the kind of tugging that is now commonplace at almost all set pieces but which officials seldom have the bottle to penalise.

When the ref gave this decision everything seemed so obvious and logical, as though we had arrived back in the real world from some kind of parallel universe where defenders defend corners with their backs to the ball by simply hugging their opponent and nobody bats an eyelid.

More of the same please, but surely the next man penalised has got to be Jamie Carragher.

Despite having levelled the scores overall Liverpool hadn't quite taken full advantage of Chelsea's tepid first half performance. Torres had spurned one glorious chance and the visitors might well have gone in at the interval leading overall.

Chelsea then came out after the break a completely different team, strong, purposeful and aggressive, and Liverpool were unable to maintain their first half standards.

With Fat Frank suddenly inspired and Drogba continuing to wreak havoc up front Chelsea assumed almost total control. Drogba scored early in the half to put Chelsea back into the lead and then smashed a free kick into the side netting that everyone in the ground thought had gone in.

That effort obviously hadn't impressed Alex, however, who took over the duties when Chelsea were then awarded another free kick in almost exactly the same place a couple of minutes later. There was no pretence at subtlety in his effort but raw power was enough to send the ball screaming past Reina into the Liverpool goal.

This made it 5-3 on aggregate and Chelsea continued to press. Ballack wasted one fine chance before Lampard duly delivered the goal he had been promising throughout the tie with fifteen minutes remaining.

Liverpool now needed three goals to go through and it was obviously game over. The game now had it's pantomime qualities and therefore we shouldn't have been too surprised to see Liverpool respond in an "Oh no it isn't!" kind of way.

Four minutes later Lucas saw his deflected shot creep inside the post and then Kuyt headed home a superb Riera cross when, on most occasions, they would still have been celebrating the goal by Lucas.

This meant that there were still almost ten minutes left and one more Liverpool goal would take them through on aggregate. Chelsea wisely resisted any temptation to try to shore up a game that was now beyond anyones control.

With the game wide open it was Chelsea who scored the decisive goal. No doubt caught up in the tumultuous proceedings Drogba ignored the chance to go down and win a free kick preferring to set up a move that finished with Lampard sweeping home a dramatic finish that clipped the inside of both posts before coming to rest in the back of the Liverpool net.

This definitely was game over although Liverpool continued to pile forward and it needed a magnificent diving header from Essien to keep out a stinging half volley by N'Gog as the game reached its' glorious conclusion.

Obviously the superlatives have continued in the wake of this fixture almost as thick and as fast as the incidents in the game itself.

It would do people good to really think about these two encounters and consider whether they did think they were good games.

I say this because modern football has a tendancy to look back to the old days and mock the football and, in particular, the scorelines that were commonplace in the 50's, 60's and beyond.

The formations are laughed at and the general impression is that everything was a bit amateurish.

The real difference is that the teams then were simply more intent on trying to score themselves rather than, as is the case nowadays, trying to make sure that the other team doesn't score.

I think it would be fair to say that in the 1950's the games took place with both teams having six men basically looking to attack and eight men, including the keeper, looking to defend.

Nowadays you generally get both teams having nine or ten men looking to defend and probably four committed to attack. Which approach is going to make for a better spectacle?

These tactics are dictated by our modern coaches who are basically scared stiff of anything that isn't controlled or safe. It certainly doesn't mean that the football is any better and it is undoubtedly nowhere near as good to watch.

These games between Liverpool and Chelsea were a throwback to the old days and rather than thinking that it was garbage everybody was lapping it up. How good would it be if this was the norm rather than the exception?

Not only would we benefit as spectators but you can guarantee that it would make the players better and certainly more likeable. Once they get caught up in a game like that you can see which players have the real class and which ones are hiding behind a system.

And they also forget about the snide little attempts to cheat or gain an advantage that dominate so many of our games now.

I can still see Drogba riding that tackle with the game on a knife edge and only a couple of minutes remaining. How often have we seen him, in more clinical moments, going down, winning a free kick and staying down for treatment that he didn't really need?

We can only hope that Hiddink hasn't sat him down in front of the video and bollocked him for such a rash, unprofessional act that could have ended with Liverpool breaking away to score the goal that would have knocked Chelsea out but ended up instead bringing the crowing glory to a truly glorious night.

The moral of the story? Modern coaches are a blight on the game. After all, who cares how far the players have run after a game like that?

Friday March 13, 2009

Safe Passage For The Big Four

The four "English" representatives all enjoyed a safe passage into the quarter finals of this seasons' Champions League despite having difficult looking ties when the draw was made.

It had been anticipated that Juventus, Inter Milan, Roma and Real Madrid would provide stern tests for our clubs but all they really did was confirm that money certainly can buy you success in this competition.

While the ludicrous transfer fees and wages our top clubs splash out obviously give them a massive advantage over even the biggest clubs on the continent the pretty tepid challenge these four clubs put up was still very dispappointing.

In general it seemed as though the English clubs were facing the great names of five or ten years ago; Del Piero, Nedved, Zanetti, Vieira, Totti, Raul. Great players once, but now?

Actually I'm not sure Vieira ever was a great player to be honest.

And then there were the faces that we used to be familiar with over here; Mellberg, Muntari, Baptista, Riise, Heinze, Robben, Diarra. Not wanted here but good enough for the great names on the continent.

The English clubs always looked likely to progress in these ties although Arsenal and Chelsea were both pushed all the way.

Arsenal seemed to have the easiest tie having been paired with Roma but their famous inability to turn chances into goals saw them heading to Italy for the second leg with only a 1-0 lead which they soon surrendered after dreadfully sloppy defending.

Neither side looked really confident of pressing for victory with the tie level and the issue had to be settled by penalties.

The shootout ended 7-6 in Arsenal's favour after one of the strangest set of penalties ever taken. Although only three of the sixteen taken were missed you would hardly say the spot kicks were of the highest standard as the two goalkeepers seemed to be having a contest as to who could make the worst attempt to save.

The Roma keeper, Doni, got off to a good start as he parried away a feeble effort by Eduardo but then became increasingly frenzied as he flung himself here, there and everywhere in any direction but the one in which the ball was going.

Except, that is, for Theo Walcott's penalty which he should certainly have saved but simply pushed into the net instead.

Almunia was slightly less hyperactive in the Arsenal net and gained the benefit when he was able to sit on one of the worst penalties ever taken, pushed at half a mile an hour straight down the middle by Mirko Vucinic.

One of the most interesting aspects of this shootout was deciding which goalkeeper was cheating most heinously. There was no doubt that Doni was charging further off his line than Almunia but the Arsenal keeper appeared to not even bother getting back onto the line for two of Roma's penalties.

The referee had posted one of his assistant's on the goal-line, presumably to check for indiscretions, but he saw nothing amiss.

With neither keeper able to make another save it was left to Tonetto, possibly a fictional character being played by Chico Marx, to smash the sixteenth penalty way over the bar and send Arsenal through to the last eight.

Consolation for Roma came in the shape of a cheeky piano solo by Tonetto in the dressing room afterwards.

Chelsea also took a 1-0 lead with them to Italy for their second leg against Juventus. The Italians had already shown in London that they could be a threat and this game ebbed and flowed throughout in the grand manner of European ties.

Despite having to come from behind twice there can be no doubt that Chelsea deserved to progress overall despite having to resist plenty of pressure in this second leg. As well as the goals scored by Essien and Drogba there was also a free kick from Drogba which seemed to be well over the line before being pawed out by Buffon.

Manchester United won a cagey affair with Inter Milan. Having held Mourinho's latest team to a goalless draw in Milan they won the second leg at Old Trafford with goals early in each half from Vidic and Ronaldo.

This tie gave me further evidence in my theory that Zlatan Ibrahimovic truly is the most over-rated player in world football and remains a "Championship Manager" player only. Perhaps Mourinho should snap up Tonton Zola Moukoko, Andri Sigporsson and Alan Pouton as well. And maybe Gareth Jellyman.

The most startling result was obviously Liverpool's 5-0 aggregate drubbing of Real Madrid. Further evidence of Liverpool's liking for this competition? Or evidence that Real Madrid are no longer to be compared with the Stoke City's or Middlesbrough's of this world?

Real Madrid were more Galloping Gourmet than Galloping Major and both Puskas and Alfredo Di Stefano would certainly have been turning in their graves (if they are dead) at the sight of a Madrid side lacking any real invention, cutting edge or stomach for the battle as the likely lads, Torres and Gerrard, ran amok at Anfield.

I wonder if Ronaldo paid any attention to this tie. If he did I wonder if it crossed his mind just how shit he would be if he had actually got his way and been allowed to sign for Madrid?

Whereas at Manchester United he has team-mates who run their testicles off to allow him to do whatever he likes and chase back like demons to retrieve possession while he's sat on the floor with a face like a baby after his latest stepover nonsense has ended in disaster if he was at Madrid he would be surrounded by a bunch of prima donnas who would be sat down with him in a group protest.

He might still score his fair share of goals but I'm sure United would be as well off without him. Spend the 100 million wisely, get Carlos Tevez in the team and have a happy bunch of campers all pulling in the same direction while Ronaldo spends the rest of his life sat on the floor wondering why his mates aren't doing all his work for him anymore.

Only a thought.

Staurday October 25, 2008

The European Champions League Carling Cup

I suppose with Christmas getting closer and the competition already halfway through the group stage it is about time I mentioned The Champions League for the first time this season. I could have done so before but, to be honest, the whole thing bores me rigid.

Ignoring the hype, is there anything to get worked up about in The Champions League before the knockout stages begin? The group stage is just an exercise in money making while waiting for the same old faces to take their places in the last sixteen when the serious business actually begins.

For the English clubs especially, with the enormous amounts of money they have lavished on their squads, progress seems to be increasingly certain.

Manchester United failed to negotiate their group a few seasons ago when they were having a particularly rocky patch and Liverpool tried their best to get knocked out last year but weren't quite bad enough to accomplish the feat but it would appear as though it is now virtually impossible for our "top four" and their assortment of global superstars to miss out on a place in the latter stages of the competition.

So far this season all four of our representatives have managed to drop two points from their first three games but this already leaves them all but certain of qualifying.

Chelsea only managed a draw away to CFJ Cluj-Napoca of Transylvania, probably after a completely sleepless night, and should really have lost but that is unlikely to matter in the bigger scheme of things.

Arsenal were similarly fortunate to come away from Dinamo Kiev with a point but having since won handsomely away to Fenerbahce their passage should be as smooth as a baby's botty (or Theo Walcott's cheeks) from here to the knockout stages.

Manchester United started in dodgy fashion by only drawing at home to Villareal and still have to travel to Spain but having beaten both Aalborg and Celtic with some ease they enjoy a six point cushion and are also going through.

Liverpool are obviously going to qualify having apparently sold their soul to the devil early on this season in exchange for a period of immunity from evil things and their draw away to Atletico Madrid is obviously a good result in the context of their group.

So with three games gone and three still to play the English clubs are basically already in the last sixteen. That's nice for the clubs involved but it's hardly gripping stuff for the neutral or good for the competition.

The certainty of the big clubs going through means that those clubs will continue to get proportionately richer than their potential rivals and that will lead to even less interest being generated by the group stages of this competition over the coming years.

In fact the group stages of this competition are becoming more and more like the Carling Cup back at home. It's not that the English clubs involved aren't bothered whether they go through or not but they are getting to the stage where they can play fringe players, pick and choose which games they need to really go 100% in and, probably, enjoy the luxury of one or two dead rubbers at the end of the group.

This in itself can't be right. United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool continue getting more and more cash and it's getting easier and easier for them to get it.

While this situation is great for the clubs in question and the tens of thousands of people around the globe wearing their replica shirts it does little to inspire the rest of us.

The United-Celtic game in midweek offers an obvious example of how tired and predictable the group stages are becoming. The sight of the English champions hammering the Scottish champions out of sight should provide all of us with a feeling of satisfaction and delight but the ineqality of resources at the disposal of the clubs in question means that this was hardly the case (and I'm in no way anti-United).

Instead it was just a case of waiting for a collection of multi-million pound international stars to roll over a collection of ex-Championship stalwarts. So what?

And United were able to do this with a back four reading Gary Neville, Jonny Evans, Nemanja Vidic and John O'Shea and also missing their top three central midfield players. So what?

This victory was in no way as fulfilling as when Nottingham Forest went to Parkhead and knocked Celtic out of Europe in the 1980's or even when Manchester United themselves just about overcame Dundee United at around the same time.

United were obviously a much "bigger" club than Dundeee United back then but the Scottish club were still in a position to compete seriously with the big names in Europe.

Victories always taste sweeter when they are achieved against the genuine threat of defeat and, in the past, Scottish clubs always had the capability of beating English opposition. The fact that Celtic somehow beat United the last time they met, and might even do so again in a couple of weeks time, cannot hide the fact that they now have no chance of competing with them over the course of six games in a group. The fault is not theirs.

How can Celtic compete with any of the top English teams given the money they are able to spend? How are Ajax or Anderlecht or Benfica or any of the other teams who formerly provided such difficult opponents for our clubs now supposed to compete?

UEFA, and Michel Platini in particular, seem keen to try to level their playing field in some ways and surely this does need to happen. I would definitely like to see teams having to pick a certain number of home grown players and there are a couple of simple measures that could be taken that, in my opinion, would potentially make the group stages more exciting and offer the prospect of different teams being able to reach the last 16.

The first thing I would do is stop seeding teams when it comes to drawing the groups and I would also stop the practise of keeping teams from the same nation apart until the quarter final stages.

When the last 32 teams have been decided they should all go into one big bag and just be pulled out at random. If that happened then you could get United, Chelsea, Barcelona and AC Milan coming out in the same group.

If they did then two of those teams wouldn't be making it through to the knockout stages and at least one of them would not even end up in the UEFA Cup. Somewhere, in the other groups, that would also mean that a couple of teams who at present are almost certainly not going to qualify would actually go through to the last 16 and they would get a huge financial boost for doing so.

This would perhaps allow them to become more competitive with the bigger clubs in the longer term and might, just, encourage the English clubs to run their finances on a more reasonable level. There can be little doubt that at least three of our top four clubs budget on the basis that they will make the knockout stages of The Champions League every year. Things shouldn't be that straightforward.

If the seeding system was removed then there would be the potential for titanic matches with massive stakes taking place from the word go rather than having to wait until March for any semblance of the competition getting going for real.

It would also mean that the teams getting the ultimate financial rewards might have to really earn it once in a while. Of course it would lead to teams sometimes getting an even easier ride but, so what?, they all get through now as it is anyway.

And if a couple of teams did make it through to the knockout stages who normally wouldn't there is no guarantee that they would then become sitting ducks. It is easier for a supposed minnow to upset the giants over a two legged tie than it is over a six game league.

In fact Liverpool should already have been knocked out of this seasons' competition by the mighty Standard Liege of Belgium who had by far the better of their two legged qualifying tie only to lose right at the end of extra time at Anfield in the second leg.

So why not shake things up and rattle a few cages? UEFA say they don't like the massive financial inequalities that obviously exist between their member nations but by seeding the teams from the favoured countries they are simply ensuring that the disparities continue to increase.

Wednesday May 21, 2008; Champions League Final.

Chelsea v. Manchester United

Chelsea: P.Cech, M.Essien, J.Terry, R.Carvalho, A Cole, C.Makelele (J.Belletti 119), M.Ballack, F.Lampard, F.Malouda (S.Kalou 92), J.Cole (N.Anelka 98) Drogba.

Man Utd: E.Van der Sar, W.Brown (Anderson 119), R.Ferdinand, N.Vidic, P.Evra, M.Carrick, O.Hargreaves, P.Scholes (R.Giggs 86) W.Rooney (Nani 101), C.Tevez.

The 2008 Champions League final, the first one ever to be contested by two English clubs, got off to a promisingly open start with both sides looking to get forward in the opening minutes on a slippery pitch that looked as though it might pose problems for defenders.

Florent Malouda got over a good early centre for Chelsea that was well defended by Nemanja Vidic before Manchester United began to pose a threat of their own.

United had started with Ronaldo wide on the left and Owen Hargreaves hugging the right hand side and it was, surprisingly, Hargreaves who offered their early promise.

Hargreaves linked well with Wayne Rooney only to see his centre deflected straight to Petr Cech but then forced John Terry into some stout defending with his next cross. It was not long before the same player picked out an even better centre which fell invitingly at the feet of Ronaldo, inside the box at the far post, but United's superstar allowed the ball to escape under his foot.

Although the game then settled down and became slightly more cagey the expectation that something was about to happen remained distinctly in the air. United were certainly looking the more coherent side in the early stages, however, and now began probing down the other flank.

Ronaldo was having all sorts of joy against makeshift right back Michael Essien and left his marker for dead before centering marginally too high for Hargreaves at the far post and then linked superbly with Patrice Evra for another cross that was strongly defended by Terry.

The first unsavoury incident came when Paul Scholes barged into Claude Makelele and both players ended up receiving yellow cards after the mandatory pushing and shoving match between both sets of players had finally calmed down.

Scholes was left needing treatment for significant damage to his nose but it was hard to see how this had been sustained. Makelele, for his part, appeared unsettled out of all proportion by the incident and spent the rest of the first half walking a fine line as he got involved in other incidents and chirped away at the referee on numerous occasions.

While down to ten men Carlos Tevez played his side into trouble and it took a fine clearance from Vidic to deny Chelsea from Frank Lampard's cross.

With the return of Scholes came a return of United dominance, however, and on twenty six minutes they took a deserved lead. Wes Brown trotted forward to take a throw in deep in Chelsea territory, took it short to Scholes and then enchanged quick, short passes to work himself space for a left footed centre.

This may not have seemed an obvious source of danger but Brown clipped a sweet inswinging cross to the far post where Ronaldo left Essien completely flat footed as he rose to plant a perfect header into the corner of the Chelsea net.

Chelsea looked to catch United cold from the restart but when Michael Ballack latched onto a half clearance his shot was way off target from the edge of the box.

In general all Chelsea could bring to the party at this stage was a massive propensity to moan. A strong challenge by Brown on Malouda led to another mass protest but there had been nothing amiss in the tackle and the referee rightly let the game continue.

Brown had the bit between his teeth and came forward for another tellimg centre which Ronaldo met well at the far post to head back across goal but a Chelsea boot was there first to clear the danger.

United were clearly growing in confidence with Scholes and Michael Carrick calling the tune in midfield, both full backs getting forward to support the attack and Ronaldo in his element.

Up front neither Tevez or Rooney looked to be at their best, however, which was just as well for Chelsea.

The first really dangerous moment for Edwin Van der Sar came when Lampard was allowed time to pick out Drogba at the back post and he headed back across the face of the United goal.

Rio Ferdinand looked unsure how to defend the situation with Ballack charging in and ended up heading towards his own goal from close range. Van der Sar slapped the ball away and Scholes was able to boot the loose ball behind for a corner.

As Chelsea tried to turn the tide United countered with an inspired spell that should have seen them move further ahead.

Firstly Rooney came right back towards his own corner flag to rob Ricardo Carvalho and lead a magnificent counter attack. Having made thirty yards of ground Rooney sent a perfect crossfield ball forward for Ronaldo to chase, drawing two defenders into a futile attempt to cover, and when he whipped in a centre to the near post Tevez dived full length for a header that was brilliantly saved by Cech.

The stretched Chelsea defence could only clear to the edge of the area, however, where Carrick was following up for a first time shot that drew another fine save out of the Chelsea keeper.

Chelsea had Cech to thank in this instance but United only had themselves to blame in their next attack. Hargreaves did well to win possession before sending Rooney away along the right wing and his drilled low centre evaded Cech's attempt to intercept offering Tevez an open goal but the striker could only get his studs to the ball and the chance was lost.

Tevez was at full stretch but this was a chance that was begging to be taken.

It is not wise to miss too many clear chances in games like this and Chelsea ended the half with their best spell of possession inside the United half.

Ferdinand found himself in the book after blocking Lampard's run on the edge of the box but Ballack was over from the resulting free kick.

Then, with half time looming, Chelsea were suddenly level from nowhere with possibly the scabbiest goal ever scored. Essien was given too much room in which to come forward but his shot from thirty yards did not seem to present obvious danger until ricochets off both United centre halves saw the ball rebounding nicely for Lampard and when Van der Sar then proceeded to slip there was little prospect of the Chelsea midfielder missing.

He didn't.

Encouraged Chelsea quickly came forward again and Ballack was not far away from the angle of the area with a curling effort before Carvalho became another entry into the referees' notebook after a nasty challenge on Ronaldo.

Carvalho is a highly respected defender but he is also a sly, unscrupulous player who puts in his share of naughty tackles but generally gets away with it.

Even with a yellow card to his name he looked to have got away with this one too.

Half Time: Chelsea 1 Manchester United 1

There was a cagey start to the second half which was ended when Ronaldo produced a piece of magic to send Evra racing away and his centre looked inviting for Hargreaves at the far post but ended up clearing the United man as he inexplicably failed to react.

Any thoughts that this might signal United resuming their dominance of the first half quickly evaporated as Chelsea gradually began to take control of the midfield. This shift in control continued unabated until Chelsea had taken a real grip on proceedings and United were left hanging on.

Malouda did well to lead a swift attack in which he was joined by Essien who held off Ronaldo before clipping a left footed shot just over the bar.

It was lucky for United that this shot was too high as Van der Sar had slipped again and would have been powerless to intervene had the effort been on target.

Pretty soon it was Chelsea at their best as they forced United back and put their defence under real pressure with a series of centres for the likes of Drogba and Ballack to attack.

Vidic, who would be a rock for United, headed behind from an Ashley Cole centre and then Drogba headed over from Lampard's corner.

Ballack was allowed the freedom of Moscow to line up a shot from thirty yards but his fierce drive was always flying wide of the post as Chelsea tightened their grip on the game.

Although United had lost control of the game there was much to admire in their defending, albeit much of it produced at full stretch.

Vidic dived in bravely to produce a magnificent clearance from a Lampard corner before Carrick stretched out a long leg to avert danger from Malouda's wickedly inswinging free kick. Then it was Vidic again putting his head in the way of a Lampard cross shot to concede a corner that Terry met but could not keep down.

At this stage there appeared to be only one winner but Alex Ferguson was prepared to leave his side as it was and hope that they could weather the storm.

The pressure was obviously beginning to tell, however. Ferdinand was called upon to clear balls into the United box three times in the space of a minute and was left writhing on the floor suffering the effects of cramp.

This set a trend with most of the players on view going down with the complaint at some stage before the game was done.

An error by Essien during a rare United attack put his side in trouble allowing Rooney and Hargreaves to combine and present Carrick with a shooting chance but his effort was deflected behind for a corner which came to nothing.

Carrick then found Ronaldo in a promising position inside the area but the winger seemed to lose all conviction after working himself an opening and fired tamely into the side netting.

The force was still with Chelsea, however, and they came within inches of taking the lead after an incredible incident. Drogba wandered crossfield from right to left before falling over in attempting to move the ball out to the wing.

United could not clear, however, and when the ball was poked back towards Drogba he was up in a flash to send a searing drive against the face of the far post.

Rooney put his side in trouble with an errant pass that was seized upon by Malouda and when Ferdinand then slipped there was real danger for United. Malouda crossed low to the near post but Drogba could not convert under severe pressure from the dogged Vidic.

Drogba was then crowded out at the other post by Evra after being found with a cute free kick from the right wing.

Chelsea were getting increasingly frustrated at not being awarded corner kicks after these incidents and they were fuming again when Drogba could not convert a lovely ball into the near post by Joe Cole and again did not even get the consolation of a corner.

The ninety minutes ended with Ryan Giggs coming on for the tiring Scholes and United escaped another dangerous situation when a reckless attempted intercetion by Ferdinand ended with Joe Cole in a good position deep inside the United box only for him to freeze at the vital moment.

For all United's dominance of the first half Chelsea had been equally on top during the second.

Full Time: Chelsea 1 Manchester United 1

Both sides looked keen to try and win the game without the need of penalties as extra time began in open fashion. United, doubtless to their relief, now appeared to be back on terms with Chelsea after their second half mauling.

Some slick passing through the centre by United threatened to open Chelsea up but a kind deflection carried the ball to Cech as Giggs attempted to break clear on the edge of the box.

There was even better short passing from Chelsea as they then retaliated with a swift attack of their own. Ashley Cole was prominent before Ballack's clever ball found Lampard inside the box and he was desperately unlucky to see his chipped shot on the turn cannon back from the bar with Van der Sar beaten.

The rebound dropped to Joe Cole but he was unable to get over the bouncing ball and his effort lobbed harmlessly over the bar.

Let off number two for United.

Ronaldo was not getting the same level of service as earlier but remained capable of going past Essien almost at will and beat his man yet again before crossing marginally too high for Tevez in the middle.

Then came the chance of the night. Rooney fired a long ball deep into the Chelsea box and when Essien was unable to get real distance on his headed clearance Evra came charging through from full back to take command.

The defender stormed straight to the by-line before cutting back a perfect ball for Giggs. With the Chelsea defende spreadeagled the stage was set for Giggs to cap his record breaking appearance for Manchester United in real style but instead he sent in an ugly, poked effort that John Terry did brilliantly to head behind for a corner.

Quality defending from Terry but this was a cast iron sitter that Giggs should have buried.

Nicolas Anelka had just replaced Joe Cole for Chelsea but it was more surprising to see United then withdraw Wayne Rooney and send on Nani.

Rooney had been nowhere near his best but he is as strong as an ox and was surely relishing extra time more than most. He has also taken good penalties in previous shootouts and it seemed a strange decision.

Ronaldo found Tevez at the corner of the penalty area and the Argentinian did well to work himself some space but then shot straight at Cech with colleagues better placed in the last action of the first period of extra time.

With both sets of players looking exhausted and only fifteen minutes seperating them from penalty kicks the game retreated into its' shell for the first time all night and the second period of extra time was relatively without incident.

Drogba fired wide with a free kick from a promising position before becoming embroiled in a pointless altercation and earning himself a red card for a petty slap on Vidic.

The trouble had started when Tevez put the ball out for a Chelsea throw in after one of their players had received treatment but then signalled his teammates forward to contest the throw rather than allow Chelsea unchallenged possession.

Tevez was of the opinion, somewhat justified, that Chelsea had not previously been as sporting in how they put the ball out for United after treatment to their players but the situation quickly escalated with Chelsea players rushing from all corners to remonstrate and United players happy to join the melee.

In the midst of the posing and posturing Drogba raised an ill advised hand to the face of Vidic and when the referee finally restored order he had no hesitation in producing a red card.

It all seemed completely unnecessary but with only a few minutes remaining it looked unlikely to effect anything other than, perhaps, the looming penalty shootout.

United managed to send a couple of hopeful crosses into the Chelsea box which came to nought and both sides opted to make late changes with penalties in mind.

And to penalties we were inexorably headed.

Full Time (aet): Chelsea 1 Manchester United 1

It was Manchester United to go first and Carlos Tevez confidently beat Cech with the first kick.
First up for Chelsea was Michael Ballack and I suppose nobody was more confidently expected to make his kick count than the captain of Germany. He didn't disappoint.
Michael Carrick scored calmly for United before Juliano Belletti showed why Chelsea had brought him on at the end with a no nonsense spot kick.
Two each and up stepped Cristiano Ronaldo. Trusting to his normal technique Ronaldo took a couple of steps forward and then checked his run looking for a hint of movement from Cech. The Chelsea keeper stood his ground, however, and when Ronaldo then came forward for an unconvincing shot the keeper flung himself to his right and kept the ball out with his face.
Frank Lampard made it advantage Chelsea with the next kick before Owen Hargreaves kept United in it with a fine penalty, high beyond Cech.
Chelsea were two kicks from victory and Ashley Cole just about kept their noses in front with a low kick to Van der Sar's left which the keeper got hands on but could not keep out.
Nani had to score to keep his side in it and succeeded leaving the stage set for the last Chelsea taker to become a hero.
The man accepting the task was captain John Terry and he seemed confident enough of accomplishing his mission. Fate was to decree otherwise, however. Terry stepped forward and tried to sidefoot the ball into Van der Sar's left hand corner. He would probably have done so but for the fact that his standing foot went from under him just as he was striking the ball and his shot clipped the outside of the post on its' way wide.
This penalty was an uncanny replica of David Beckham's in the 2004 European Championships against Portugal and was certainly more bad luck than bad play or technique.
It was game on though and Anderson duly stepped forward to belt his penalty past Cech's dive and give United the advantage again.
Saloman Kalou kept his nerve to bring Chelsea level but United were in front again when Ryan Giggs calmly slipped his kick low into the bottom corner and once again the pressure was on Chelsea to stay in contention.
Nicolas Anelka now finally stepped up and you had to think that he didn't fancy it having not come forward earlier as you might have expected from a centre forward. Such suspicions were confirmed as Anelka struck an indeterminate shot at perfect saving height to Van der Sar's right and the Dutchman dived the correct way to punch the ball to safety and hand United the trophy.

Dramatic undoubtedly but a meaningless way to decide any competition. Had the best side won? No, because really neither side had won.

Everybody now seems to accept penalties as an established part of football but we are in danger of seeing the majority of cup competitions settled in this way.

Maybe there is no alternative but the fact that John Terry slipped as he was about to take a penalty should not really decide who is crowned champions of Europe.

Has that proved that Manchester United deserve the trophy? Would it have proved that Chelsea deserved to be champions had Terry's footing held and his shot flown inside the post instead?

Not really.

Full Time (aet): Chelsea 1 Manchester United 1
United win 6-5 on penalties.

Tuesday, May 20
Cup Final Preview

The much heralded/hyped Full English Breakfast of a European Cup final is almost upon us and it's about time Football England, probably the most astute observers of English football anywhere, offered a few thoughts concerning the game.

What sort of a game can we expect? The first thing we have to hope beyond everything else is that this game is better than the truly dreadful FA Cup final Chelsea and Manchester United, the combatants again now, played out last year.

Everyone had been expecting a classic then and all we got was two hours of total tedium. Whether playing the game a few thousand miles away on a farmers field will make any difference we will have to wait and see. With the stakes even higher than they were at Wembley last year it would appear foolish to expect a footballing extravaganza, however.

It would seem safe to predict how Chelsea will approach the game. The unpredictable element is Manchester United.

Chelsea will simply play as they always do. They will be well organised and competitive but less than expansive. There might be the odd moment of flair from a Joey Cole, if he is given the nod to start, but it will be the power and direct approach of players like Essien, Lampard, Ballack and Drogba that Chelsea will place the greatest store in.

This is not to say Chelsea are incapable of producing quality. When last seasons' FA Cup final was finally settled it was a piece of inspiration between Lampard and Drogba that won the day for the Londoners.

It is just unlikely that Chelsea will go out of their way to make the game a classic. If they score one they will try their damndest to make sure that is enough for victory.

It is more difficult to call how United will approach this game. They have been talking positively about their attacking intentions but they are not always the ultimate cavaliers they would have us all believe.

In last seasons' cup final Alex Ferguson abandoned his normal attacking formation and picked a side that, tactically, mirrored Chelsea's line up exactly. That decision was the biggest single factor in that game turning out the way it did and Ferguson's gameplan was not vindicated.

Not only was the game dross but United lost.

Will Fergie be bolder this time around and play a formation that veers between 4-2-4 and 4-4-2 rather than the 4-3-3 he picked at Wembley?

Personally I'm not sure the problem for United last year was the formation but simply the tentative way they actually approached the game.

They have certainly been at their best this season when playing in a 4-3-3 formation. Earlier on in the campaign when Anderson was providing the energy and power to complement the subtle probings of Carrick and Scholes United were outstanding.

That formation also gave Ronaldo real licence to roam and this was when he was at his most dangerous and effective.

Recently Ferguson has set his side up in more of a 4-2-4 formation but, despite looking more adventurous on paper, this has actually seemed to curtail United's attacking threat.

Ronaldo has been kept more consistently in a wide position, where he looks half as effective, while Scholes and Carrck have found themselves generally outnumbered in midfield and struggling to dominate proceedings the way they were doing earlier in the campaign.

It seems highly unlikely that Anderson, who has been out in the cold for a while now, will be given a starting place in the Champions League final but I think his strength and competitve edge in midfield would be of greater value to United than the supposed threat offered by a Giggs or a Park.

Someone will have to stand up to the raw power offered by Essien, Ballack and Lampard in the midfield areas and Anderson, or Hargreaves if you prefer, would certainly give United the battling qualities they will need.

United's attack has also looked far more fluid and penetrative this season with just the three genuine attackers rather than four. I would try and confuse Chelsea somewhat by putting the small, agile and perpetually mobile Tevez up aaginst their centre halves and hope to get Rooney and Ronaldo attacking the channels.

Rooney gave Ashley Cole a torrid time in the 2005 FA Cup final when he spent a lot of time on the right wing and if Ronaldo was given a basic starting position of inside left then Essien, likely to start at right back, would know he was taking a huge risk if he started bombing forward.

One thing I would not do if I was United is put Ronaldo anywhere near Ashley Cole. United's fans might like to chant that Ronaldo makes England look shite but Ashley has basically put him in his pocket every time they've met in international football.

As for Chelsea the big question, as always, is how much havoc can Drogba create? His will be more of a lone mission up front and if Vidic and Ferdinand do manage to keep him in check then much of Chelsea's threat will be nullified.

If Drogba can stretch and unsettle the centre of the United defence then there will be plenty of players getting forward with the ability to capitalise, however.

There is no question that these two sides have it in them to give us all a real spectacle but if they both decide that discretion is the better part of valour then we could be in for a long and dreary night.

We will also have to wait and see what part the apparently sub-standard pitch plays in events.

Here's hoping the game is a cracker and that if one team does really try to take the initiative then it is they who triumph.

Thursday, May 1
Chelsea & Man U In Final

An all English Champions League final was confirmed on Tuesday as Manchester United edged past Barcelona through a magnificent Paul Scholes snap shot from 25 yards. It was the only goal of the tie and United's success owed almost everything to the concentration and discipline of their defending rather than the attacking swagger with which they generally dismantle lesser teams.

Rio Ferdinand was excellent while Wes Brown, playing at centre half in the absence of the injured Vidic, gave probably the finest performance of his career. Beside these two giants Owen Hargreaves and Patrice Evra were diligent and extremely pacy full backs.

Barcelona were able to weave pretty patterns up to the edge of the United box but never once produced a telling ball into it over the course of both legs.

The decisive goal came early in the second leg. Ronaldo looked to make progress down the left but lost possession just outside the Barca box. Zambrotta tried to pass his way out of defence but only picked out Scholes who took a touch before spearing a shot way out of Valdes' reach and into the top corner.

It was vintage Scholes and a moment to crown a magnificent career. The Ginger Ninja will be hoping to top everything off in Moscow, however.

Barcelona had already been hogging possession and for the rest of the night they had an almost total monopoly on it. Despite the elusive running of Lionel Messi, however, they struggled to make headway against the United defence and it was the home side who, sporadically, offered the greater threat.

Park Ji-Sung, having one of his better games, was unlucky to see a cute, sidefooted effort from just outside the area drift a yard wide and then whipped in a fine centre which Nani glanced just beyond the post.

The closest Barcelona had come was a low drive from Deco which flashed narrowly wide from twenty yards as Brown and Ferdinand continued to screen Van der Sar admirably.

The second half followed the same pattern. Barcelona, controlling possession, passed and moved but to little real effect while United hinted at a second on the break. Tevez stung the fingertips of Valdes from close range while both Nani and Ronaldo shot wastefully off target with colleagues better placed.

The last half hour became increasingly nervous as United protected their slender advantage but when it was all over there had been almost no really anxious moments to look back on.

Thierry Henry might have done better than head straight at Van der Sar when jumping for a corner against Hargreaves but that aside there had been no real scares.

Most people had been expecting a classic in this tie but it had been nothing of the sort. United had set out to do an uncharacteristic job and they had succeeded thanks to a great defensive effort and one moment of magic.

The real excitement came the following night at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea and Liverpool went at each other hammer and tongs on a greasy pitch ideal for entertaining football.

There was very little to choose between the sides in terms of possession, chances and overall quality but Chelsea, generally, looked the more powerful and dangerous. Essien, Ballack and Lampard looked the players with real purpose while Didier Drogba was the undoubted leader of the pack.

In the final reckoning Drogba proved the real difference between the two sides.

The first real chance came the way of Liverpool, however, as Gerrard slid a sweet ball into Torres but the Spaniard, unusually, wanted an extra touch which narrowed his angle and Cech was able to make a routine save.

Fat Frank took the hint and started threading some telling balls of his own through the Liverpool defence. Drogba should have done better than shoot wide of the far post from one such but would do better from his next chance.

Lampard's precise pass released Kalou whose shot was parried by Reina and Drogba was on hand to whip the rebound inside the near post. Overall Reina had to be disappointed about the goal.

Chelsea were having the better of the first half and were inches from extending their lead from a Ballack free kick but Liverpool came out to pose far more of a threat after half time.

Cech denied Kuyt from close range but when Benayoun skipped cleverly inside from the left to slip Torres in behind the Chelsea defence Liverpool had squared the tie up again.

Suddenly Liverpool were looking the likely winners but were unable to turn their pressure into another goal. It is definitely true that they have less matchwinners than the other members of the "Big Four".

Essien produced one surging run which opened up the Liverpool defence but he then spoiled the position by shooting from close to the byeline with colleagues lining up in the middle.

So on to extra time and Cheslea came again. Essien thought he had smashed his side ahead with a fierce drive but had not spotted the fact that all his mates were standing offside in front of Reina and the goal was correctly chalked off.

Liverpool's reprieve did not last long, however. Within moments Hyypia needlessly felled Ballack on the very edge of the area and Lampard stepped forward to dispatch the penalty.

Before the first half of extra time was finished Drogba had extended the lead when he shot home from Anelka's low centre from the right hand goalline and it looked all over for Liverpool as Torres limped from the fray.

Liverpool strove manfully to get back into the tie but were now without a cutting edge and the game looked done and dusted until Ryan Babel exploded a shot from almost forty yards that Cech palmed into the roof of the net.

Good shot, shite goalkeeping. I would suggest it's time Cech took his balaclava off and got back to being a proper goalie.

There were a few minutes remaining but there was no real suggestion that Liverpool would complete the fightback.

So England has it's very own Champions League final to look forward to. Whether the rest of Europe is looking forward to it must be somewhat debatable.

Let's just hope we don't have to sit through a repeat of last years FA Cup final, contested by the same clubs, which was a complete, total and utter bore.

Thursday, April 24
All Square

The first legs of both the semi final ties played this week ended all square. Chelsea gained a significant advantage over Liverpool after John Arne Riise's injury time own goal gave them a 1-1 draw at Anfield but the merits of Manchester United's goalless draw at Barcelona are far more debatable.

Liverpool would have been desperate to gain a first leg lead over Chelsea given their impressive home form in Europe as well as their poor record at Stamford Bridge.

The game was as tight as might have been expected. Initially it was Chelsea looking more confident and comfortable, knocking the ball around in assured fashion and dominating possession.

The Londoners were not particularly penetrative in anything they did, however, and it was Liverpool who looked more likely scorers when they did manage to mount attacks.

Joey Cole was untypically hesitant when provided with Chelsea's best chance of the first half and ended up failing to test Reina.

The vaunted Gerrard/Torres combination was struggling to make much impact as the players behind them were unable to provide them with the ball but it took a smart save from Cech to deny Torres when Gerrard did finally slip him in behind the Chelsea defence.

On the occasions when Torres was given any service he showed clearly that he had the pace and movement to trouble Carvalho and, in particular, John Terry but the Spaniard had to shoulder much of the blame for Liverpool's eventual failure to win the game after spurning the opportunities that did come his way.

Liverpool did take the lead on the stroke of half time, however, with a goal that owed much to woeful Chelsea defending. Frank Lampard was caught in possession on the edge of his own box by Dirk Kuyt who promptly laid the ball off and made his way into the box in the hope of a return.

The ball ended up lobbing forwards towards Kuyt but Claude Makelele looked favourite to intercept. Instead Makelele's ungainly leap made contact with nothing other than Kuyt himself who rode the contact before slotting his shot beneath the advancing Cech.

Kuyt is making a habit of scoring goals in Europe but overall he still looks a massive weak link.

Liverpool enjoyed their best spell of the game early in the second half but could not find a way past Cech and gradually Chelsea began to exert pressure.

Sensing the need of an away goal the visitors began pushing more and more men forward but as the minutes ticked by it was actually Liverpool, on the break, who looked the major threat.

Gerrard forced Cech into a leaping save at the angle with a dipping volley and Torres wasted a glorious opportunity when his control let him down beyond the Chelsea defence. Torres then did hit the target but found Cech again equal to his effort.

That last incident came in the first minute of stoppage time but the real drama was saved for the fifth.

Chelsea found Salomon Kalou with a throw in and when he centred low into the middle Riise inexplicably headed into the roof of his own net from point blank range.

Obviously Riise was the man to blame here and he has found himself the centre of attention ever since. Liverpool had defended the situation poorly even before his dramatic intervention, however.

Arbeloa and Mascherano both stood and watched as Kalou wandered unmarked to the byeline to collect the initial throw in and when the Chelsea man decided he could not trust his left foot to put over the centre and turned back onto his right he was still able to get his cross over despite the fact that both Liverpool men had been given time to get back and close him down.

It can only be assumed that Riise refused to clear the cross with his right foot for the same reason that Kalou would not centre with his left but his decision to get down on his knees and attempt a headed clearance is one that is likely to haunt him for a long time.

While the real drama in this game came right at the end the big talking point in the Barcelona/United game came right at the start.

Barcelona are supposedly suffering from a crisis of confidence at the moment and United did come flying out of the traps looking to expose any weaknesses.

Having won a corner down the right Rooney put over an outswinger that Ronaldo headed goalwards and when the ball struck the outstreched arm of his marker the referee had no hesitation in awarding United a penalty.

Ronaldo stepped forward and sent the keeper the wrong way but also put his shot beyond the upright.

How the game would have gone had he slotted the spot kick is anybodies guess but, having survived, Barcelona went on to almost totally dominate proceedings.

It is fair to say that United looked relatively happy for this to be the case with Scholes and Carrick almost stapled to the centre halves, Rooney playing ever deeper on the right hand side, Tevez getting ever more isolated from Ronaldo and Park simply doing nothing whatsoever.

This was quite a depressing performance from Manchester United who had talked bullishly in the run up to the game but ended up turning in an England type display with one man up and everyone else simply standing in a line on the edge of their own box.

Barcelona obviously weren't at their best but produced a bit of magic every so often, mainly from Messi, which threatened to wreck United's defensive game plan. In the end though the English side emerged unscathed.

Van Der Sar remained relatively untroubled by the shots from distance that came his way but last ditch inteventions by Ferdinand and Carrick were more important as United kept Barca at arms length.

United were also fortunate that when the home side did work their way to the byeline on a couple of occasions the balls back into the box were not quite into the path of onrushing forwards.

As for United's attacking possibilities these were virtually non-existant although the Barcelona defence did seem on edge whenever Ronaldo was in the vicinity and the lone forward did claim, unsuccessfully but with justification, two more penalties.

Ronaldo should certainly have been given another chance from the spot when Marquez blatantly sent him flying with his big fat Mexican arse in the first half and Yaya Toure's reckless lunge from behind after half time also looked highly suspect.

Aside from these claims United's only threat came when Carrick produced a neat sidestep inside the box before firing into the side netting.

As the clock wound down Barca sent on Thierry Henry and he tested Van der Sar with two efforts that forced saves but which would have gone down as true goalkeeping howlers had they ended up in the net.

So United return to Old Trafford all square and knowing that victory in the second leg will send them to the final. They also return without the security of an away goal, however, and if Barcelona manage to score in Manchester then the equation will look a whole lot different.

Goalless draws away from home in the first leg of European ties have not done United any favours in recent years and this tie is still on a knife edge. Barcelona have been struggling in La Liga recently but Messi, Deco and Henry will all be closer to match fitness for the second leg and they all did enough in the first to demonstrate the danger they pose.

This may well look like an opportunity missed by United in a weeks time.

Saturday, April 12
Arsenal Bite The Dust

One English team had to go out at the quarter final stage as Arsenal and Liverpool were drawn against each other and it was Arsene Wenger's side who came a cropper. Faced with foreign opposition Chelsea and Manchester United progressed relatively easily.

Chelsea made harder work of the Turkish side Fenerbahce than would have been expected but always seemed to have enough in hand to be confident of going through.

They travelled to Turkey for the first leg and their dominance of the first half was almost embarrassing. An early own goal gave Chelsea the lead but they were unable to help themselves and the game then saw a remarkable turn around as Fenerbahce hit back in the second half to snatch an unlikely 2-1 victory.

There was also a surprising scorer of the first goal for the Turks. Colin Kazim-Richards, the Coca Cola Kid, had come off the bench and stunned Chelsea with a spectacular equaliser. A bizarre night was then capped when Deivid atoned for his earlier own goal by putting one into the Chelsea net as well.

Despite this defeat Chelsea were still red hot favourites to progress and they duly did so with a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge. The goals came early, through Michael Ballack, and late, through Fat Frank Lampard, but the overally display was again uneven.

There was a major blow as Carlo Cudicini pulled a hamstring and was replaced by third choice keeper Hilario but the Portuguese shot stopper showed that he is hardly a weak link with two or three spectacular saves as Fenerbahce again showed a willingness to shoot on sight.

Manchester United did the hard work in their tie against Roma in the first leg at the Olympic Stadium. Goals from Ronaldo, a magnificent, towering header, and Rooney, a close range toe poke, gave them a 2-0 lead which was always likely to see them progressing into the last four.

Alex Ferguson raised many an eyebrow with his team selection for the second leg but it was still hard to see how a two goal advantage could be lost on home soil.

Leaving Rooney and Ronaldo on the bench did not stop United from creating around a dozen good opportunities in the first half alone but it did contribute massively to the fact that none of these were taken.

Indeed Roma were gifted the chance to put a cat among the pigeons when the referee wrongly penalised Wes Brown inside the box but De Rossi's spot kick went into orbit.

After the break United made sure the game was somewhat less open and picked off the Italians once with a fine goal started and finished in style by Carlos Tevez and owing much to a perfect centre from Owen Hargreaves.

Hargreaves was excellent in this match playing as a roving right sided attacker for most of the night and drew widespread plaudits including approval from Eric Cantona, something that will no doubt improve his street cred around Old Trafford.

I've always been a massive critic of Hargreaves' and, basically, I still am but his recent performances are leading me to qualify my opinion.

It was not only in this game that Hargreaves has shown up to advantage for United recently, he has also made several positive contributions when coming on as a sub and in a variety of positions.

It is only in his supposed proper position that I think Hargreaves is a waste of time. When he plays the holding role in front of the back four he is occassionally effective in breaking up play but is static in his movement, completely negative in his passing and transfers responsibility to his defenders rather than trying anything remotely creative himself.

This is totally the opposite of Michael Carrick who is at least as effective defensively, although in a far more understated manner, always looks to move his team forward when in possession of the ball, is always looking to supply his teams' most dangerous players with the ball in the positions they want it and always available to receive possession from a teammate if there are no other options on.

Hargreaves needs to be on the move to be effective. He has boundless energy, is pretty quick and has decent basic attributes. When he is marauding forward it does not matter if he keeps it simple with his passes. Having got into the other teams' half he is then giving it to a colleague with ability in an area of the pitch where they want it. When he plays the holding role he spends all afternoon forcing the ball on the back four and making them play the passes forward from inside their own half.

The game that really demonstrated the point about Hargreaves was the Portugal game in the World Cup when Rooney got sent off. Until the sending off Hargreaves had stood in front of the back four doing nothing and was basically rubbish.

When Rooney went off and we only had ten men, however, Hargreaves was suddenly let off the leash and impressed, perhaps amazed, everybody by being effective. All he had was masses of energy, genuine commitment and sound basic abilities but these were enough to make him probably the most effective player on the pitch.

If he had played like that when Rooney was on then we might actually had won, although I'm not blaming Hargreaves for that, he was obviously playing to instructions. If Rooney watched the rest of that game it must have made him wonder why he'd had to struggle by himself for an hour when there was now someone bombing forward like a madman even though we were now down to ten.

If United and England do want to use Hargreaves it should be as a squad player who is handy coming on as a sub in a variety of positions and if he is to start it should be as a midfielder allowed licence to get all over the pitch.

He should not be given the position of holding midfielder. In that role he has a terminally negative influence on his own sides' performance.

The all English tie, for what that term means these days, was undoubtedly the most exciting and dramatic of the quarter finals.

The first leg at the Emirates was drawn 1-1 with Liverpool somehow winning a breathless second leg at Anfield 4-2.

The second game has already been stored away in the file labelled "Classics" which is fair enough. Not only was there almost unrelenting drama, excitement, tension and incident there was also plenty of real quality.

Arsenal ended the tie aggrieved and rightly so. The implication now seems to be that, because it was such a good tie, there should be no quibbling about the controversial incidents that occurred during it.

That's unfair, especially as we would never have heard the last of it had the crucial decisions gone against Liverpool rather than for them.

The decisions involved were a blatant penalty refused Arsenal in the first leg and a dodgy one awarded Liverpool in the second. Arsenal were adamant Liverpool's penalty, awarded at the most critical moment imaginable, should not have been given. This is debatable.

It was certainly a penalty that you would probably only get five times out of ten, at best, but you could scarcely say it definitely wasn't a pen. The sense of injustice probably really stemmed from the baffling refusal of the penalty Arsenal should have had on their own ground when Kuyt blatantly wrestled Hleb to the floor.

There is no doubt Arsenal were hard done by over the two games, or the two decisions if you prefer, and it is becoming slightly disturbing just how much good fortune Liverpool are enjoying with penalty decisions but once again they had the chances to dictate their own destiny and failed to take them.

Having taken an early lead at home through Adebayor they allowed Liverpool to hit back immediately and conceded an equaliser to Dirk Kuyt, of all people.

Then in the second leg they again scored first, through Diaby, but could not confirm their superiority even though they were completely outplaying Liverpool in the opening stages at Anfield.

Having regained the lead Arsenal then saw it disappear again through shoddy defending. Hyypia lost his marker with far too much ease at a corner and although his header was fierce and pin point, it went in off a post, the post was supposedly being guarded by Fabregas who should have been in position to clear.

Now Arsenal were facing the nightmare of being in the middle of one of those mythical "Anfield European nights" and despite continuing to play the more constructive football the real belief was now probably with Liverpool.

The tie lurched Liverpool's way midway through the second half when Torres produced a piece of absolute brilliance to turn away from his marker as he controlled a high ball into the box before sending a drive arrowing into the top corner on the turn and Arsenal's lack of conviction betrayed itself when Adebayor failed to convert a simple chance when faced only with Reina.

With the tie entering its' final few minutes came an ending nobody could have envisaged. With Arsenal desperate for a goal Theo Walcott, again on as a substitute, suddenly burst from the edge of his own box to the edge of Liverpool's, beating four players on the way, before squaring into the path of Adebayor, one of four Arsenal players waiting for the pass, to slot past Reina.

Now Arsenal were ahead again on away goals but within a minute of the restart came the moment when the referee pointed to the spot as Babel went down in the box having been brushed by Toure. There was little in it but Babel had already ignored one tug at his arm and was probably entitled to go down.

Steven Gerrard stepped forward and surprised nobody by taking a better penalty than he has ever managed for England and now Liverpool had the advantage again.

There would be no further twists and Liverpool put a gloss on their victory as Babel scored on the break as Arsenal threw everyone forward for a corner.

My final thoughts about this game regard the instant description of this game as a classic. That's fair enough But all this game was was a throw back to the 1950's and early 60's when teams generally went out trying to score more goals than the other team rather than, as is now generally the case, going out with the primary objective of stopping the other team from scoring.

People now often look back on the "old days" as something of a joke but there was nothing wrong in being predominantly positive rather than predominantly negative. After all, the possible outcomes remain the same, one team wins and one team loses or it's a draw and in cup competitions one team goes through and one team goes out.

The only difference is that in days gone by it was far more entertaining and exciting for everybody involved.

Some of the most vocal critics of the approach to football in the past are the modern day coaches who justify their own existence by decrying attacking football simply because it is something they cannot manufacture or produce.

That is why Benitez and Wenger wouldn't have really enjoyed this game. Wenger would have been reasonably happy with his teams' passing but even he cannot really bite the bullet when it comes to the crunch. He has spent the past few seasons telling everyone just how great Theo Walcott is but he still wouldn't trust him for a starting position ahead of the depressingly awful Eboue.

Whether Walcott's breathtaking run for Adebayor's goal will cause him to think otherwise is debatable. Wenger doesn't want his players to run with the ball, certainly not from the edge of their own box. It is not a percentage play. He prefers them to pass it even if, as they frequently do, his team passes it to death.

Everybody involved in football should try to understand the glory of a moment like that, however. Even the most one eyed Liverpool fan will never forget watching Walcott burst the length of Anfield to set up that goal. For Arsenal fans and all real lovers of football it will remain something to treasure for ever.

In the 1950's and 60's every club in the land had players who would attempt to do things like that on a regular basis. Obviously they were not successful every time but the thrill of anticipation was always there and you can bet your life that your dad, and his dad, saw pieces of individual brilliance like Walcott's far more often than you ever will.

As for Benitez he must have been wetting his pants as he watched his two holding midfield players, designed to control the flow and pace of the game, rendered completely redundant by the speed and open nature of the play.

This was a game where the coaches became less and less of an influence and it was left increasingly to the players to think and act for themselves. Inevitably this led to the crowd becoming an important influence also. This led to it being a great game.

Just like the old days in fact.

Thursday, March 13
And Liverpool Makes Four

Liverpool duly completed the quartet of English clubs winning through to the last eight of this seasons' Champions League after backing up their 2-0 victory over Inter Milan at Anfield with a one goal win in the San Siro.

Milan obligingly had a player sent off again to make Liverpool's passage all the easier although there had been little sign of a comeback from the home side even before Nicolas Burdisso got himself sent off shortly after half time. They fashioned a few chances, including one clear cut opportunity, but never really hinted at any conviction in front of goal.

Playing against ten suited Liverpool just fine and when Fernando Torres was given a chance he showed how it should be done with an electric turn and finish into the bottom corner from around the edge of the box. This was a quality effort that was highly reminiscent of Carla Cantrell's second goal for the Donny Belles against Birmingham City Ladies on Sunday. I wonder if Torres had been watching it on the FA's website and practicing the move himself.

Anyway, as Meat Loaf will tell you four out of eight ain't bad and the prospect of at least one all English quarter final looms large.

That should appease the morons who are now moaning about the fact that none of these pampered giants are left in the FA Cup.

Saturday, March 8
Three Through; One To Go

The three English clubs in acton during the week all progressed into the last eight of the Champions League with some comfort. Liverpool will attempt to complete the quartet when they defend a two goal lead away to Inter Milan.

Manchester United won through 2-1 on aggregate against Lyon after Ronaldo scored the only goal of the second leg at Old Trafford.

This was a distinctly average performance from United who never got anywhere near top gear and were unusually incompetent in their attempts to kill the tie off late on when gaps inevitably started appearing in the Lyon defence.

The visitors never really suggested they believed they could spring a surprise although they did hit the outside of a post midway through the second half.

Ronaldo spent much of the night dumped on his arse after his irrelevent stepovers were met with short shrift by Lyon defenders but he once again came up with the goods in front of goal when, with half time approaching, he reacted sharply to make room for himself in the box before spearing a left footed finish inside the post.

Chelsea brushed Olympiakos aside with ease and abolute certainty. The first leg had ended goalless but it took Chelsea only six minutes to forge ahead at The Bridge and they had already threatened before Fat Frank crossed from the left for Michael Ballack to glance home a header at the near post.

These two would combine again later for another goal and they could be about to dispel the opinion that they cannot work together. This would be especially good for Lampard who has come under the same suspicion with England when teamed with Steven Gerrard.

Ballack, by the way, may prove himself to be a little bit too much of a stroller to really set the world alight at Chelsea but his class is there for all to see and he is certainly good to watch.

The tie was dead and buried midway through the first half when Ballack's shot was parried by the keeper and Frank was doing what he does best, bursting into the box to tidy up any loose ends.

Three minutes after half time Chelsea added a third when Salomon Kalou tapped home at the far post from an inswinging Lampard corner.

Olympiakos hit wood and finally brought Carlo Cudicini into action in the dying minutes but this was very definitely a case of too little too late.

Everyone in the last eight will probably be hoping to meet Fenerbahce and with Chelsea's luck of the draw it will probably be them.

Pick of the performances, however, was undoubtedly Arsenal's. The Gunners went to AC Milan after a goalless first leg and returned home with a 2-0 win having almost completely dominated proceedings.

Milan were only really a force in this game in the opening stages and Fabregas was needed to clear an effort from Maldini off the line.

Having settled Arsenal went on to control most of the action and were only left sweating by a failure to put a finish to their approach play.

Fabregas wobbled the crossbar with a rising drive before half time before two glorious chances were spurned in the second. Unfortunately for Arsenal the men on the end of the chances were Senderos and Eboue who continue to look uncomfortably out of place in what is close to being a total footballing side.

An Englishman did get onto the pitch when Theo Walcott replaced Eboue and the young forward made a real impact with his pace and purpose.

With the game goalless the tie was still on a knife edge and Milan almost made Arsenal pay on 78 minutes when Pato's shot deflected just wide off Senderos but shortly afterwards Fabregas put a realistic look on the scoreline when he strode forward to drill a conclusive shot into the bottom corner.

The win was sealed late on when Walcott, who had scared the Milan defence on several occasions, picked out Adebayor for a simple finish at the far post.

As Manchester United found out last season after trouncing Roma each game in this competition provides a fresh challenge but Arsenal certainly threw down a marker with this performance.

Wednesday, February 20
Worst Team Gets Best Result

As someone writing a review of this weeks Champions League games for a football website I shouldn't really ask this but have we all been brainwashed?

Nobody seems to be bothered about anything other than the Champions League these days and yet it's not that good, is it?

Is it good at all?

I don't know.

All I do know is that I don't support one of the four English teams that contests it every year and, quite frankly my dear, I don't really give a shit.

Is it more important to win the Champions League than the Premier League? It shouldn't be but today the quest is not really for glory but money and the Champions League seems to pay better.

People might want to argue differently but Liverpool have won this thing and also made it to the final on another occasion in the last three years even though they look less and less likely to mount any kind of challenge for the Premier League.

Which is the bigger achievement?

As the knockout stages got under way this week it was Liverpool, of the English clubs, who managed the best result despite, arguably, giving the poorest performance.

The Reds gained a 2-0 victory at home to Inter Milan which sets them up perfectly for the second leg. Despite their recent troubles Liverpool rarely concede a lot of goals and are at their best defending solidly and hitting on the break.

That they managed to give themselves a first leg cushion was mainly down to the first half sending off of Marco Materazzi, however.

Faced with ten men Liverpool looked basically clueless as to how to break down opponents intent on defending but scored late on when the ball fell to Dirk Kuyt unmarked beyond the far post and his shot deflected into the roof of the net.

This was a bonus but when Steven Gerrard's raking low cross shot missed a couple of defenders to fly in off the far post a minute from time Liverpool had put themselves into a real position of strength.

Chelsea meanwhile were playing out a mainly drab goalless draw in Greece against Olympiakos. To be honest the home side seemed to have convinced themselves that Chelsea were the better team while Chelsea did not seem overly concerned about forcing the issue away from home.

Therefore nothing happened in the first half while there were a couple of hairy moments for the English side after half time when the home side decided that if they were going to be able to do anything it probably would be on their own patch.

A couple of chances, no goals; surely Chelsea will win at a canter at Stamford Bridge.

Tonights' action saw Arsenal up against AC Milan at home and, whatever the Italian league table might suggest, this looked like the toughest tie for the English sides.

Arsenal's prospects were not helped when Kolo Toure had to depart early on through injury to be replaced by Philippe Senderos, not a substitution you would make by choice, and the game was as tight as might have been expected even though there was no unwillingness on either side to look to attack.

Arsenal craved just one goal and will wonder forever how Adebayor failed to provide it in the last minute when he contrived to head against the bar from three yards out when faced with an open goal.

Advantage Milan but Arsenal will be confident of scoring away from home and the second leg of this one looks like being the one to watch.

Manchester United were fitful away from home to Lyon and will be happy to have come away with a 1-1 draw after falling behind to a sharp piece of work by Karim Benzema.

The draw was rescued by substitute Carlos Tevez who made a significant improvement on the United performance and struck emphatically from close range after the home side failed to clear a Nani centre.

You'd have to fancy United at home but they will be glad to have that away goal under their belts.

Thursday, December 13
All Present And Correct

So all four English teams will be in the hat when the draw for the knockout stages of the Champions League takes place after Liverpool completed their recovery from a plodding start to qualify with an emphatic 4-0 win in Marseille.

Fair enough but so what is my response.

Does this represent a fantastic achievement by our clubs, is it a reward for outstanding management and youth development in this country, does it provide an indication that English football is healthy and strong and that England are ready to challenge the world again?

We all know the answer to those questions.

All this demonstrates, once again, is the manner in which money is completely dictating football. Fans of the four clubs involved might not agree but it is another indicator of how boring money makes football as well.

They might think it's big and clever to have the most money and be, basically, untouchable but in reality it's just totally and utterly boring.

The one bit of interest from an English point of view in this qualifying campaign was the possibility that Liverpool might not qualify. After abject defeats at home to Marseille and away to Besiktas the Reds were hanging over the precipice but then got their act together to win their last three games and score sixteen goals in the process.

The toughest looking of those games was the last one, away in France against a Marseille side that had won at Anfield and never lost at home to English opposition in this competition.

Liverpool came out determined to hassle, harry and dominate their opponents who never looked remotely capable of finding any rhythm under such pressure. Having unsettled their opponents from the kick off it did not take the Reds long to take advantage and they were two up inside the opening quarter of an hour.

Gerrard banged home the rebound after his penalty had been saved and then the outstanding Torres sliced through the home defence to clip home the second.

Liverpool then relaxed their attacking ambitions to avoid any unwanted mishaps at the back but were still able to add two more second half goals through Kuyt and Babel.

Benitez now has more chance of being given the extra 50 million or so he apparently wants to spend in January so if his team has to play the same opposition again next season perhaps we can expect them to put ten past them.

Big deal.

Chelsea won their group but a goalless draw with Valencia in their final game did nothing to stifle the uneasy murmurings about the clubs' ability to function without Didier Drogba.

At this point it should be remembered that Chelsea have only lost once under Avram Grant and that was his first game in charge at Old Trafford when an extremely harsh red card shaped the game.

It would appear at the moment that Grant might not be the man to create a new Chelsea but he might just be able to out Mourinho the Special One himself. Nothing fancy on offer but the results keep on coming.

Manchester United sent a shadow side to Roma and came back with a 1-1 draw with Gerard Pique scoring while Arsenal had to settle for runners up spot in their group despite a narrow 2-1 win over Steaua Bucharest in their final game, Diaby and Bendtner the scorers.

So well done and all that but it's hardly a level playing field, is it?

Thursday, November 8
Liverpool Set Record

On the verge of elimination from the competition Liverpool picked a good time to set a new record for the biggest win in Champions League history.

In terms of qualification, of course, the Reds 8-0 thumping of Besiktas means nothing more than three points and the hard work is still before them in the remaining games against Porto and Marseille.

The victory does, however, keep them in the hunt and will have done no harm to confidence ahead of those fixtures.

Besiktas looked ripe for a stuffing from the word go as they stuck everyone behind the ball and surrendered possession immediately whenever they did get the ball.

Any Liverpool nerves were settled by an early goal from Peter Crouch and they were in the comfort zone by half time thanks to a Yossi Benayoun goal.

It was in the second half that the fun and games really started as Liverpool ran rampant against a team with no real appetite for a fight and a keeper who refused to hold anything.

Benayoun tapped home from close range twice to complete his hat trick, Steven Gerrard saw his drive deflected home after a neat interchange with Voronin, Ryan Babel came off the bench to score twice before Crouch finished what he'd started with a close range header.

As well as scoring three Benayoun set up as many more and Liverpool could very easily have made it double figures in an embarrassingly one sided second half.

This game immediately begs the question how the hell did Liverpool lose in Turkey and asks longer term questions about the relevance of the group stage of this competition.

Fair enough, Liverpool might miss out this time but how many more games will there be like this in the future as the rich clubs get stupidly rich?

We've already had Arsenal putting seven past a team this season, now Liverpool with eight while Manchester United seem content to just score four every time they go out.

We've all played Championship Manager and it's fun for a while taking over at one of the big clubs and thrashing everyone but it gets boring after a while.

Chelsea took a bit of a mauling in Germany against Schalke but still returned home with a goalless draw. Didier Drogba wasted one good chance but almost all the rest of the action came at the other end.

Chelsea will be concerned that Petr Cech had to limp off at half time, remember what happened to them without him last season, and will be grateful to their man of the match, the Schalke woodwork, who kept them in the game time and again.

Get those posts a bottle of champagne.

On Wednesday Manchester United assured their qualification with a 4-0 win over Dynamo Kiev while Arsenal played out a goalless draw away at Slavia Prague in what might just have been the dullest game of this years' competition.

Wednesday, October 24
Arsenal & Man U Put Down Markers

To be honest all you can do in the Champions League before Christmas is qualify for the knockout stages and no matter how impressive you might have been in doing this such form generally counts for little when the competition gets down to the serious business.

Both Arsenal and Manchester United produced performances this week that will have been noted around the continent, however, and which will have certainly boosted confidence still further within their respective camps.

Arsenal's 7-0 demolition of Slavia Prague was the most noteworthy performance and was simply the latest in a series of outstanding displays and results.

So far Arsenal don't seem to missing a certain Monsieur Henry at all. It would even appear, at this stage, that they are a better team without their former superstar. The slick passing and movement remain but there would seem to be a greater purpose to the artistry and responsibility for scoring the goals appears to be a communal, rather than an individual, thing.

The new conductor in chief is obviously Cesc Fabregas who may never hit a richer vein of form in his entire career than the one he is currently enjoying. Other players are emerging as stars in their own right, however, with Aleksandr Hleb looking a better and more influential player with every passing game.

Joining the regular performers in Arsenal's latest exhibition was a certain Master Walcott and the presence of an Englishman in their midst did nothing to curtail the flow of Arsene's Foreign Legion on this occasion.

Young Theo looked right at home as Arsenal turned in a truly stunning display and capped a fine night with two goals. Perhaps his best, and most encouraging, contribution was the sublime first time ball he laid into the path of Fabregas as the playmaker helped himself to his own second goal of the night.

Arsenal are definitely flying right now but no trophies are handed out at this stage of the season and the young Gunners have old questions to answer before they can show the silverware to give real credance to vituoso performances such as this one.

If Arsenal do fall away during the winter months and end up empty handed such nights as these should not be forgotten, however. Nobody would seriously want them to change their style of play and it is also nice to see Manchester United returning to their traditions of attacking football in recent weeks.

It had looked as though Alex Ferguson wanted to turn his team into a functional, "why score two if one will do?" type of side but a couple of improved league performances were followed by an excellent 4-2 away win against Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday.

This result was made all the better due to the late withdrawal through injury of both Paul Scholes and Patrice Evra.

It has often been the case that United perform better when Ferguson finds himself stripped of options and has to make do with whatever he's got.

It's in these situations that he seems most content to let his side go out and attack and this was another occasion when their attacking verve proved too much for the opposition.

Although it was Rio Ferdinand who headed them into an early lead it was the other goalscorers, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, who really led the assault as United played with real speed and incision.

Wednesday night provided more sober fare from an English perspective. Chelsea remain well on course to qualify after a comfortable 2-0 win over Schalke in which Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba struck early in each half.

Liverpool, however, have it all to do after falling to a lame defeat against Besiktas in Turkey. Having speared one into his own net against Everton on Saturday Sami Hyypia was at it again, deflecting in the opening goal after some comedy defending by his colleagues.

Despite pressing for much of the night there was no real sparkle to Liverpool's play and another goal against eight minutes from time basically sealed their fate.

Steven Gerrard pulled one back with a plunging header but this proved to no avail and Liverpool are in danger of throwing away the most promising start to a season they have made in several years. Rafa's rotating appears to be getting his players in a spin in fact.

It's just lucky for them that the referee was so generous to them in the Merseyside derby last weekend or the atmosphere at the club might have been unusually negative right now.

Sunday's game with Arsenal gives them the ideal chance to get everyone at the club back in a positive frame of mind but if the Gunners should put on another dazzling display then Benitez might begin to find himself under some pressure from within the club.

Thursday, October 4
Stuttering Starts

It does not necessarily reflect massively on the clubs themselves but the expectation these days is that the English teams will stroll through the group stage of the Champions League.

After all, given all that money they certainly should do. Considering everything it is almost refreshing when they do find difficulties.

So far the English clubs have reflected their domestic form abroad. Arsenal have started confidently with two good wins.

The Gunners swept Sevilla away at the Emirates winning by three goals to nil and although they were made to work harder in Rumania by Steaua Bucharest they were well worth their 1-0 win.

Robin Van Persie swept home an emphatic winner to settle a game of missed chances and maintain his sides' long winning run.

Life without Thierry Henry seems to be one of liberation for Arsenal who are seeing several players step up their game to compensate for the Frenchman's loss, most notably Cesc Fabregas of course.

Whether the Gunners are better off without Henry will only be proven one way or the other over a longer period but the early signs are certainly very encouraging.

Still no Englishmen of course.

Manchester United look intent on boring the crap out of everybody just as much on the continent as they are at home and have beaten both Sporting Lisbon and Roma by the only goal.

Ronaldo and Rooney were the scorers and while the names still sound exciting the football certainly hasn't been.

Alex Ferguson has brainwaves every so often and his latest one seems to be that his side are more likely to win the Champions League if they don't attack as much.

He's obviously forgotten the way his side did win the competition. If Fergie can stop being pig headed for a minute he will also be aware that United conceded more chances to Roma than they have done at Old Trafford in any one European game for quite some time despite the clean sheet.

Unless Ferguson remembers his and United's tradition of playing attacking football I don't see them getting anywhere near the final this time.

Chelsea have made an uneven start but still look in good shape. A traumatic home draw with Rosenborg was followed up by an excellent win at Valencia, a game in which the Blues looked far more like their normal selves.

Having fallen behind Chelsea came out after half time and swept Valencia away with goals from Joe Cole and Didier Drogba, both on good form, and were clearly strengthened by the returning Ricardo Carvalho.

If the Blues forget about having to play fantasy football and get their pragmatic heads back on they should soon be back to winning ways on a consistent basis.

Liverpool looked to have perhaps the easiest task going into the group stages but have only mustered one point from their first two games.

Having drawn away to Porto despite having Jermaine Pennant sent off for the most ridiculous "challenge" ever they then turned in a remarkably insipid display at home to Marseille to lose 1-0.

Rafa maybe bowed to pressure in giving Peter Crouch a start in this one and was rewarded by a totally ineffective performance. All over the field, however, the Reds were below par.

The pressure is now on but with two games to come against Besiktas Liverpool will still feel their destiny is in their own hands.

Wednesday, August 15
Qualifying Round

Victories away from home for Arsenal and Liverpool make them nailed on favourites to reach the group stages of the Champions League.

Arsenal were probably tested slightly more severely but actually ended up with the better result. Sparta Prague did put a few tackles in on the Gunners and had the better of the first half without scoring. They came closest when Jens Lehmann just about deflected an effort from Jan Resek against the post.

Arsenal controlled the game more after the break but the opening goal, on 72 minutes, was still something of a surprise. Gael Clichy took the bull by the horns with a driving run at the heart of the Sparta defence before slipping in Cesc Fabregas to fire home.

Sparta went looking for an equaliser only to be caught on the break. Alexandr Hleb slipped in the second goal which surely ends this tie.

Liverpool were hardly made to break sweat in Toulouse and claimed victory through Andrei Voronin's 25 yard drive which arrowed into the top corner just before half time.

Peter Crouch had the best chance to add to the lead but was robbed by the keeper as he attempted to go through but this tie looks also to be as good as over.

Obviously English clubs now have a massive advantage over such opposition being able to cherry pick their players from everywhere and the fact that tackling now seems to be outlawed also means there is little chance of upsets occurring.

It doesn't half make it boring though.

Thursday, May 24

Champions League Final 2007
AC Milan 2 Liverpool 1

Liverpool could not repeat their famous victory of two years ago against the same opposition and have now lost it two times as well as winning it five times.

The real irony of these two clashes is that whereas Liverpool triumphed in Istanbul despite being outplayed to an almost embarrassing degree they at least held their own last night.

You could argue that Milan had the extra guile and craft but in truth there was so little shown by either side that this was almost a pointless argument.

Liverpool were undoubtedly, and perhaps surprisingly, the more positive side in their approach but without having the required cutting edge.

Not that Liverpool's approach could be considered gung-ho. They were simply more progressive than a Milan side reverting to Italian type after playing some exciting football on their way to the final.

Liverpool showed that they were prepared to attack in the first minute with a pleasing move that came to nought but displayed their positive intentions.

The opening minutes also gave a clear indication that Jermaine Pennant had the beating of his full back Jankulovski. The winger would skin the defender time and again in the first half and it was a mistake by the nervous full back that offered Liverpool the first clear chance of the game after ten minutes.

Jankulovski surrendered possession cheaply to Dirk Kuyt who presented Pennant with a good shooting opportunity. Pennant could not beat the imposing Dida, however.

Milan's first attempt came with over a quarter of an hour played but Reina was equal to Kaka's drive. The vaunted Brazilian was generally a peripheral figure as Javier Mascherano kept tabs on his every move.

Pennant was linking particularly effectively with Steven Gerrard, pushed into a more advanced central role, and this pair threatened to penetrate the Milan defence on a couple of occasions.

Gerrard shot high after one exchange and then found Kuyt after another but the strikers' shot was blocked.

Despite their more adventurous approach Liverpool, with Kuyt up front alone, had little to trouble the streetwise pairing of Nesta and Maldini at the back for Milan.

Pennant went by Jankulovski once again and picked out Gerrard but his shot was blocked by Oddo, looking a far more resolute defender on the other flank.

Then with half time almost upon us Milan scored an undeserved goal. If this wasn't deflating enough for Liverpool the goal owed everything to luck rather than judgement.

Xabi Alonso was penalised for a rash challenge on Kaka giving Milan a free kick in a dangerous position. There seemed no danger from Pirlo's shot, however, until it struck Inzaghi around the top of the arm and deflected past Reina.

Half Time: AC Milan 1 Liverpool 0

Nesta needed to produce a telling challenge to stop Gerrard from surging through as Liverpool looked to start the second half positively but Milan were now in their favoured position and began to keep possession with more assurance.

For fifteen minutes the Italian side enjoyed their best spell of the game as Liverpool were made to chase the ball in frustrating fashion.

There was little to threaten the Liverpool goal, however, as the Italians left Inzaghi every bit as isolated as Kuyt had ever been at the other end. When danger did loom Liverpool were spared by an erroneous linesmans' flag after Kaka had been sent clear by Pirlo but Liverpool had also had cause for grievance earlier when Kuyt was stopped in his tracks from a Gerrard through ball.

Harry Kewell was sent on for the totally ineffective Bolo Zenden on the hour mark and immediately looked more of a threat. The change helped Liverpool force their way back into the match.

Gattuso, a muzzled pit bull on this occasion, played Nesta into trouble and Gerrard was able to force his way through. Suddenly Liverpool's captain was one on one with Dida but the position favoured a left foot shot and Gerrard was unable to summon sufficient power as he looked to bend the ball around the keeper with his right.

Finding chances increasingly difficult to fashion Liverpool sent on Peter Crouch for the last ten minutes in place of Mascherano but this presented Kaka with more space in which to work and almost immediately he had sliced Liverpool open to terminal effect.

Receiving possession in space and facing the Liverpool back four Kaka timed his pass to perfection as Inzaghi made his darting run through and the forward finished expertly, sidestepping Reina and shooting low under the keepers' body as he tried to recover.

That seemed to be that but with two minutes remaining Daniel Agger flicked on a corner and Kuyt headed home instinctively at the far post to give hope to Liverpool.

There was to be no repeat of Istanbul, however, and minutes later Milan were celebrating becoming European champions for the seventh time.

Liverpool will have been gutted by this defeat but they have done astonishingly well to get to two finals in three years and actually win one of them with a solid but unspectacular team.

This team, while hardly having the look of European champions, is undoubtedly better than the one which won the trophy in 2005 and with heavy investment expected over the next couple of years the club will be looking to develop further and establish themselves once again as genuine European (and domestic) heavyweights.

Full Time: AC Milan 2 Liverpool 1

Semi Final 2nd Legs

AC Milan 3 Manchester United 0 (Milan win 5-3 on agg.)

Manchester United's dreams of a second treble were smashed to pieces in the San Siro as AC Milan swept to aggregate victory with a convincing 3-0 win.

United had talked about being positive beforehand but were never able to get going on the night. Despite the return of Nemanja Vidic their defence was unable to get to grips with the Milan attack, up front United's big guns failed to impose themselves either individually or collectively and the Milan midfield was altogether sharper, more mobile and constructive.

In lamenting a somewhat ragged and tired looking performance from United full credit must be given to Milan who were on the top of their game from the word go.

In monsoon conditions which might have been expected to make United feel at home Milan were first to everything in the early stages, biting into challenges, picking up all the second balls and moving forward quickly and with real purpose.

United immediately retreated towards their own penalty area in an effort to preserve their narrow lead from the 1st leg but with just over 10 minutes played they conceded the goal which had them instantly trailing on aggregate.

They had plenty of men back but there was no safety in numbers as Clarence Seedorf headed back to the edge of the box to Kaka who banged a left footed shot instantly into the bottom corner.

Edwin Van Der Sar was completely wrong footed but would have had no chance of saving even if he had been set for a shot going in that direction.

United's goal had been under real pressure before the goal and Milan showed no signs of retreating into their shell having got their noses in front.

It was no surprise when a second goal came and no surprise that sloppy play by United was at the root of the goal.

Gabriel Heinze inexplicably played Vidic into all sorts of trouble and United never recovered as the ball ricocheted around their box, Seedorf eventually dodging a couple of desperate challenges to rifle home.

Having conceded the first goal United effectively needed to score twice and this second goal didn't alter that position. Indeed the visitors could still afford to concede another and take the game to extra time if they could find the goals they needed.

At no stage did the visitors seem to grasp the fact that they could throw some caution to the wind in pursuit of goals and continued almost totally on the back foot.

It was not until midway through the second half that United finally mounted a decent spell of pressure as Carrick and Scholes made it further up the pitch and for five minutes Milan were penned back in and around their own box.

Rooney played Darren Fletcher in for a good shooting chance which he sliced horribly wide and then turned near the goalline to screw a superb ball across the face of goal.

Typically, the two United players up in support failed to react until it was too late.

Milan had to defend a couple more crosses and corners but once they broke the shackles they never surrendered control again and added a third on 78 minutes when the substitute Gilardino strode through a gaping hole in the centre of United's defence to slot past Van Der Sar.

Two goals would still bring United extra time but, in truth, there was never the suggestion that United might muster one, let alone two.

There could be no complaints from United after their exit and in the cold light of day they will console themselves with the fact that they are in pole position to reclaim the Premier League title as well as having the FA Cup final to look forward to.

They should also consider that reaching the semi final represents a massive improvement on last season when they fell at the first fence without even making it into the UEFA Cup as best losers.

And there was certainly no disgrace in losing to this inspired Milan side.

Liverpool 1 Chelsea 0 (liverpool win 4-1 on penalties)

This game had the makings of a classic but never came close. In the end both teams played in a predictably cautious manner which led to a predictable outcome.

For most of the game penalties looked the likeliest conclusion and when they came Liverpool swept to victory as Chelsea buckled hopelessly.

This was an occasion when the shootout delivered the fairest outcome. Liverpool had come closest to finishing the tie in normal time and generally carried what attacking threat there was on view.

Chelsea might justify their defeat with the demands of their greater workload this season but the game did not really back that claim up. Mourinho's team actually looked the stronger team in the last 20 minutes of normal time and also in the second period of extra time.

They were always reluctant to throw bodies forward in support of Didier Drogba, however, and this timidity eventually cost them.

Jose Mourinho had called for his team to "scare and score" before the game, a sensible tactic given that one goal was always likely to have seen them through, but there was little evidence of this approach actually being adopted at any stage of the game.

Liverpool had had the better of the opening exchanges before levelling the tie midway through the first half. With the Chelsea defence preoccupied with defending their penalty area Steven Gerrard's square free kick found Daniel Agger arriving just outside the box and his clipped left foot shot curled sweetly into the corner.

Having suffered something of an ordeal at Stamford Bridge in the 1st leg this was a classy response from the centre half.

This goal slightly roused Chelsea although chances all but disappeared as both sides looked more concerned about not conceding the next goal rather than scoring it.

Drogba blasted a shot straight at Jose Reina from a promising position before half time while Jermaine Pennant saw his drive from a similar spot deflected over after half time.

Prior to Pennant's chance Petr Cech had needed to save with his feet from a Peter Crouch header before seeing a Dirk Kuyt effort rebound from his crossbar.

The only real close call at the other end in normal time came when Jamie Carragher cleared over his own crossbar with Drogba looking to convert Ashley Cole's cut back.

Into extra time and it looked as though Kuyt had put his side ahead when converting the rebound after Cech had spilled Xabi Alonso's drive but the most marginal of offside flags denied him.

Chelsea's chance to snatch victory arrived when Shaun Wright-Phillips got down the goalline to square for Drogba but under pressure again he was unable to make meaningful contact in front of goal.

Drogba's commanding performance in the 1st leg was perhaps Chelsea's undoing in the 2nd. It appeared as though Mourinho felt his powerful centre forward was certain to conjure something during the course of the night and just left him up front on his own to do it.

With virtually no-one else to worry about, however, Carragher and Agger were able to control the dangerman with increasing assurance, especially as the balls up to him became longer and more hopeful as the night went on.

It was also a fact that Chelsea missed the injured Carvalho. Funnily enough this was not really in a defensive way, how they really suffered was in having Michael Essien withdrawn from the midfield.

Without his energy and drive the Chelsea midfield was wholly uninspired. Fat Frank might as well of had his England shirt on and Claude Makelele looks past his sell by date.

Liverpool looked more controlled and efficient but perhaps did not invest enough energy into trying to win the tie outright to deserve victory before the penalty shootout.

Liverpool have an excellent record in penalty competitions, however, and the outcome of this one was never in doubt after Zenden had smacked a perfect spot kick into the corner and Reina had dived to save Robben's shot with the first two kicks.

Lampard, replacing his England shirt with a Chelsea one, actually scored his penalty but after Alonso and Gerrard had netted Geremi stepped forward to take a God awful shot that Reina saved despite almost diving past.

This left Kuyt to score as confidently as his teammates and Liverpool were through to yet another European final.

Liverpool might complain at sniping about their achievements in this competition and their lack of them in others but it seems a fair point.

Having bowed out of both domestic cup competitions in abject manner and never been remotely involved in the title race it is difficult to explain their assured progress in this competition.

Perhaps Rafa Benitez's style of management is just peculiarly suited to Europe.

Semi Final 1st Legs

Chelsea 1 Liverpool 0

Having been treated to a festival of football the previous night by United and Milan this game, predictably, was less easy on the eye.

Skill and invention was at a premium although the game remained gripping. The recent history and animosity between the two sides ensured that would be the case and with both teams operating something of a safety first policy this probably increased the tension for the spectator.

Ultimately everything is defined by the result in games like this. If Liverpool manage to turn this round at Anfield and progress then this could be looked back on as a good result and the tactics of Rafa Benitez will be justified.

To the neutral, however, it looked as though Liverpool did not give enough thought to securing the away goal that is so important in these ties.

If Chelsea score at Anfield, and last nights' evidence suggests they will, it will take a monumental effort from Liverpool to progress.

Chelsea actually came out seemingly determined to take on the mantle of the away side, sitting deep with men behind the ball and looking to hit on the counter.

Liverpool enjoyed possession but were unwilling, or unable, to do anything meaningful with it. The visitors' mundane approach meant Chelsea could not avoid taking the initiative although they remained very disciplined in the way they took control.

The focal point of everything Chelsea did was the imposing Didier Drogba who quickly showed himself to be the complete master of Daniel Agger who suffered a torrid night.

Drogba headed down Ashley Cole's centre with alarming ease and Fat Frank Lampard forced a good save out of Jose Reina with his instant shot.

Drogba needed no encouragement to cause trouble but Liverpool seemed intent on offering it anyway. Both Javier Mascherano and John Arne Riise presented him with possession in dangerous areas but Drogba ran into trouble in the first instance and then failed to find Joe Cole with his pass in the second.

Lampard smashed a free kick just wide before a Drogba knock down was the cue for another Chelsea attack, Joe Cole being unable to reach Schevchanko's driven cross shot.

Then Drogba seemed to duck out of the chance to head Chelsea in front from Joe Cole's centre when faced with the less than convincing advance of Reina.

All this came with Liverpool statistically enjoying the better of things in terms of possession and territory. Keep reading them stats boys.

The opening goal which Liverpool were so keen to avoid, but was inevitably coming, duly arrived just before the half hour mark and in totally predictable fashion.

The visitors were theoretically on the attack but another aimless ball towards the middle dropped into the path of Ricardo Carvalho who strode straight out of defence to lead a counter attack.

Carvalho played a quick pass down the right wing into the space behind Riise which left Agger exposed against Drogba.

No contest.

Drogba showed more pace and strength than his marker to drive into the box and then checked back inside him, with the air of a man who knew he could do pretty much as he chose, before squaring for the onrushing Joey Cole to poke past Reina from point blank range.

Compounding Liverpool's weak defending was the fact that Mascherano had allowed Cole to brush past him in the build up to the goal.

Anyone expecting the goal to provoke a response from Liverpool would be left disappointed. Even though Chelsea became ever more willing to concede possession and territory the visitors remained completely lacking a cutting edge.

Inevitably it was Steven Gerrard who came closest to providing one. Never has his position on the right looked as futile as it did here with Mascherano and Alonso sitting deep in the centre but he did get into the box to meet a decent centre from Kuyt only to head off target under pressure from Ashley Cole.

Gerrard would produce a much better effort early in the second half. Chelsea were unable to properly clear Riise's long throw and as the ball dropped Gerrard whipped in a dipping left footed volley that Petr Cech turned past the post at full stretch.

The fact that the keeper probably saw this one late made it an even better save.

Liverpool would scarcely threaten again, however, and with Chelsea apparently happy with what they had the game petered out almost totally.

Fat Frank claimed a luduicrous penalty for handball against Alvaro Arbeloa when the pair were so far outside the box that even Frank's gut wasn't encroaching the area.

This didn't stop Mourinho wailing about the decision later. Obviously managers sometimes really can't see the incident properly from the dugout.

Lampard nearly ended the tie completely later on, however, when he latched onto a clever Drogba flick to smash in a volley that Reina did well to parry to safety.

The final scoreline will have satisfied both camps to a degree but Liverpool were surely guilty of putting all their eggs in the basket marked "Anfield" when they drew up their gameplan for this tie.

The club has a magnificent European history and generations of supporters have been weaned on nights of glorious European triumph at Anfield.

If they manage to turn this tie around and make it to the final, however, I think the achievement would eclipse anything else they have managed down the years.

Manchester United 3 AC Milan 2

Manchester United scored early and late to eke out a slender advantage to take to the San Siro in a game that can accurately be described as pulsating.

Whether this will be enough remains to be seen and it will be hard to feel any real conficence about United's chances unless they manage to get a defender or two back for the next game. It was never going to be easy to cope with Milan without Neville, Ferdinand and Vidic and this is how it proved.

The game once again demonstrated United's refusal to be beaten and also their attacking prowess, however, and they will travel to Italy with more than hope to sustain them.

The game started in the best possible fashion. Rooney charged through to send in a powerful drive that Nesta managed to deflect over at full stretch but from the corner United led.

Dida started to come for Ryan Giggs' inswinger but stopped allowing Ronaldo to send a header goalwards. The ball cannoned off the keepers' chest and looped towards goal.

Heinze appeared to be barged in the back as he went to nod it over the line but this scarcely mattered as Dida tipped the ball home in his desperate attempt to clear.

The goal was eventually credited to Ronaldo.

Optimistic souls inside Old Trafford might have thought this was the cue for a Roma style demolition job but despite everything that has been said about the combined age of the Milan defence this team always looked more durable than their compatriots.

Dida was called upon to palm away a Michael Carrick effort which would probably have found the net if it had been cleanly struck but Milan came through the early storm to assume control.

Maldini and Nesta began to look comfortable as Clarence Seedorf and Gennaro Gattuso took command of the midfield. In front of them Milan also had their own dangerman in the Brazilian Kaka and it was he who exposed United's defensive frailty to turn the game on its' head.

The Italians had served warning of their threat on several occasions without testing Van Der Sar before Kaka struck in emphatic fashion midway through the half.

Seedorf played him in and his electric turn of pace left Carrick and Heinze in his slip stream before firing a conclusive left footed drive across Van Der Sar into the bottom corner.

United gamely looked to regain the initiative with Giggs going close with a header before supplying a teasing cross from his favoured left wing, one of the few occasions he was allowed there, that just evaded Rooney in front of goal.

Then Ronaldo had Dida saving uncomfortably with a wobbling drive.

There was no ignoring the danger at the other end, however, and Kaka struck again thanks to a cool finish and crazy defending.

The Brazilian eased away from Darren Fletcher too easily on the left wing and set off towards goal. Heinze was once again struggling to keep pace but was at least in a position to challenge until Patrice Evra came hurtling across and slam dunked his colleague to the ground.

While Evra was pinning his teammate down and calling for a submission Kaka rolled a crisp shot beyond the exposed Van Der Sar.

It had not been expected that Evra would start this game and at this moment Ferguson must have been wishing he hadn't.

Van Der Sar did at least manage to shovel a long range effort from United's tormentor behind shortly afterwards although there was nothing convincing about the save and United went in at half time with plenty of thinking to do.

Carrick had a fine chance to pull them level straight after the restart but could only poke tamely into the side netting at the far post having got himself free at a well worked corner.

Milan remained in command, however, and were soon threatening to put the tie to bed. Kaka remained at the heart of their attacking efforts and looked an odds on scorer after breaking clear of the defence only to miss the target and was also wide of the mark with a more difficult chance after a fine combination with Seedorf.

By this time Milan had had to replace both Maldini and Gattuso, however, and this no doubt helped United regain the initiative although the real catalyst was a moment of inspiration from Paul Scholes.

Fletcher and Carrick combined neatly in midfield but the move did not look immediately dangerous until Scholes scooped a sublime first time through ball into the path of Rooney who shrugged off the desperate challenge of Nesta before squeezing his finish beyond Dida.

Now United, and Rooney inparticular, had the bit between their teeth again and went looking for a winning goal.

Dida did superbly to turn aside a rocket from Fletcher after an incisive break by Rooney and also did well to get down to a low drive from Ronaldo.

The Brazilian stopper also made two free kick attempts from Giggs look like back passes as Milan began to hang on somewhat.

It looked as though the game was destined to end all square, which would not have been an unfair result, but United's determination to force the issue eventually brought its' reward in stoppage time.

Giggs, who had struggled to make an impact on the right wing, deserves great credit. Having broke up a possible Milan attack midway inside his own half he immediately raced forward before slipping a pass forward to Rooney just outside the box to the right of goal.

Rooney did not hesitate and his low drive flew past the out of position and possibly unsighted Dida at his near post.

The keeper had been excellent in the main but had erred badly at beginning and end to help United grab their slight advantage.

The second leg promises to be another belter but it might just be time to draft Uri Geller onto the Old Trafford team of physio's.

Wednesday, April 11
Three Out Of Four Ain't Bad

All three English clubs made it through to the semi finals of the Champions League this week with Tuesday seeing two outstanding performances from Chelsea and Manchester United to book their passages.

Liverpool had done the hard work in their first leg with PSV Eindhoven and had no great need to go looking for further goals after their 3-0 win in Holland.

With PSV knowing, realistically, that progress was impossible the second leg was never likely to be particularly dramatic.

PSV created an early chance but once that had gone begging they looked fairly happy to keep the aggregate score respectable and Liverpool were mainly happy to ride their lead.

The Dutch side also made an opening at the start of the second half but Jefferson Farfan was again denied by Jose Reina, this time with a fine save.

PSV were then given an unnecessary boot in the groin when the referee sent Dirk Marcellis off in exceptionally soft circumstances.

Minutes later Peter Crouch poured salt into the wounds by scoring the only goal of the night, a simple finish after being fed by Robbie Fowler.

Crouch could have scored more but further punishment would have been harsh on PSV.

The real drama had come the previous night.

Chelsea went to Valencia having drawn 1-1 at Stamford Bridge and Mourinho's men looked on the ropes in a first half that Valencia dominated.

Fernando Morientes blasted a snap shot against the post before putting the Spanish side ahead with a fine half volleyed finish at full stretch.

The former Liverpool man almost increased the lead with an effort at the far post which Ashley Cole basically managed to sit on to keep it out of goal.

Although Chelsea had been second best they served warning of the threat they still possessed shortly before half time when Didier Drogba rose powerfully to send in a majestic header that produced an even more majestic save out of Santiago Canizares.

Mourinho, by all accounts, was not a happy chappy at half time and his strong words along with his introduction of Joe Cole for Lassana Diarra sparked a radical improvement in Chelsea after the break.

It helped that the visitors struck early to level the tie both on the night and on aggregate but after that they became increasingly confident and dominant.

The goal was poached in at the far post by Andrei Schevchenko after the bulk of the Valencia defence was called on to crowd out Drogba in front of goal.

Schevchenko went close from distance and Drogba failed to extend Canizares from the edge of the box as Chelsea's strength and purpose began to prevail against the technique of the Spaniards.

Indeed it was undoubtedly the home side hanging on for extra time as the minutes ticked away and it looked as though Chelsea were about to seal a famous victory five minutes from time when Michael Ballack rose eight yards out to bullet a header towards the bottom corner only for Canizares to produce an astonishing save down to his left.

With the game entering injury time, however, the excellent keeper made his earlier saves irrelevent when he exposed his near post to a rampaging Michael Essien and then dived too late for the fiercely struck low drive which flew into the net to settle the tie in Chelsea's favour.

Chelsea therefore remain in the hunt for a clean sweep of trophies and seem to be getting stronger and stronger as the games pile up around them.

Manchester United also looked to have a big task ahead of them as they took on Roma at Old Trafford looking to overcome a 2-1 first leg deficit.

On one of those nights when everything the Red Devils touched turned into gold, however, Roma were thrashed 7-1 as United tore them to pieces with a phenomenal attacking display which produced a collection of top quality goals.

Michael Carrick, playing a more advancedd role in the absence of the suspended Paul Scholes, lit the blue touch paper when he accepted a square ball from Cristiano Ronaldo in the 11th minute and conjured a curving, dipping shot without breaking his stride which left Alexandre Doni completely flat footed in the Roma goal.

Inspired by the goal United began sweeping forward in waves from all angles, often from deep inside their own half, and within ten minutes had bagged another two goals.

The second goal was an absolute beauty as United played their way from the edge of their own box into the other penalty area via Brown, Rooney, Carrick, Heinze and Giggs with Alan Smith finishing the move off with a cushioned shot into the wall of the net.

None of the players mentioned needed to take more than one touch, except for Brown who took a couple before setting the move in motion.

Perfection?

There were a few more touches involved when United went from even deeper to score the next one. Fletcher and O'Shea passed their way out of trouble before Ronaldo made ground through the centre.

He may have been impeded as he looked to go beyond a second opponent but the ball ran to Smith anyway. He fed Giggs wide on the right and he bided his time to pick out Rooney in the centre and his finish clipped the far post before entering the net.

The fourth came just before half time and almost inevitably went to Ronaldo.

United's dangerman had come close already and when Giggs put him into possession with just one man between him and goal nobody was surprised when he drove to the edge of the box before finding a yard of space to drive past Doni at his near post.

The obvious question at half time was whether the second period would be an anti climax. The answer was not long in coming.

Doni touched over an absolute rocket from Rooney and when the resulting corner was half cleared Rooney picked his way through a couple of challenges before feeding Giggs on the left.

Giggs then slipped a perfect low ball across the face of goal which eluded Smith but ran perfectly for Ronaldo to slide home at the far post.

Number six came when Heinze retrieved an overhit Ronaldo centre and fed Carrick just beyond the angle of the box and his vicious drive round the far top corner of Doni's net with the keeper once again simply spectating.

After Ole Solksjaer denied himself the goal of the century by chipping on to the roof of the net following a Rooney inspired spell of keep ball it was left to Patrice Evra to complete the scoring with a low shot from just outside the box that found its way in at Doni's near post via the foot of the upright.

Oh yes, and Roma's goal, which made the score 6-1, was also an absolute cracker. Daniele De Rossi was actually facing away from goal when he met Totti's low centre with a superb volley that curved into the bottom corner with Van Der Sar this time an interested observer.

Truly stupendous with Ronaldo and Rooney obviously magnificent but also Giggs, Carrick and Smith at the top of their game. In fact everyone played their part in an ultimate display of passing and moving.

As for the other quarter final AC Milan will face United after defeating Bayern Munich in Germany to progress.

The main thing here is that Munich remember to cancel the hotel they booked in Manchester before playing the second leg.

First things first in future boys.

Thursday, April 5
Mixed Fortunes

There were mixed fortunes for the three English clubs left in the Champions League this week as the competition reached the quarter final 1st leg stage.

Liverpool had the easiest looking task on paper, having been drawn against PSV Eindhoven, and they certainly made the most of any luck of the draw enjoyed in this round.

PSV looked a decent draw despite having knocked out Arsenal in the last round even without the loss of several members of that side through injury.

They proved no match for a robust Liverpool in Holland.

Jamie Carragher was involved at both ends as the game started in relatively even style. He brought a fine save out of the PSV keeper with a strong header at one end before getting slightly lucky in diverting an apparently goalbound volley from Mika Vayrynen over his own crossbar.

Liverpool were soon in real control, however, and emphasised this with a fine goal just before the half hour mark.

Steve Finnan roared forward down the right to pull back an inviting centre and Steven Gerrard obviously let Dirk Kuyt know he wanted it before launching himself over the Dutchman to spear a splendid header into the bottom corner.

PSV rarely looked like responding and two further goals came in a second half in which the visitors kept their hosts penned back for long periods.

John Arne Riise smashed in a magnificent drive from 35 yards after seizing on a dreadful clearance by Timmy Simons and Peter Crouch steered a neat header into the corner from another excellent Finnan centre.

Game, set and match in this one and if Liverpool can be bothered stirring themselves there is the prospect of several more goals for them back at Anfield.

Having withstood the intricate attacking of Arsenal the Dutch side look totally incapabe of withstanding the more powerful approach of Liverpool, especially without the big Brazilian freak who scored at both ends at the Emirates.

Chelsea have a game and a half on their hands when they go to Valencia for the 2nd leg having only managed a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea started brightly enough in this one with Didier Drogba inches away from converting Ashley Cole's fine centre and Soloman Kalou smacking the bar with a sweet shot on the turn.

Valencia's slick approach play began to cause the Chelsea defence problems, however, and the vaunted David Villa wasted a good chance with a shot wide of the near post following incisive passing before David Silva poked badly wide after a mis-hit shot came straight to his feet unmarked ten yards out.

Silva made amends with a stunning drive from beyond the angle of the penalty area after initially getting the run of the ball by the touchline.

Great goal but surely the original throw in was a foul throw. The guy just dropped it from in front of his eyebrows but no-one cares about these things, apparently.

Chelsea were level early in the second half. Ashley Cole punted the ball forward after a poor goal kick went straight to him and Drogba roared through to lift a header over the keeper.

Chelsea pressed with typical earnestness but the closest they came to a winner was when both Ricardo Carvalho and Andrei Schevchenko saw efforts blocked after the Valencia keeper had come for a corner and missed completely.

There was little doubt that Valencia were worth their draw and it will take a top quality performance in Spain for Chelsea to progress.

Manchester United will not be unduly unhappy to have lost 2-1 in Roma after playing for an hour with only ten men following a red card to Paul Scholes.

Alex Ferguson was, with reason, unhappy with the performance of the referee in this one but he erred when complaining about the sending off of Scholes.

Scholes had already been warned a couple of times for late challenges before picking up his first yellow for a truly ugly lunge that wasn't far short of a red on its' own.

Although his second yellow was less serious he still caught Totti late and could have few real complaints.

The wonder with Scholes, a man who simply cannot tackle to save his life, is that he hasn't seen more red cards in his career.

It was indicative of the way the game was going that Scholes was having to perpetrate so many fouls as Roma had started much the brighter.

United probably actually improved after being reduced to ten men but could not avoid slipping to defeat.

Amantino Mancini was United's chief tormentor as they generally managed to keep the Italian side at arms length.

Mancini got to the byeline to pull back for Taddei to open the scoring although it took a big deflection off Wes Brown to beat Edwin Van Der Sar.

This would be a bad time for the Orange man to go back to his early days when his idea of clearing danger was to slam the ball into his own net as quickly as possible.

United got back on terms with a sweet goal. Ronaldo made one of several exhilarating runs from inside his own half before feeding Ole Solksjaer on the right.

Solksjaer whipped in a good ball to the far post where Wayne Rooney came inside the last defender with an assured piece of chest control before calmly slotting into the corner.

Roma restored their lead when the otherwise excellent Van Der Sar could only parry a fierce drive from Mancini back into the box and Vucinic came sliding in to fire home the rebound.

Another one for the stupid new ball I think.

Despite coming under plenty of pressure United kept the deficit down to one and the 2nd leg is set up perfectly for a cracking night at Old Trafford.

Whether United can pull this one round, however, is by no means certain. Since winning the competition eight years ago they have regularly been found wanting when having to force the pace in this kind of situation.

Both Chelsea's and United's 2nd legs should be dramatic events and not, probably, for the faint hearted.

Thursday, March 8
One Down, Three To Go

One English club were knocked out of the competition this week leaving three still standing. It is important to say "club" rather than team because there is no such thing as an English team any longer, is there?

The team to go was Arsenal whose normal starting line up includes no Englishmen.

The teams left are Liverpool (2.5 starting Englishmen), Chelsea (3.5 Englishmen) and Manchester United (5 Englishmen).

Personally that is the order I would like to see "our" clubs get knocked out in and would not be overly bothered if none of them ended up lifting the trophy.

The strangest thing about this weeks' action was that the best performances were given by Liverpool, who lost to Barcelona but went through on away goals, and Arsenal who dominated PSV Eindhoven for the most part but could only draw and went out after losing in Holland.

Chelsea were below par but came from behind to beat Porto 2-1 while Manchester United were unimpressive against Lille but recorded another 1-0 victory.

Liverpool were outstanding in the first half against Barca and should have improved on the 2-1 success they had gained in the Nou Camp.

Both John Arne Riise and Mohamed Sissoko hit the woodwork while a combination of Victor Valdes's goalkeeping, some last ditch defending and poor finishing somehow saw the scoreline stay blank and Barca remain in contention.

Liverpool were not as dominant after the break but scarcely looked like conceding until Eidar Gudjohnsen, on as a substitute, rounded Jose Reina to score.

Nerve ends were jangling yet still Liverpool had the better chances and in the end the victory in Spain was enough for progress.

Arsenal also missed a host of chances against PSV but were left to rue them after suffering a first leg defeat.

Julio Baptista and Emmanuel Adebayor had the majority of the chances but could not locate the target and they were not alone in being wasteful.

Eventually PSV's Brazilian defender Alex did the Gunners' job for them in stabbing a low cross into his own net but the home side could not capitalise on this stroke of fortune.

The game was not all Arsenal, however, and the Gunners had been fortunate to escape two solid penalty claims before they were stunned seven minutes from time when Alex rose higher than the proverbial salmon to head home a free kick past Jens Lehmann, flapping around like a salmon out of water.

Chelsea were surprisingly lacklustre in the first half of their second leg with Porto and went in at the interval trailing to a Ricardo Quaresma goal.

The boost of a cheap goal early in the second half proved crucial, however. Arjen Robben's 25 yard shot should have caused no trouble but da Helton bungled and Chelsea were level.

The winning goal came from a clinical Michael Ballack volley and rewarded a sustained spell of Chelsea pressure.

Porto still only needed a goal to go through but Mourinho's men were now looking increasingly assured and closed the game out in confident fashion.

Manchester United were well below their best at home to Lille and seemed keen to keep their visitors interested after having won 1-0 in France.

United were fortunate the French team lacked a real cutting edge and the one genuine moment of class saw Ronaldo fly down the left wing before clipping a perfect centre onto Henrik Larsson's head and he applied the appropriate finish.

If United are to challenge for this competition then their performances in both legs here will have to be significantly improved on.

Wednesday, February 21
Liverpool Stun Barca (and everyone else)

A tumultuous week for Liverpool FC had a tumultuous ending as they came away from Barcelona with a 2-1 victory.

This outcome had seemed impossible as Barcelona swept into an early lead and went on to dominate the first half.

It all looked too easy as the Portuguese dwarf Deco stole between Liverpool defenders to head home and the visitors defence continued to be at full stretch to deny Barca further goals.

Saviola and Deco went close but Liverpool hit back crucially on the stroke of half time. Just to prove it was a good night in the air for short arses Craig Bellamy headed the equaliser with no Barca defenders within a 3 wood of him.

Just to make it an even worse goal for the home side to concede the keeper was at fault in allowing the ball to creep through his fingers and over the line.

The goal gave added belief to Liverpool who enjoyed far more of the game after half time.

Victor Valdes had to save from Gerrard after Liverpool were awarded a free kick inside the box when the keeper picked up a back pass and Kuyt headed badly over when the ball was sent back into the middle.

Obviously the Dutchman was simply too tall to score with his head in this fixture.

Liverpool had a scare when both Saviola and Messi saw efforts desperately blocked but then took the lead when similar confusion at the other end resulted in Bellamy teeing up his big mate Riise to drive home.

Liverpool went back into desperate defence which ensured much late pressure but despite a couple of hairy moments they had got their famous result.

Perhaps a violent clash of egos is worse for team morale than a violent clash of golf club on Norwegian.

Chelsea will be happy enough with their 1-1 draw away at Porto although they will be concerned about the welfare of John Terry who limped off early in this one.

In fact the Blues had not actually managed to replace their skipper when they fell a goal behind. Raul Meireles sent in the shot but as the ball deflected in off Fat Frank surely he is going to claim it.

Frank doesn't care how his goals come.

Chelsea responded promptly with Schevchenko scoring a well taken goal after good work by Robben.

The first half remained surprisingly open with Porto coming close to a half time lead when Ricardo Quaresma's effort struck the bar.

Jose Mourinho had seen enough entertainment for one night and sent his side out for the second half in a much more compact, negative frame of mind.

This had the desired effect. Porto could not create chances against a side concentrating on defence and as the belief evaporated from the home side Chelsea actually ended up the more likely looking winners.

It would be a brave man or Minty to back Porto at Stamford Bridge on this showing. Not only did they lack invention and real bottle when Chelsea got down to business after the break they had a keeper who looked likely to gift a few chances when he comes under real pressure at the Bridge.

Would it be a brave man or Minty to back Liverpool to progress? I'm not sure.

You've got to fancy them really. With the opportunity to be as negative as they choose at Anfield it should be tough for the Spaniards to get the minimum two goals they require.

Still, if they send their youth team.

Tuesday, February 20
Chaos In Lille

There was little to really report from Arsenal's trip to PSV Eindhoven and it seemed as though there would be nothing much to note from Manchester United's trip to Lille until a contentious late United goal saw proceedings dip into chaos.

With questions to be asked about problems in the United section of the ground early on in the game the ramifications from this one could be huge.

Arsenal controlled proceedings almost totally before half time in Holland but without managing the breakthrough.

Tomas Rosicky had the Gunners' best chance but saw Huerelho Gomes pull off a magnificent save low down from his driven point blank range effort.

Rosicky and Thierry Henry also saw curling efforts from the edge of the box flash just wide.

The home side improved markedly after the break but seldom looked like hurting Arsenal.

The only goal was a bolt from the blue by Edison Mendez, a low 25 yarder which Jens Lehmann might have done better with (ie. saved).

PSV looked reasonably comfortable in maintaining their advantage although Gomes had to make a smart save to deny Cesc Fabregas from the edge of the box.

Work to do for the Gunners although if they can keep a clean sheet at the Emirates I cannot see them failing to progress.

The first half in Lille saw more action off the pitch than on.

There were problems early on as some United fans left the away end and looked to be staging some kind of pitch invasion. It became apparent, however, that these actions were in no way malicious and the supporters were simply trying to escape an enclosure which had become dangerously overcrowded because of the strange decision to only open the bottom tier of the stand.

The police, not surprisingly, reacted in heavy handed fashion waving truncheons and firing tear gas before sanity took over and both sections of the stand were opened.

The second half was much better as a spectacle with United, though only sporadically, producing some breathtaking attacking play.

Wayne Rooney looked the liveliest attacker on show and one surging run from halfway past three defenders was truly awesome.

Having chipped to the back post, however, Ryan Giggs appeared to be trying to tee up Henrik Larsson instead of simply going for the vacant goal and wasted the chance.

Larsson produced some fine touches and his absence will surely be badly missed in this competition. Louis Saha does not look a spearhead to conquer Europe.

Lille also had their moments and Edwin Van Der Sar saved well at close quarters to deny Matieu Bodmer before Peter Odemwinge had a header ruled out for a push on Nemanja Vidic.

This decision had already incensed the Lille coaching staff and when United grabbed the only goal in controversial fashion the mood around the stadium turned ugly.

United won a free kick which the referee allowed Giggs to take while Lille were still forming their wall and the Welshman's shot flew straight into the open side of the net.

As United ran off to celebrate with their fans the home side waded into a tirade of complaints and having restarted the game by booting the ball into the home technical area the Lille coaching staff started beckoning their team to leave the field.

Pandemonium ensued and although Alex Ferguson was incandescent with rage he was the sanest man out there. Gary Neville had come across to offer a few words of wisdom and his manager almost attacked him as he made it obvious his men should stay out of the way and certainly stay on the field of play.

If they had just gone over and took the throw in, which I'm sure the ref would have allowed, they would probably have scored again.

It's probably as well that didn't happen and eventually the home team came back and the game was played to a conclusion.

This was absolutely ridiculous from the home team. Technically the goal was fine, although I don't like the confusion surrounding these matters and think it needs clearing up once and for all, but to suggest they were going to leave the field was completely out of order.

Ferguson was also spot on afterwards when saying that the behaviour of the Lille camp inflamed a volatile atmosphere still further and could have produced a security problem.

It is unlikely that the travelling United fans found the town the most welcoming of places afterwards.

All in all a satisfactory night for United although they have done little to suggest that they might be about to win this trophy again.

Thursday, December 7
All Four Top Their Groups

Arsenal and Manchester United still had jobs to do to qualify from their groups in the last round of games this week but in the end not only did all four English teams qualify for the knockout section of the Champions League they did so as group winners.

Arsenal and Porto were both guaranteed qualification if they drew their meeting in Portugal. The bookies had it down as odds on the draw and, lo and behold, the game ended goalless.

It did not have the feel of a "gentlemans agreement" as Porto twice rattled the Arsenal woodwork in the second half although the closing stages did inevitably peter out.

It is perhaps lucky for the Gunners that neither of those efforts went in as they barely threatened all night. CSKA Moscow, however, who had been winning in Hamburg ended up defeated anyway so it probably wouldn't have mattered.

Manchester United needed at least a draw at home to Benfica and started nervously. Midway through the first half the visitors grabbed the lead through a stunning drive into the top corner from Nelson and the scene was set for a tense night.

Although Benfica remained sharp and dangerous going forward they showed themselves to be fragile defensively when United finally clicked into gear.

Specifically they were completely incapable of defending centres and Nemanja Vidic, Ryan Giggs and Louis Saha were all able to net with headers.

Vidic equalised on the stroke of half time with the nearest defender vainly trying to tug his shirt rather than make a proper challenge, United went in front just past the hour when Ronaldo was allowed all the time and space in the world to measure a cross and two defenders stood and watched as Giggs breezed in to head home and Saha wrapped things up late on with a carbon copy of their first goal.

Tuesday's action was somewhat surreal. Liverpool were in the unusual position of playing a shadow side because they were already through and Shaun Wright-Phillips (and Schevchenko) scored for Chelsea.

Robbie Fowler scored twice for Liverpool but their unfamiliar looking side still slipped to a 3-2 defeat against Galatasaray while Chelsea defeated Levski Sofia with predictable comfort 2-0.

Schevchenko's finish was a crisp drive and Wright-Phillips notched in similar fashion after being introduced as a second half sub.

With Celtic, Real Madrid and Barcelona among the sides the English clubs can face in the next round there could well be some exciting ties to look forward to in the new year.

Saturday, November 25
This Weeks Round Up

Two of the three other English teams won this week in the Champions League although all these matches came at some kind of cost to the participants.

For a long while it looked as though Arsenal's recent frustrations at the Emirates were going to continue as they struggled to get the better of Hamburg.

Rafael Van Der Vaart had been practising his shooting in the recent international between Holland and England and this had evidently paid off as he sent a cracking curly, dipping shot past Lehmann to give the German side an early lead.

Up to half time the Gunners were frustrated as they looked to turn the game around but they got a boost shortly after the interval when Robin Van Persie slid home the equaliser after smart work from Fabregas.

The Germans remained stubborn, however, and it was beginning to look as though the game would end deadlocked when Arsenal got the bit of luck which they are probably due this season.

Emmanuel Eboue's cross shot should have been comfortable for goalkeeper Wachter but he managed to divert the ball into his own net with his elbow.

Thanks chum. The Gunners had no difficulty then picking Hamburg off as they threw men forward looking for an equaliser and Theo Walcott capped another impressive cameo with a blistering run and cross for Julio Baptista to butt home with real power.

The sour note of the night came in the shape of a needless booking for Thierry Henry which rules him out of the crucial final group game with Porto.

Chelsea took a strong team to Werder Bremen but still managed to come home with the 1-0 defeat which sees them qualify and leaves Barcelona vulnerable. Jose Mourinho kept an admirably straight face in the interview afterwards.

The real worry here were injuries to Ballack and Drogba which could keep them out of the United game but probably won't do.

Bremen were the better side before half time and grabbed the only goal through Per Mertesacker who headed home a Frings corner too easily.

Chelsea had their moments with Joe Cole and John Obi Mikel missing when handily placed but improved after the break as they pushed for an equaliser.

When they began to find their range they found a keeper in good form as Tim Wiese made a series of decent stops, most notably from Schevchenko and Cole.

Liverpool were also rocked by injuries in defeating PSV Eindhoven, although these seemed of more long term concern.

Xabi Alonso, Mark Gonzalez and Jermaine Pennant all suffered disturbing injuries during a game in which Liverpool struggled, not surprisingly, to find much rhythm.

One man who did strike an upbeat note was Steven Gerrard who gave an excellent performance in his favoured central midfield position which he capped with the opening goal when well fed by Finnan and Kuyt.

Kuyt also assisted Peter Crouch for his late tap in as the Reds confirmed a comfortable passage from the group stage.

Rafa Benitez will be a somewhat worried man at the moment, however, as his injury problems mount.

Wednesday, November 22
United Lose To Celtic

Although it is possible to view Manchester United's defeat at Celtic last night with something approaching disbelief, given that they were so superior it was at times embarrassing, this game began to have 1-0 Celtic written all over it from about the 15th minute onwards.

It was at about this stage that it began to become apparent that although United were light years ahead of their hosts in passing and movement they were trying to be far too clever for their own good in the final third.

Time and again the Celtic defence looked ready to be breached but somehow United failed to deliver the final pass or accept the chances that did arrive.

As the first half pressure intensified individual errors from the harrassed Celtic defenders looked likely to gift United the lead and yet still nobody in red was able to take advantage.

In the end this profligacy would cost them dear as Celtic claimed a famous victory with a stunning free kick from Nakamura which made a mockery of his sides' performance in general.

Surely no team at this level can ever have punted so many passes straight out of play from one end of the pitch to the other or managed to send countless short passes along the ground straight to the opposition.

This made United's failure to punish their opponents all the more risible.

United started in fine style, controlling possession to an astonishing degree and not only were the home supporters quickly hushed but the groans of frustration which began to accompany every misplaced Celtic pass or hurried clearance into touch should have set the scene for United to inflict some proper damage on their nervous hosts.

It soon became clear that as assured as they might be up to the final third no such assurance was present in and around the Celtic penalty area.

Paul Scholes, bossing midfield completely, sent in a superb ball for Giggs breaking beyond the central defenders but he somehow failed to either shoot or control and the chance went the way of several other opportunities already fashioned by United.

Giggs saw a free kick deflected behind by the wall and Rooney then lashed a volley a foot wide when the corner was speared across to him lurking beyond the far side of the penalty area.

For all their complete dominance in terms of possession, however, clear chances were at a premium despite the fact that Celtic's central defenders looked there for the taking.

Bobo Balde, a man with nothing to offer bar sheer aggression, tied himself in a knot to allow Ronaldo a clear run on goal. Although the hulking defender dived in from behind as Ronaldo was shooting this did not explain the tame shot which Boruc comfortably saved.

It did, however, give United reasonable claims for a penalty but none was forthcoming.

Balde had already somehow escaped a booking for his outrageous assault on Scholes, a red card would not have been inappropriate, and it is likely that his savage presence at the back did deter United somewhat.

The glazed eyes and bizarrely shaped head suggest a human specimen of a much earlier century.

When his partner McManus did see yellow for taking Saha out late and crudely it looked as though Celtic might be about to try and kick their way out of trouble but the worst of their troubles were over as half time approached as United became too clever for their own good and seemed to have forgotten that the point of football is to score goals, not simply deprive the other team of the ball.

United's attitude was summed up by Ronaldo who presented Celtic with one of their few attacking opportunities of the half with a pathetic flick which surrendered possession in a dangerous area.

Celtic re-organised at half time and certainly improved although they barely troubled the United defence at any stage while Ronaldo did begin to look more of a threat after being switched into an orthodox wing position.

One run carried him almost the length of the pitch and then he twice carved clean through the defence but still the final pass, cross or shot was lacking whenever United came forward.

Then it happened. Vidic lunged in from behind to concede a needless free kick 30 yards from goal and Van Der Sar got another opportunity to admire the dead ball expertise of Nakamura, the man who had planted a free kick past him at Old Trafford.

There was something vaguely annoying about watching United now go looking for a goal in earnest simply because they were trailing. It is not easy to switch from cruise control to overdrive, however, and it was now United who betrayed nerves with the pressure on.

Specifically it was Luis Saha who froze at vital moments.

Firstly he stood still inside the penalty area when slipped through by Rooney clearly expecting to be called offside. After several tight calls that had gone against United this time the falg had stayed down, however, and when the striker finally decided to flick his effort goalwards it was too late, Boruc having got close enough to block.

Saha looked round towards the linesman and appeared ready to complain that the flag was not up to spare his embarrassment.

When United were then awarded a penalty Saha was not perhaps the best man to trust with the kick and sure enough Boruc made the save diving to his right.

Was it a penalty? Gravesen had jumped from the defensive wall to block a Ronaldo free kick with his forearm. They are not usually given but it seems pointless to argue when the award does go against you.

In this instant it didn't matter anyway after Saha had put the lid on United's toothless display.

Wednesday, November 1
Mixed Fortunes

For the first time this season the English clubs did not get things all their own way in the Champions League. Manchester United lost in Denmark but the team in some possible peril is Arsenal who squandered a remarkable number of chances against CSKA Moscow to earn only a draw.

Liverpool have definitely qualified after a comfortable victory over Bordeaux while Chelsea are all but through and have left Barcelona sweating after their 2-2 draw in the Nou Camp.

It was this last game which undoubtedly hogged the attention across Europe and an unpleasant build up to the gane ensured that there was an unpleasant atmosphere throughout, constantly threatening to boil over, and meant that the actual football was generally overshadowed.

These two clubs could have provided football with one of its classic contests during the past few years but instead they have decided to see which club can sink lower into the mire of general unpleasantness.

Trying to plumb deeper depths than anyone else is of course Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho whose penchant for spiteful nastiness shows no sign of abating. The sheer two faced nature of everything this man says is truly astonishing.

He has no shame whatsoever.

The powder keg atmosphere was stoked to intensity by a Barca goal inside three minutes. Deco cut in from the left away from the hapless Boulahrouz to slam a cross shot into the far corner.

Chelsea were on the ropes at this stage and Ronaldinho had a great chance to put them in real trouble shortly afterwards but blazed high from Messi's inviting cut back.

Chelsea managed to stop the flow of football as the game began to degenerate into a tetchy affair from the early stages and there were yellow cards in quick succession for Lampard, Robben, Messi and Motta.

An unseemly squabble also developed between Drogba and Marquez as everyone struggled to remember that the point of them being there was supposedly to play football.

Brief examples of what these two fine sides can offer did surface. Xavi played a sweet give and go with Ronaldinho to get beyond the Chelsea defence and force a good save from Hilario, an able third choice keeper. For Chelsea Drogba put in a searching centre which Essien attacked well but Valdes was able to tip his header over the bar.

Bedlam ensued when the referee booked Ashley Cole who Bacelona were convinced had already been cautioned. Eventually the ref was able to convince everyone that the earlier yellow had been for Lampard and the game was able to continue.

The second half began with Chelsea looking to play more football, they must have remembered during the interval that they were a goal behind, and some sustained pressure saw Lampard provide Robben with a clear opening but the winger's effort was too high.

Then Lampard equalised with a truly bizarre goal. He would have been clean through on goal just eight yards out but completely failed to trap the ball in the heart of the box. Having retrieved possession by the touchline he then proceeded to chip the ball into the far corner of the net with basically no angle whatsoever to work with.

Either genius or fluke and as an England fan rather than a Chelsea fan I'm inclined to call it a fluke.

Chelsea were not level for long as Ronaldinho produced his finest moment to make a monkey of Boulahrouz before laying a chance on a plate for Gudjohnsen.

Gudjohnsen then managed to get himself booked as did Edmilson.

The game was teetering on the brink of open warfare by this stage and as Chelsea became increasingly desperate towards the end Joe Cole, Terry and Essien all collected yellows.

Chelsea were the team doing most of the attacking as the clock wound down, however, but when Ballack blazed over from Kalou's cut back it looked like it was not to be their night.

Everything changed deep into stoppage time when the visitors struck to grab a draw.

Essien centred deep beyond the far post to Terry, pressed into service as an extra attacker, he headed back into the six yard box to Drogba who took Marquez out of the game with an inspired piece of chest control and then slid his shot past Valdes.

Another piece of top quality forward play by Drogba who is enjoying a superb season.

This ending provoked an irate Frank Rijkaard to storm the pitch at the end to confront the referee but fortunately he stopped short of gobbing into his hair.

Afterwards both camps were free to continue taking cheap shots at the other but the comments of Mourinho continued to be the most pathetic.

He had made a big deal about Barcelona's apparent propensity for cheating and believed his team had suffered again at the hands of the officials.

He reckoned his side had been denied two penalties, The incident involving Makelele was debatable but if a foul had occured then it did so outside the box while the one involving Lampard was simply a blatant dive.

Mourinho had asked for yellow cards to be shown to players diving. If Lampard had got one here, and he should have done, then he would have been off. Be careful what you wish for Jose.

Liverpool overcame Bordeaux 3-0 to book their passage into the knockout stages in a game that only had one really ugly incident. This did more than equal everything that went on in Spain, however.

The game was generally insipid but Liverpool seldom looked in real discomfort after taking the lead midway through the first half.

Luis Garcia was the man on target with a bouncing bomb of a shot from Gerrard's centre.

There was little else of note before half time although Kuyt was only narrowly over with a header from another Gerrard centre.

Bordeaux came out after the break to finally test the Liverpool defence and there had been some reason for encouragement but the game changed completely after Menegazzo was dismissed for a scandalous headbutt on John Arne Riise.

Bordeaux showed no real stomach for the fight a man short and Gerrard was able to open his account for the season shortly afterwards with a low finish after being released by Zenden.

Liverpool's talisman will be happy to get off the mark at this comparatively late stage especially as he had already missed a couple of presentable chances in this game.

Don't be surprised to see him hitting the net regularly over the next few weeks, however.

Garcia got another with a cracking finish following a basic defensive error and Liverpool have already secured the easiest of passages.

Arsenal could be in danger after somehow failing to beat CSKA Moscow at the Emirates.

Thierry Henry was still smarting after his disallowed goal in Russia two weeks ago and got himself booked in the first minute for an ugly challenge.

Thereafter Arsenal set about mauling their opponents in more accustomed manner but the apprentices had obviously not been cleaning the shooting boots this week as chance after chance went begging.

Van Persie flashed a thunderbolt just wide, Henry was wide of a gaping goal from Gilberto Silva's cross and Fabregas actually managed to shoot wide having dribbled round the keeper.

Van Persie and Henry both put further clear chances wide and everyone spent the half time interval scratching their heads as to how the game was still goalless.

CSKA came out to threaten through Wagner Love who outpaced Gallas, no mean feat, only to stab his shot wide but the action soon returned to the other end.

Van Persie headed just wide from Justin Hoyte's centre and Akinfeev had to make his most testing save of the night from a Gilberto Silva header.

In general, however, Arsenal remained unable to set their sights properly in front of goal.

Things almost took a completely surreal turn when Henry nearly put through his own goal late on but it was a night when the ball simply wasn't going to go in whatever happened.

Arsenal had enjoyed two thirds of the possession and sent in 20 shots against 3 from CSKA but none of this mattered after a night of firing blanks.

Work still to do for the Gunners.

The same can be said of Manchester United after they lost disappointingly against FC Copenhagen.

United were pale but still had enough chances to win, or at the very least draw.

Rooney saw an early curling effort comfortably saved but Van Der Sar was called upon to make a better save to deny Silberbauer's low drive.

Rooney would later head the best chance of the first half just over from Wes Brown's fine centre.

Solksjaer provided a couple of moments of danger at the start of the second half but Atiba Hutchinson then wasted the games' best chance shooting wildly over from six yards after Bergvold had sliced open the left hand side of United's defence.

Rooney put in a feeble headed effort from Heinze's centre before Copenhagen got the vital goal with just under 20 minutes remaining.

Hutchinson headed a corner down into the danger area and Marcus Allback was able to force the ball home at the second time of asking.

United went looking for an equaliser but their one real moment of danger passed as Christiansen stood up to Scholes' attempt to chip him when supplied by Rooney.

It would take a remarkable set of results to stop United going through but this result and performance leaves them with more work to do before they are assured of progress.

Wednesday, October 18
Arsenal Lose In Moscow; Others Win

Arsenal lost on their visit to CSKA Moscow in controversial circumstances but they still look odds on to qualify for the knockout stages and with England's other three representatives all winning this week it looks all but certain that there will be a full complement of four when it comes to the push and shove.

Arsenal could not really complain about their defeat over the whole ninety minutes but they were left with enough to keep them gabbing all the way home on the flight back after seeing Thierry Henry's apparently perfectly good goal disallowed for a phantom handball.

In the freezing cold and on a pitch that wasn't as good as Arsenal are used to at their fantastic new stadium the Gunners did not look truly up for the fight and their refusal to adapt their style does not really make sense on nights like this one.

To be honest though I felt the Arsenal team gave the impression that they were confident that even if things did go against them here they would still have enough about them to qualify comfortably.

CSKA were obviously well up for the game and were by far the more dangerous side for most of the night.

They scored what proved to be the only goal of the game midway through the first half after Toure lunged rashly into a challenge to concede a free kick on the edge of the box.

We keep mentioning it on these pages but the first rule of defending is to stay on your feet.

The kick was tapped sideways to Carvalho who simply belted it dead straight towards the centre of the Arsenal goal. Two Arsenal players shyed away from making the block and Lehmann was beaten by the sheer speed.

The home side continued to force the pace and Carvalho sent in another attempt which nearly caught out Lehmann who just about touched it over the crossbar.

Gilberto Silva was unable to get any contact on a Rosicky cross in front of goal but as the game went into the second period he threatened to do more damage at the other end.

Arsenal players had been getting caught in possession throughout but the Brazilian had a lazy spell when he kept presenting the ball to the opposition just outside his own area.

Kolo Toure in particular needed to be at his most alert to prevent this leading to real damage.

Then Arsenal mustered up some kind of late rally which saw Henry take a ball down, surely on his chest, and steer a confident finish beyond the diving keeper.

It is possible the linesman was simply trying to keep warm but his flag was definitely waving so the referee disallowed the goal and booked Henry for deliberately having an arm.

It will be astonishing if this miscarriage of justice actually prevents Arsenal from progressing further, however.

Manchester United made it three wins out of three with a predictably comfortable 3-0 victory over FC Copenhagen at Old Trafford.

Luis Saha has been in great form so far this season and his general play is certainly top class but his bread and butter finishing is not the best.

He missed the most routine of chances one on one with the keeper early on with an abject prod after superb first time passes between Carrick and Rooney had sent him clear of the defence.

Then Rooney missed another chance to break his present duck when he managed only the slightest of contacts in front of an open goal from Ronaldo's cross cum shot.

Rooney then set Saha up for another good chance but the keeper was able to get enough on his effort to send it bobbling behind for a corner.

Paul Scholes showed how it should be done by driving home comprehensively when set up just outside the box to give United the lead their dominance demanded.

Rooney then had another great chance to score straight from the kick off after half time. Having been put through he lobbed the ball over the advancing keeper but while he was waiting for the ball to come down to head home a defender came flying in to clear.

Why he didn't just jump up to head it in I'm not sure.

United wrapped up victory with two jammy goals, John O'Shea converting a corner with his standing leg and Kieran Richardson sending a drive straight through the keeper from 25 yards.

All in all, however, the scoreline was just about as accurate as it could be given the way the game had gone.

On Wednesday both Chelsea and Liverpool were more than happy with their 1-0 wins.

Chelsea had the edge over Barcelona in a game that certainly kept the attention without ever exploding into a classic.

Barcelona showed more style than Chelsea but there was generally more substance to the movements of the home side.

Their approach was epitomised by the excellent Essien who presented Drogba with a clear chance after surging from midfield. Drogba got his shot past Valdes but Zambrotta was back to clear off the line.

Chances came the way of Schevchenko but he continues to look off the pace. He headed over from a corner after the keeper had come and missed and would continue to fire blanks.

Although one of Barcelona's pretty passing moves did pierce the Chelsea defence Xavi's eventual shot was from a narrow angle and did not really trouble Hilario in the Chelsea goal.

Hilario would not be seriously tested all night but certainly fielded the efforts that did come his way extremely competently.

Chelsea got the only goal moments after the restart. Ashley Cole booted over a deep centre to Drogba who initially looked sluggish in trying to get the ball under control before suddenly unleashing a stunning drive past Valdes.

Drogba, like Saha, is not perhaps the most reliable taker of goalscorers' goals but he was excellent in the World Cup before Ivory Coast were unluckily knocked out and he has taken that form into the start of this season.

He looks a real handful.

Chances came for Schevchenko, Essien and Drogba to put this one to bed but these were all spurned so there was no let up in the tension although Chelsea looked reasonably comfortable in keeping their vaunted opponenets at bay.

Messi headed a fair chance over the bar late on but a draw would have flattered the Spaniards on this occasion.

Liverpool, minus Gerrard, claimed a notable victory in France against Bordeaux.

Peter Crouch got the only goal with a typically clambering header from Craig Bellamy's corner. The game probably deserved to be settled in such unspectacular fashion but again there could be little argument that the right side came out on top.

Micoud had one great chance for Bordeaux but managed to make no contact with Wendel's free kick in front of a gaping goal while Crouch headed wide with a free header from Bellamy's cross in the first half.

This combination did conjure up a goal after half time, however, and there was little evidence that the home side could get themselves back on terms.

Chamakh flicked one header wide with Reina beaten but Stephen Warnock found himself with a better chance for Liverpool but could only muster a weak effort.

Warnock's not really the Liverpool left back you would choose to have on the end of a good chance, is he?

All in all another good week for English clubs in the Champions League. In all honesty there is nothing much to do now other than sit back and wait for the knockout stages.

Thursday, September 28
Job Almost Done

A full set of victories for the English clubs in the second round of group matches means that the job of qualifying is almost done.

Only Liverpool have dropped points after drawing their first game in Holland and they came the closest to slipping up again this week after taking a seemingly impregnable 3-0 lead.

Arise Sir Peter of Crouch. The much maligned and ridiculed striker, although this site has always loved him, proved his many critics wrong with a couple of quality goals.

His first was a nicely cushioned volley from close range to covert an inswinging Aurelio centre. His second, Liverpool's third, was a spectacular scissor kick perfectly executed with the ball arrowing into the bottom corner.

This surely was the most authentic scissor kick ever performed, all coaching videos should have previous examples wiped out and replaced with this one. Not only did Peter make sweet, sweet contact but he genuinely did look like the worlds' biggest pair of scissors as he contorted his stick insect frame into position.

His first, early goal had been quickly followed by a Luis Garcia header, Jermaine Pennant providing the cross after nipping between sleeping defenders on the right hand byeline.

Galatasaray had shown enough in the first half to suggest they could breach the Liverpool defence and their manager, Eric Gerets, sent on two extra attackers for the second half scenting a possible comeback.

This seemed to have backfired when Crouch quickly added the third but two swift headed goals from Umit Karan had the Turks right back in contention and Liverpool were left hanging on desperately for the final 25 minutes.

The woodwork was struck at either end by Kuyt and Sabri but the real chances fell to Hakan Suker who twice missed badly from handy positions. Probably thought he was still playing for Blackburn.

Manchester United were also less than convincing on their trip to Benfica but they will be more than happy to have recorded their first victory on foreign soil in what seems an eternity.

Alex Ferguson sent out one of his special European formations in the first half with Rooney out on the left and Michael Carrick appearing to be the man asked to get closest to Luis Saha.

United were poor in the opening half, surrendering possession too easily, often in dangerous areas of the pitch. Their shoddy start was highlighted by early bookings for Scholes and Carrick for late challenges. This just emphasised how the whole side was off the pace.

Karagounis sent in a shot from out wide after Heinze was robbed trying to run his way out of defence but the effort was weak and caused no concern.

United then managed their one quality passing move of the half with Scholes, Neville and Carrick involved before Ronaldo darted inside to spear in a dipping shot which the keeper spilled towards Saha who was crowded out as he tried to force home the rebound.

Vidic was next to be caught in possession at the back and Nuno Gomes flashed a shot a foot wide before Ronaldo was the culprit trying to dribble out of trouble. United had to concede a free kick which passed harmlessly over the bar.

In fairness to the players they had few options in front of them and were being forced to play in their own half. Ferguson would no doubt blame the players but he has tinkered with this type of formation consistently over the past few years and with very little success.

United came out in a far more positive frame of mind for the second half and looked far more likely to score. The major player was again Ronaldo who took all the abuse his natives could hurl at him and kept coming back for more.

Given the chance to do his running in the Benfica half he instantly became the games' most dangerous player.

When United did score the games' only goal he was inevitably involved, though in an uncharacteristic manner.

With Benfica pressing forward the United defence intercepted and the ball was moved quickly to Scholes. He slid the ball through to Ronaldo in the centre circle and the winger fed an instant ball out to Saha breaking into space on the right wing.

Saha drove his defender back into the corner of the box before veering out onto his left foot to send a drive arching into the far corner with the aid of a slight, though crucial, deflection.

Ronaldo should be aware that his early ball had been just about the most surprising piece of play witnessed this season. It must have registered with him how effective it had proved also.

While nobody would seriously suggest he should cut out the dribbling if he could manage to be more selective in his decision making then he would basically be the complete player.

Still, I must remember his age. He is still learining his trade.

As United's control of the game increased Rooney, completely out of sorts all night, sent in a tame effort at the keeper after being superbly picked out by Neville and Saha stabbed wide at the near post after a lovely move involving Ronaldo and Carrick.

Benfica fashioned a half chance right at the end which came to nought and United ended the game probably deserving their win.

When it comes to the knockout stages, however, a similar first half performance would see them out of the competition.

There were no such troubles for Arsenal or Chelsea.

Arsenal breezed past Porto at the Emirates Stadium. Although they took a little time to get into their stride they were never stretched by ultra negative opponents.

Van Persie was not afraid to try his luck and had the keeper scrambling to save by the foot of his post from 30 yards before blazing wildly over from a fine position after being spoon fed by Henry.

Toure had the ball in the net but the linesman ruled the ball had gone out of play before being cut back into his path, which looked a fair enough call.

The deadlock was broken by another Thierry Henry header. Much was made of his back to back headers with the suggestion being that he can't head the ball.

It is worth remembering that until recently Arsenal have more or less refused to put over crosses so it is perhaps not fair to judge him.

He certainly provided a textbook finish here, heading back across goal and down into the wall of the net after being picked out at the far post by Eboue.

In fairness to the full back the centre could not have been better, squarely onto Henry's head and delivered at pace.

Van Persie almost scored with a header of his own but this one had just too much loop on it so that while the trajectory was taking it clear of the keeper he still had time to re-adjust and claim it beneath his crossbar.

The game was put to bed early in the second half when Henry became a magnet for the entire Porto defence before slipping Hleb into oceans of space to drive into the far corner.

Think about Pele against Italy in 1970 and Tom Finney against Blackburn Rovers in 1950 and you get the idea.

This was obviously job done and there was little left to excite the crowd, bar a comedy juggle by Lehmann which almost gifted Queresma a goal but overall this was a confident display.

The one disappointing aspect was the injury picked up bu William Gallas who is already looking an imposing signing for the Gunners. Arsene won't want to be without him for too long.

Chelsea also cantered to victory in Bulgaria against Levski Sofia.

Levski did put up more of a show than many had expected but their chief contribution ended up being the outrageously over the top inquests they held into each goal conceded.

The home side showed some neat build up play to keep the Chelsea defence on their toes early on but seldom looked willing to go in where it hurts to get a goal.

Chelsea, on the other hand, were looking to profit whenever they got within sight of goal.

Drogba and Ballack both hit the woodwork with Ballack's effort needing a fingertip from the keeper to turn it onto the post.

It was Drogba who opened the scoring with half time approaching, mopping up after the keeper could only parry a shot from John Obi Mikel.

The keeper was obviously not happy at the reactions of his defenders and proceded to do a demented pointy little dance across his box which was a bit like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever but without the white suit and viewed on fast forward.

Chelsea's superiority was even more marked after the break with Drogba going on to complete his first hat trick for the club.

His second came when he expertly trapped a long ball from Bridge on his chest to go clear of the defence and his shot still trickled home despite the keeper getting plenty on it.

This time their were inquests raging all over the box.

The hat trick came when Fat Frank banged in another crap shot which ran across Drogba's path and was converted with a neat flick of the instep.

Whose fault was that one boys? I would guess they are still trying to decide now.

Levski got the goal their performance deserved late on. Cech had made a couple of good saves from Yovov but was left helpless when the striker turned provider with a sublime ball into Ogyanov who drove home fiercely at the near post.

All in all a pretty comfortable week for England's representatives and all four should feature in the knockout stages.

Thursday, September 14
Good Start For English Clubs

Three wins and a draw for the four English clubs in this years' Champions League was a more than acceptable return.

The ease with which Chelsea and Arsenal accounted for German opposition suggests the trophy is within the grasp of one of our clubs this season. Let's not get carried away though.

Chelsea brushed aside the challenge of Werder Bremen in a similar fashion to which they dismiss allcomers to the Bridge in the Premier League.

Sloppy defending presented Michael Essien with a goal on a silver platter midway through the first half and midway through the second Michael Ballack wrapped up victory from the penalty spot after a silly foul on Drogba.

As usual there wasn't too much to get excited about in Chelsea's performance although Ballack might just be in with a shout for Goal of the Month with his penalty.

Belted arrow like into the top corner it was as emphatic a spot kick as you could ever wish to see.

The aerial threat of Klose aside Chelsea were mainly in the comfort zone.

Arsenal also cruised for most of the night in securing victory in Hamburg.

Gilberto Silva put them ahead from the penalty spot early on after a dubious decision against the Hamburg goalie as Van Persie went round him.

With a tap in waiting you would have to ask why Van Persie wouldn't want to score himself but any contact that was made must have been remarkably minimal.

Perhaps Van Persie was calculating that a red card might also follow if he went down and if so he got his wish as Hamburg were punished twice for a debatable offence.

This allowed Arsenal to pass the ball around with even greater comfort than they usually show and when one of their players eventually decided to try a pot shot Tomas Rosicky's effort screamed into the top corner.

Gilberto should have made it three when unmarked from a corner eight yards out but contrived to head wide.

Finally, in the last couple of minutes, Hamburg managed to muster a response. Trochowski slammed an effort against the bar and when the rebound was put home an offside flag reprieved the Gunners before Sanogo did fire past Lehmann as the game entered injury time.

There was never really any likelihood of Arsenal dropping points, however.

Liverpool were the one side that failed to win but will have been satisfied with a point from their trip to PSV Eindhoven.

Liverpool's biggest scare came early on when Aruna Kone smashed a fine effort against their crossbar but from then on they looked the more likely scoreers in a tight contest.

Their was promise in the partnership of Kuyt and Bellamy. I think Liverpool would benefit from having a basically settled frontline and these two look the likeliest pairing to me.

Kuyt sent in a decent effort that grazed the outside of the post and flicked on the header late on which Gerrard thumped against the inside of a post.

The most exciting game, predictably, was between Manchester United and Celtic.

Luis Saha enjoyed a fine night and showed his intentions early with a stooping header that was just wide and a stinging volley just over.

The game exploded into life after Celtic took a shock lead, however.

Rio Ferdinand gambled and lost in trying to reach in front of Vennegoor of Hesselink to head clear a huge drop kick and the bizarrely named Dutchman punished him with a stunning trap and crisp low drive across Van der Sar.

Ferdinand would no doubt have thought his keeper had let him down but was not really in a position to say too much.

United responded but had a bit of luck in equalising. Ryan Giggs was going nowhere as he ran towards the byeline only for Artur Boruc, the Celtic keeper, to make an ungainly challenge.

It was again difficult to see if contact had been made as Giggs went to ground but the referee was convinced. Boruc might have been harshly treated but he would have been much better advised staying at home.

Saha beat him with a low penalty that he might well have saved having dived the right way.

Minutes later United led as the impressive Paul Scholes delivered a perfectly weighted ball into Saha who scored via Boruc's leg.

Right on half time Celtic were level, however. United had looked uncomfortable from set pieces crossed into their box and when Nakamura was given a shooting chance he whipped his effort just over the wall and into the net.

Van der Sar might have wondered why no-one in the wall had bothered to jump.

United regained the lead shortly after the break when Scholes again fed Saha after a mistake by Thomas Gravesen.

Boruc this time denied Saha but he was able to force the rebound across goal where Ole Solksjaer arrived to fire into the empty net.

Celtic gallantly tried to respond but the big chances came to United. They were unable to kill off the contest, however.

Boruc twice denied Saha his hat trick and then made a magnificent save to keep out a strong header from his own player Paul Telfer.

Wayne Rooney, who was generally subdued, made one break clean through the defence but then wasted the chance with a poor finish which Boruc dropped on with ease.

The game therefore ended on a knife edge but overall United had done enough.

Although the manner of the game recalled the glory year of 1999 the performances which brought the trophy to Old Trafford that year were against teams of a higher calibre than Celtic.

Work still to do and a couple of unwanted injuries will test the depth of Ferguson's squad this early in the season. It has, however, been a brighter start at Old Trafford than for a few years.

Thursday, August 24
Fairly Routine Progress For Arsenal And Liverpool

Arsenal were basically already through to the group stages of the Champions League after spanking Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 in the away leg so it was of little real importance when Eduardo pounced on a rare error by Kolo Toure to put the visitors ahead early on in the second leg.

Arsenal were hardly brilliant but were never in any danger of coming under serious pressure. It was only with the introdution of Gilberto Silva and Thierry Henry that the Gunners finally redressed the scoreline on the night, however.

Ljungberg levelled from a Van Persie free kick before Flamini scored a last minute winner tapping home after good work by another late replacement Theo Walcott.

The biggest concern on the night for Arsenal would have been the performance of Emmanuel Adebayor who spoiled his usual array of clever touches with a series of glaring misses.

This was a repeat of his showing against Aston Villa at the weekend and he has some convincing to do that he is a long term Arsenal striker.

Liverpool's lead was far more precarious going into their second leg against Maccabi Haifa. Of course they had the advantage of not having to play in Israel and were generally the better side in neutral Kiev.

Alarming profligacy in front of goals meant this tie remained a contest until the very end, however.

Luis Garcia was the main culprit, he could easily have had a hat trick, and Xabi Alonso was also wasteful.

It took a Peter Crouch header to finally give Liverpool the lead shortly after half time, nodding home after smart work by Jermaine Pennant.

This was a mixed blessing. Either Liverpool relaxed or Maccabi finally realised that they might as well give it a go.

The impressive Colautti brought his side level on the night ten minutes later and Liverpool were forced to suffer a nervous last twenty minutes when Jose Reina suddenly found himself in consistent action. His response was excellent.

An important win which brings another pot of gold but also came at a price. Stephen Warnock and Mohamed Sissoko were both withdrawn with injuries to go with Carragher and Riise at the weekend.

Rafa Benitez has not been shy in bulking out his squad but he is having to test its' depth sooner than he would have liked.

Thursday, August 10
Arsenal Stroll; Liverpool Toil

While Arsenal's passage through their qualifying tie is assured after the first leg there is still work to be done by Liverpool to book their passage.

The Gunners might have expected a difficult night in Zagreb with an under strength team but the home side looked scared rigid from the start and were generally unwilling to venture out of their own half, bar for a brief flurry either side of half time.

Allowed plenty of attacking opportunities it was always likely that Arsenal would pick holes in the Zagreb defence as the game wore on and that is precisely what happened.

All three goals were neatly engineered and finished, twice by Fabregas and once by Van Persie, although there seemed a reluctance from the defence and keeper to do anything about preventing the goals either.

All in all a pretty damp squib and the second leg is such a formality Arsene Wenger could even risk letting Theo Walcott on the pitch for a few minutes. After all, he was ready to go to the World Cup, wasn't he Arsene?

Liverpool had a much more uncomfortable night at Anfield against Maccabi Haifa.

The Reds started with Craig Bellamy more or less on his own up front with Gerrard closest to him in support.

While Liverpool had the bulk of the possession and territorial advantage throughout they looked pretty basic in their play while Maccabi occasionally ventured forward to embarrass the Liverpool defence with slick passing and movement.

The visitors took the lead on one such foray when Bokoli scored after a subtle interchange with Colautti.

Fortunately for Liverpool they were back in the game quickly when the Maccabi keeper made a meal of a routine save from Sissoko and Craig Bellamy was on hand to score.

With time running out Liverpool turned to Garcia and Crouch to win them the game but Garcia's dive did not con the referee and Crouch was typically unaware when excellent play by the Spaniard sent the ball skimming along the six yard line in front of an empty net.

Liverpool managed a vital winner late on and for once they benefitted from taking Gerrard out of the action. His replacement, Mark Gonzales, had barely got on before he was stabbing home a neat finish at the back post to give his side some breathing space for the next game.

At least this goal did highlight the benefit of Crouch. He held down his defender as the ball came across, got away with the foul, and although there was no danger of him doing anything it did allow Gonzales the time and space he needed to score.

Classic centre forward play? Of course not, just classic Crouch. A man who knows full well that the referee will never penalise all his infringements.

The clever attacking play displayed by Haifa suggests a difficult second leg for Liverpool but I would expect them to progress without too much fuss. They will be the side able to play on the counter in the return if they so choose which should be to their advantage.

Wednesday, May 17
Arsenal Valiant But Defeated

Arsenal 1 Barcelona 2

Arsenal seldom manage to lose an important game without feeling hard done by and as this was the biggest game they've ever played it was hardly surprising that there were plenty of bitter words being spoken at the end.

While it was possible to feel their pain and disappointment and share their opinion of certain aspects of the referees' performance it is impossible not to point out again that the Arsenal camp always manage to overlook decisions that have actually gone their way while complaining at those they believe have wronged them.

It must also be said that if they want people to blame for what happened in Paris tonight they could also start looking closer to home than going straight for the ref.

The game was undoubtedly shaped by the referees' decision to send off Jens Lehmann just past the quarter hour mark for deliberately tripping Samuel Eto'o as the forward strode past him with the ball.

The referee gave the free kick and showed Lehmann the red card. This was straight forward. Clouding the issue was the fact that Giuly then followed up to stroke the ball into the empty net.

To be fair the majority of the criticism for this decision came from the onlookers still hoping for their classic final. In effect they still got one. It was just a lop-sided classic with Arsenal staging a heroic rearguard action and by the end the only real gripes about this decision were probably being sounded simply because the Gunners had eventually lost.

Arsenal's displeasure mainly surrounded the officials' reluctance to book Barcelona players. This was a justified point. Van Bommel should have been booked inside half an hour at the very latest and the right back Oliquer's only means of stopping Freddie Ljundberg all night was by fouling him. Henry reckoned the centre halves were taking it in turns to kick him.

I thought the ref was definitely lenient in several instances with Barcelona players but he did Arsenal a massive favour by only showing Eboue a yellow card for a dreadful challenge moments after the sending off while the red mists were still swirling.

Likewise, while Henry also questioned Barcelona's potentially offside equaliser he had no complaints about the non existant free kick that led to Arsenal taking the lead.

It was a pity that the expected showpiece was somewhat tarnished but it seems more reasonable to blame Lehmann for that than the ref. After all, he made a conscious decision to bring Eto'o down and he must have realised the consequences.

The pity was that not only had the game started superbly but so had Arsenal.

Passing quickly and precisely through the midfield the first five minutes were all theirs. They could easily have been in front as well. Perhaps they should have been.

Eboue got forward down the right to centre towards Henry and his turn was too much for the defenders with him. Having given himself a clear sight of the Barcelona goal, however, he could only hit his shot against Valdes. A good save but surely he should have scored.

Straight from the corner Henry was trying again, slamming in a shot from the left hand corner of the box which flew straight at the keeper who punched away.

Having ridden the early storm Barcelona began to call the tune and tested the Arsenal full backs with some searching passes out to either flank. With Eto'o strangely being put out on the left with Ronaldinho through the middle this was not causing the Arsenal defence too many problems.

Lehmann was forced into a couple of smart saves by Giuly and Deco but nothing too alarming.

At the other end Henry again undid some of his own good work with a weak ball towards Pires, who would have been clear, after making himself space with a magnificent first touch.

With the game shaping up the way everybody had hoped everything was suddenly thrown upside down with the dismissal of Lehmann. Eto'o moved off the flank for the first time and the damage to Arsenal was instantaneous. Ronaldinho sent him clear with a perfect pass and as he rounded the keeper Lehmann thrust out a hand to take Eto'o's ankle.

The referee awarded the free kick without waiting to see if an advantage might accrue. As it happened Giuly was on hand to put the ball into the empty net. Was the referee wrong? Technically no. There could be no doubting that Lehmann had committed a foul.

It was difficult to see how Arsenal could make much of a game of it from here on in, however. To their enormous credit they managed to.

Pires had to come off as Arsene Wenger sent on his reserve keeper Manuel Almunia. The big fear now was that Arsenal might still suffer double punishment from the free kick. Happily Ronaldinho's effort curled away from the post with Ashley Cole diving headlong after it to make doubly sure.

Within seconds of the game re-starting Eboue launched an ugly thigh high assault on Van Bronkhorst and Arsenal could think themselves fortunate to have as many as ten on. Thierry Henry did the right thing in grabbing hold of the youngster and imparting some words of wisdom into his dazed head. Eboue would respond with a sterling performance.

Although Arsenal allowed Barcelona possession out wide and sought to keep the middle areas congested there was always someone in claret and blue ready to slide an insidious ball down the channels between full back and centre half.

Ashley Cole produced a superb challenge to deny Giuly as he looked to get on the end of a brilliant Ronaldinho ball and when the same combination threatened danger again Almunia was the man alive to it. Kolo Toure, meanwhile, was on his way to setting some sort of record for number of interceptions in one game.

Arsenal had found it impossible to break out since going down to ten men but suddenly they found an outlet down the right. Eboue came on the end of a composed passing move and tried to burst into the box. Running beyond Puyol he suddenly flopped to the floor and the referee was convinced into giving the free kick. It was as bad a decision as he would give all night.

Henry whipped the free kick over to the penalty spot and there was Sol Campbell rising way in front of his marker to plant a magnificent header just inside the far post.

Given his track record in big games he must have been relieved to see the effort count. It could not have been a cleaner header though.

The half ended with inevitable Barcelona pressure giving Toure the chance to complete a couple more vital interventions before Eto'o, again moving into the centre to advantage, managed to turn Campbell to drive in a shot which Almunia somehow managed to divert onto the post with a flick of his right hand.

Half Time: Arsenal 1 Barcelona 0

Anybody who'd taken the Arsenal half time, Barcelona full time bet must have been thinking about their winnings at half time but Arsenal quickly showed that they were going to be just as durable after the interval as they had been before it. Barcelona were still mainly kept out wide with space in the central areas at a premium.

Deco hammered straight at Almunia before Iniesta, just on as a sub, also failed to extend the keeper from a far more promising position.

Thierry Henry's mood was not helped when he was then shown the yellow card for a fine challenge on Van Bommel.

The other supposed giant of the game was hardly putting on the kind of show he would have liked and was looking as anxious as anyone in the Barca side.

Although Ronaldinho ghosted around Eboue to test Almunia from the angle he was also spurning decent opportunities as the pressure increased.

He hit two truly ugly shots in succession when his free kick just outside the area was blocked straight back to him and then he went all Jamie Carragher on it with a dreadful miscue as he attempted a sidefoot finish from the edge of the box.

Toure then had to be careful as he dealt with an awkward centre from the right at the end of a wonderful Barcelona move. Although it did not look comfortable he averted the danger effectively once again.

Just past the hour mark Arsenal even began to force their way further upfield and looked dangerous as soon as they did so.

Both Hleb and Ljundberg had been excellent out wide but the Swede was outstanding. His pace and strength was too much for Olequer down the left wing and he looked capable of creating something for the Gunners.

Hleb got in a low drive which Valdes held confidently before Henry overran the ball after driving past Puyol and Marquez cutting in from the left. Ljundberg drove forward onto his own interception to force another save from Valdes as the momentum altered for the first time in the second period.

Oliquer was finally booked for hauling Ljundberg down again before Arsenal made their best chance since the first couple of minutes with twenty minutes remaining.

Hleb slipped a fine ball through for Henry but when a special finish was called for as he advanced on the right hand side of the box he could only manange a tame effort which Valdes dropped onto down to his right hand side.

Within moments Ronaldinho was responding with a cross shot of his own which fizzed a couple of yards wide.

Then Arsenal managed another break and Gilberto actually had an option as he looked forward. He favoured Fabregas over Henry with the defence stretched which never looked the best choice.

Fabregas was evidently shattered but it remained disappointing to see him leave the pitch to be replaced by Flamini. It was a move designed to invite pressure.

When the equaliser came, however, it was not the result of pressure. It came from virtually nowhere and had happened in the blinking of an eye. Eto'o started the move on the left wing but did the damage with a darting run into the box off the ball. When the ball was then played into the area Henrick Larsson slid a touch into his path and Eto'o did the rest from close range at Almunia's near post.

There was a definite suspicion of offside about the goal and Barcelona might have been fortunate that Larsson's touch was so deft that it had probably passed undetected by the officials.

With a quarter of an hour still to survive, and extra time after that if they managed it, this blow seemed likely to be fatal to Arsenal. Barcelona immediately tore back onto the attack and the resolve of the Arsenal back four had evidently been shaken.

Ronaldinho had already had time for one scuffed shot wide of the target before Barcelona took the lead only four minutes after equalising.

Larsson again was pivotal, holding the ball cleverly along the right hand bye-line before squeezing a slide-rule ball into Belletti's feet. He shot hard at Almunia and was lucky to see the ball cannon down off the keepers' leg and up into the net.

The remainder of the game was a painful exercise in keep ball as a shattered Arsenal side forlornly wandered after elusive possession.

Eventually their one man disadvantage had proved too great a burden to carry, manfully as they had tried to overcome it.

Of course we will never know how the final would have gone had it remained eleven against eleven but in giving the referee every right to send off their man Arsenal have little ground for complaint.

It should also be noted that had the goal stood it would not have been very easy to get back, even with eleven. Barcelona's mastery of possession and speed on the counter would have made that an extremely dangerous mission.

In the end it is simply a case of commiserations to Arsenal on a magnificent effort, not just on the night but throughout their European campaign, and congratulations to Barcelona, undoubtedly worthy winners of the competition.

Arsenal can take consolation from the fact that they were certainly capable of giving their illustrious opponents a game. The worry now is can they keep this side together and mount such a challenge again in the immediate future?

Full Time: Arsenal 1 Barcelona 2

Thursday, May 11
Middlesbrough Humbled In UEFA Cup Final

Middlesbrough 0 Sevilla 4

Middlesbrough's remarkable performances in reaching their first ever European final had led to a widespread optimism that they could finish the job and earn glory at the expense of the Spanish side Sevilla in Eindhoven last night. The reality proved to be painfully different.

On neutral territory, against superior opponents to any they had faced thus far, Middlesbrough spent the vast majority of the night chasing shadows. Once they had fallen behind here there was seldom any hint that they would recover.

Once they went two behind they were taken apart.

The game offered a lively opening which became less of a surprise as the night wore on. At no stage did either side attempt to stifle play. The trouble for Boro was that it was Sevilla calling the shots from the first whistle.

Only two minutes had gone when the Brazilian right back Daniel launched an attack that ended with him belting a shot a yard or so wide of Mark Schwarzer's right hand post.

Schwarzer was playing in a state of the art protective face mask. It was about the only protection he did receive.

On five minutes Boro were awarded a free kick 25 yards out which Rochemback leathered straight at the goalkeeper who parried back into the area. Only Chris Riggott was prowling and he was beaten to the loose ball by a defender. It would be a long time before the Sevilla keeper was tested again.

Sevilla were quicker all over the pitch, were far more incisive in their passing and their movement was light years ahead of Boro's. Steve McClaren's side was lined up in a notionally adventurous formation with two wingers and two strikers but they were consistently overrun in midfield and scarcely had the chance to feed Morrison and Downing on the flanks.

They did not help themselves. All over the pitch the Boro first touch was invariably heavy. Viduka flicked passes to nobody inparticular, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink simply hid, only emerging to beg for non-existant free kicks from the referee, and George Boateng embarked on one of his poorest games in a Boro shirt.

Most disturbing of all from an English point of view was Daniel's almost total mastery of Stewart Downing along Boro's left. The Brazilian was quicker, cleverer and far more dangerous. He would spend the night asking the winger questions which he was patently unable to answer.

Downing's only response was to shift the ball onto his left foot to try and barge his way through. Even that looked as though it might bring some reward when he forced the defender into a poor challenge that brought a yellow card but he was unable to repeat even such a basic test.

Twice in quick succession lightening raids down the Boro right saw balls being whipped into the near post from dangerous positions. Both times it was Riggott who managed a vital touch. On each occasion Schwarzer had to turn the ball behind for a corner but without Riggott's interventions the consequences would have been infinitely worse.

Although Boro were still unable to mount any real threat the game had entered something of a lull when Sevilla struck in a blinding flash. Daniel whipped in an early cross from the right which arrowed onto Adriano's head and a simple flick sent the ball bouncing in off the far post in an instant.

Within minutes Adriano was being allowed to advance to the edge of the Boro area and the English side were fortunate that his shot was too high.

Middlesbrough spent the rest of the first half trying to pose some kind of questions for the Sevilla defence but whenever they did find the feet of their forwards, which was not often, they generally squandered possession immediately. Viduka was trying to find colleagues but his radar was miles off while Hasselbaink was still collapsing under challenges and hoping for the best. Personally I thought his attitude to the game stank.

Half Time: Middlesbrough 0 Sevilla 1

Steve McClaren's response was to replace James Morrison with Massimo Maccarone. This only really amounted to a like for like swap and it was difficult to see why this would significantly alter the course of a game that was clearly out of Boro's control. The need to strengthen the midfield areas where Rochemback and Boateng were hopelessly outnumbered and outmanoeuvred seemed imperative.

McClaren looked to be trusting to the theory that Boro's name was written on the cup and that the gung-ho changes which had seen them through the previous rounds would work again. Sometimes logic is better than star gazing and this was one of them. Giant holes remained for Sevilla to pour forward into and it remained them who looked the more likely scorers.

Such a break saw the right winger Navas show his pace, this would be an increasing feature of the second half, and Adriano was inches wide from the centre.

Boro did start to create some attacking opportunities and their best chance of the night came shortly afterwards. Riggott headed a deep free kick back across goal and it landed perfectly at the feet of the onrushing Viduka six yards out. The striker made good contact and kept the ball down but it was directed straight at the exposed keeper and rebounded to safety.

Immediately Sevilla countered and Navas left Southgate blowing air only to shoot too close to Schwarzer who parried clear.

All the real quality was still being shown by the Spanish side. Their movement was often bewildering and the speed and accuracy of their delivery into the box was of a quality Boro could only dream of matching.

Riggott managed a wonderful clearance from one such ball in from the right while Boro also caused a problem with a right wing centre. Typically though, this only came about because Maccarone's ball was so badly mis-hit it turned into a shot which needed punching to safety at the near post.

Hasselbaink then skimmed the bar from a free kick but it was not enough to justify his continued presence on the pitch before the pesky Daniel again instigated and finished a slick passing move which saw Schwarzer saving at his near post.

Then Boro enjoyed their best two minute spell of the game and ended it justifiably aggrieved. Firstly their two forwards combined for the only time all night, Hasselbaink laying off into Viduka's path on the edge of the area. Viduka hit an instant shot of stunning power. The keeper never moved, there was no point, but the ball sped just the wrong side of the post.

Then the big Aussie was stupidly barged in the back as he rose to collect a right wing centre on his chest. It was an obvious foul but the German referee chose to ignore it, he must have seen it.

Within moments the game was over. Navas was again far too quick for the Boro defence, he fed Kanoute and although Schwarzer saved from point blank range Maresca was on hand to fire home the rebound.

Riggott, far and away Boro's best performer, made another timely intervention as Daniel again foraged forward to good effect but the reprieve was shortlived. Boro failed to clear properly and when the ball fell for Maresca on the edge of the box he sent a bouncing drive into the wall of Schwarzer's net.

Worse was to follow. With Boro threatening to lose it completely as experienced campaigners like Southgate and Boateng indulged in a series of niggly, petty fouls Sevilla scored a fourth. Again Schwarzer was only able to parry as his defence disintegrated and Kanoute was the man tapping home this time.

Although Boro had been denied a penalty with the score at 1-0 there was no doubting that the final scoreline did reflect the overall pattern of the game. The one question left unanswered by the end was how had George Boateng not been booked?

As for Steve McClaren he now leaves Boro on a low note, albeit a low note struck in a European final. He will have to get accustomed to his decisions and tactics coming under the kind of scrutiny they have never received previously as he takes over the England managers job. In this early test under the spotlight he failed spectacularly.

Although he could defend himself by saying that his team had simply lost to a better one that does nothing to justify his decision to keep introducing more forwards in a game where his side was being overrun, almost from start to finish.

This was not tactical awareness, it was a sort of trusting to a higher force. It will take a lot for McClaren to convince the mass that he is the best man to lead England.

Full Time: Middlesbrough 0 Sevilla 4

Friday, April 28
Middlesbrough Do It Again

It was deja vu at the Riverside last night as Middlesbrough once again managed to progress in the UEFA Cup despite finding themselves three goals down with just over an hour of the tie remaining. Last nights' effort against Steaua Bucharest managed to surpass the one against Basle in the previous round.

Middlesbrough came into this game on the back of Sundays' galling FA Cup semi final defeat, tired and somewhat patched up. It was easy to believe that a good start was required to have any chance of overturning the 1-0 defeat suffered in the first leg. The start they got could hardly have been worse.

With little over twenty minutes played Boro were two goals down (three on aggregate) and had lost their captain Gareth Southgate to a hamstring injury. Even the manner of the goals was designed to demoralise. Both came courtesy of spills by replacement goalkeeper Brad Jones, one was possibly excusable the other was shocking.

Football management really must be the most bizarre occupation in the world. On the day when Steve McClaren apparently lost out in the battle for the England job he would emerge with his stock at an all time high.

It's funny how little thought goes into defining a manager a champion or an idiot. There is no doubt that McClaren deserved his moment of glory at the end but it was almost as if he was being forced into the role of messiah against his will.

There is no doubt that McClaren's first instincts are those of caution, he has suffered vilification because of this consistently on Teeside and was suffering as recently as a couple of months ago. Even McClaren realises there is no point in caution when you need to score four goals in an hour, however. Therefore his decision to replace his hamstrung defender with the attacker Massimo Maccarone was hardly inspired thinking, just a case of needs must.

Of course he could have thrown on Yakubu instead and his hunch over the Italian would prove decisive. Within ten minutes Maccarone had reduced the deficit after being fed by Viduka who was proving a handful on his return from injury.

The big Australian would have been disappointed not to be on the scoresheet himself before half time as he failed to beat Carlos Alberto with two decent chances. It looked as though the Portuguese keeper might be about to thwart all Boro's ambitions when he made a smart stop to deny Viduka's low drive just after the interval as well. Thereafter, however, his performance disintegrated and his lack of composure spread through his defence like wildfire.

McClaren soon threw on Yakubu to replace Andrew Taylor and Boro continued to press. It has to be said that the manner in which they approached the situation was outstanding. They got bodies forward quickly and in numbers but managed to retain a decent shape and generally showed just enough patience to work the ball forward rather than lash it upfield in hope.

On a night when heroes would emerge everywhere it was Stewart Downing who really made the crucial impact, well, him and Carlos.

As the pressure intensified Bucharest's keeper showed himself to be excitable in his judgement on crosses. Basically he decided to come for everything with little regard for whether he was going to get there. Quality delivery was called for and Downing provided it.

The goal that really gave Middlesbrough belief arrived on 65 minutes when Downing sent a peach of a ball over curling out to the penalty spot. Carlos was lured from his line and was nowhere as Viduka got above the crowd to head into the unguarded net.

Fabio Rochemback then sent an absolute rocket from the best part of 30 yards which Carlos watched skim his bar but Boro were still quickly level when Riggott lunged to convert another Downing centre.

By now it was bedlam. Twice Bucharest defenders barged possession from their own keeper as panic set in. On the second occasion another defender almost kicked Carlos's head off as he plunged on the loose ball. All the signs were encouraging for Boro.

The pressure remained intense but, understandably, Boro found it harder to resist the direct approach as the minutes ticked away. It was still on the occasions that they worked it through Boateng and Rochemback out to the flanks that they really looked dangerous, however.

Inevitably when the winning goal did finally arrive, in the last minute, it came from another Downing centre. Having retrieved possession from a half clearance the winger showed good composure to beat his man on the outside before crossing. The centre was from an ideal angle to attack and it was Maccarone who forced his way onto it at the back post to head firmly past Carlos.

Delirium, and yet there was still injury time to survive and this included several nervy moments and a free kick in ideal territory for Bucharest but Boro held out for another famous and richly deserved win.

Can they now overcome Sevilla in Eindhoven to pull off one of England's finest European triumphs of all?

Wednesday, April 26
Gunners Heading For Paris

Arsenal's European campaign will go right to the wire after they clung onto the one goal lead they took to Spain last night. Their season continues to defy logic. It has peaked and troughed along the way but there has never been any hint that Arsene Wenger's side would end up almost totally reliant on the stubborness of their defence to secure glory.

They did so in the second leg of the quarter final when they had a two goal lead to protect in Juventus. They managed that without much alarm.

Sitting back on their one goal lead in Villarreal proved an altogether more uncomfortable experience. Indeed the Gunners were left more thankful for the wastefulness of their opponents finishing than for any great certainty in their own defending.

Despite having promised to keep one eye open for the chance of snatching the away goal which would surely have secured their passage to the final Arsenal rarely threatened. In fact they rarely threatened to threaten. Henry was an exposed figure for most of the night and ended up flicking ill advised passes to no-one in particular as the Gunners became ever more edgy.

Somehow they were holding on to what they had, however. All eyes were on Sol Campbell as he returned to high profile football for the first time since his traumatic night against West Ham, seemingly an eternity ago. Hardly surprisingly it was not the dominant Campbell of old. At the same time there were no glaring errors from the big man and that somehow seemed a good enough contribution. Can Campbell seriously be considered for World Cup duty though?

Arsenal faced other problems. Mathieu Flamini, the deputy left back, was forced off with a hamstring problem after just nine minutes. This brought Gael Clichy into the action after his prolonged lay off. This did not prove to be harmful to Arsenal's cause, however. Indeed Flamini may well have proved a liability as the home pressure increased during the night.

As it was Villarreal created enough chances to have at least taken the tie into extra time. In the first half the threat was more suggested than real. After the break clear chances arrived with alarming regularity.

The most regular culprit was Guillermo Franco but the best chances of all would fall to others. Franco did not call Jens Lehmann into action with headers when well placed on two occasions. Then he turned provider to give Diego Forlan an even better chance. His woeful shot wide of an exposed goal was totally in keeping with his spell with Manchester United and kept us all wondering about his prolific record in Spain.

Two minutes from time came the best chance of all. Clichy was adjudged to have fouled Jose Mari after both Campbell and Toure failed to deal with a cross and Villarreal had a penalty. The much vaunted Juan Roman Riquelme stepped forward but found his nerve not up to the task, Lehmann parrying his weak effort to safety with some comfort.

So Arsenal went through to the final and will now face either AC Milan or, more probably, Barcelona in the final. The ultimate dream of Arsene Wenger's, which has proved completely elusive in previous seasons, is now only one game away from becoming reality.

After this performance you wonder just how the Gunners will set about trying to make that dream come true. Will it be the smooth, flowing, attacking football for which they have become renowned over the past decade or will it be the new crab like side that splutters going forward but has forgotten how to concede goals?

One thing is for sure, you know it has been a strange season when you start getting accustomed to watching Arsenal defending as though their lives depend on it and waiting for Middlesbrough to provide the European thrills and spills.

Friday, April 21
Work To Do For Boro

Despite obviously wanting everything that is best for English football we at Football England always hope to avoid bias in favour of our sides. Therefore it is dangerous to fancy Middlesbrough's chances of reaching the UEFA Cup final after their 1-0 defeat away to Steaua Bucharest last night. After all, it was only yesterday that we were showing our confidence in Arsenal's prospects of progressing after they recorded a 1-0 home win in their first leg.

Middlesbrough obviously have the firepower to score goals in the second leg and demolished Basle to progress in the last round. The Romanians are less likely to play such an open game as the Swiss side did on that occasion, however, and the game could well be a niggly, tense affair. This time around it will be far more important for Boro to keep a clean sheet of their own.

Still, Middlesbrough must be reasonably happy with the situation going into next weeks second leg after a difficult evening in Bucharest. Despite performing with credit in the first half the game got tougher as it went on and they were indebted to Mark Schwarzer for several fine saves in the second half to keep the deficit managable.

There had been little hint of a threat before Bucharest took the lead in the 30th minute. Slack marking at a throw in allowed the move to originate and this resulted in Dica sending an emphatic drive high into the corner of the Boro net. The setback inspired a response and Boro hit the bar before half time when Aiyegbeni Yakubu challenged for a right wing centre and within moments James Morrison had tested the home keeper with a close range effort following a corner.

There was little to be seen of the Boro attack after the break, however, and the second choice centre half pairing of Ehiogu and Matthew Bates also deserve credit for diligent performances along with Schwarzer.

Steve McClaren will hope to have a full squad to pick from for the return and this does promise to be another night of high drama and tension on Teeside.

Thursday, April 20
Arsenal Almost There

There is no doubt that many Arsenal fans probably felt their team might blow Villarreal away completely in the first leg of their Champions League semi final tie at Highbury last night and might have come away slightly disappointed at their 1-0 win. This advantage, and the fact that they have not conceded an away goal, gives them every chance of going through in the return, however.

All the pressure is now on the Spanish side who have to consider how they will set about scoring the two goals which will be a minimum requirement to progress without a penalty shoot out, while ensuring that Arsenal do not score themselves. It would be a major surprise if the Gunners do not find the target in Spain.

Arsenal looked to take the game to their opponents at a tempo that would be unusual to them but perhaps knocked themselves out of their usual style in the process. The result was a lot of pressure and plenty of half chances but nothing particularly clear cut.

Thierry Henry did have the ball in the net after twelve minutes only to suffer from a hairline offside decision and Robert Pires curled a shot wide from the edge of the box which we have seen bulge the wall of the net on so many occasions in the past.

In between those efforts, however, the primary excitement had been provided by an invading squirrel. It was rats at Old Trafford earlier on in the season. These rodents certainly have a liking for the big occasion.

The goal Arsenal were craving arrived shortly before half time when Henry's reverse pass found Hleb for once benefitting from a split Villarreal defensive line and when he squared Kolo Toure got the vital touch in a near post scrum.

Despite feeling aggrieved at several offside decisions the Gunners were left with no real grounds for complaint when the referee decided against awarding the visitors a penalty when Gilberto's stupid lunge felled Jose Mari just inside the area. The official had been excellent in refusing to be conned when the Spaniards went to ground too easily but on this occasion there could be no doubting the foul.

The second half saw much of the same with many desperate blocks and clearances from Villarreal but little sign of the normal rapier like thrusts from the Gunners. Henry had his sides best chance of the half but could not make clean contact with a ball slightly behind him and saw his effort cleared from under the bar.

Villareal also spent the last quarter hinting at a possible threat without ever posing one.

The second leg could get a bit tense but I just cannot see Arsenal failing to score. If they were to do that early on in the game then it might become a question of how many they wish to score. If Villareal could get that first goal, however, who knows? It is certainly Arsenal in pole position at the moment, however.

Friday, April 7
Just Like The Good Old Days

For any of our readers not old enough to remember the great days of European football when teams used to regularly overcome big first leg deficits at home in the second leg last nights game at Middlesbrough was a throw back to those days.

On a greasy pitch in front of a big, passionate crowd Basle were swept away by an intense Boro performance with a little bit of help from the referee, something else you could generally rely on at home in the olden days. The only thing missing was the odd disgraceful challenge which used to be part and parcel of European ties.

Middlesbrough started as though they meant business in trying to overcome their two goal deficit. Yakubu had a great opening early on after the ref decided not to penalise his robust challenge on the keeper. Perhaps he was expecting to be pulled up because his finish was feeble.

Disaster struck, however, midway through the half when Da Silva put Basle further ahead, finishing easily at the back post when a deep free kick was headed back across goal. Having failed to score in Switzerland Boro now needed to score four.

Mark Viduka gave them hope by putting them on the scoresheet ten minutes later. The big Aussie showed good strength in riding a challenge just outside the box before scoring with a fierce drive. Despite the power the Basle keeper looked strangely disinterested in making an attempt at saving. It would not be the last time he watched one fly in.

Steve MacLaren sent on Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink for Morrison at the break to further strengthen his attacking options and the ploy worked well. The game became remarkably open as both sides went in search of further goals. Although this meant Boro were in danger of conceding the goal which would have completely killed their chances it was still encouraging as their attack looked dangerous everytime they went forward.

The goal they really needed again came from Viduka, who was looking really sharp. A fine pass from Yakubu sent him clear of the defence and Viduka calmly rounded the keeper before scoring with a fine shot back across the covering defender and into the far corner. Game on.

At this point I think I was enjoying the game more than any other Boro game I've ever seen. End to end, plenty of challenges flying in and being superbly refereed, I thought, with fouls being given when appropriate and players being told to get up and get on with it also at the right times.

This allowed players like Boateng and Southgate to consistently win possession back quickly for Boro without the game threatening to get out of hand. All good stuff.

Viduka sent another rocket skimming over the crossbar and he really was looking in the mood. It's no wonder people get fed up with him. When he plays like this he looks as good as anyone in the Premier League. For much of the time, however, he skulks and sulks with a bottom lip as big as his bottom.

Just to prove we try to say what we think at Football England on 65 minutes MacLaren sent on Maccarone for Quedrue. I made a note "should have given it another ten minutes". Boro were playing well, had control of midfield and looked capable of scoring at any moment. Putting on another forward looked a little bit premature.

Funnily enough I still think I was right. Boro lost some impetus and Maccarone fluffed most of the possession that came his way, as well as getting caught offside in annoying fashion.

Boro then got their big helping hand from the ref, however. After a minor altercation in the Boro box the official saw fit to show a Basle player a second yellow. This was totally unjustified in my view. The incident fell very definitely into the "something and nothing" category and certainly should not have seen a player walking.

This gave Boro the fresh boost they probably needed. Shortly afterwards they were looking towards the ref again when Viduka looked to have been brought down by a sprawling defender but this time they got nothing. Perhaps after the sending off he was a bit wary of being too much of a homer.

No matter, soon afterwards Jimmy Floyd saw one of his thunderbolts fly past the strangely statuesque keeper and Boro were level, still needing one more to go through.

Rochemback sent in another screamer that looked close but was actually nowhere near and Yakubu had a good headed chance that he couldn't convert.

With the pressure intensifying as the game entered injury time another shot from distance rebounded across the box and fell kindly into the path of Maccarone beyond the far post. From an angle the Italian sent a precise low drive towards the near post which the keeper could only help into the net, sparking frantic scenes of celebration.

There was still time for the Basle keeper to go forward for a corner and collect a harsh booking for a desperate attempt to kick something but the night very definitely belonged to Middlesbrough.

Good luck to them as they enter the last four.

Thursday, April 6
Gunners Can Do Boring

Arsenal proved that they are not above putting in a mundane performance if the reward is great enough in coming away from their trip to Juventus with a 0-0 draw.

In fairness Being Boring was the one thing that Juventus were better at over the two ties than Arsenal, that and losing discipline, and even faced with a two goal deficit the Italians found it difficult to overcome their natural caution to really put pressure on Arsenal in Turin.

Indeed, despite playing with far more restraint than is their norm Arsenal were by far the more adventurous of the two sides before half time and generally looked the more likely scorers. Rarely did Juventus suggest they might pull back one goal never mind the two they needed to have any hope of progressing.

This is turning out to be one of the most remarkable seasons ever for Arsenal. Only weeks ago the capability of their young side was being seriously questioned and their defence looked a mess. When Manchester United visited Highbury not so long ago it was widely expected that severe damage might be inflicted on the Gunners. The 0-0 draw that followed was probably an important achievement for the Arsenal defence at that time.

Now with the return at Old Trafford looming most people would be wary of picking a winner, Arsenal's defence is looking better than it has in ages and a fantastic game is in prospect.

Almost bizarrely the Gunners now hold the record for consective European clean sheets with eight, and counting. These things don't happen by accident and the influence of the two Ivorians, Eboue and Toure, has been profound. Quick, eager, strong and talented these two look genuine "total footballers".

Behind them Jens Lehmann has been a reassuring presence throughout this turbulent season and he dealt capably with the sporadic threat posed by Juventus last night. Senderos needs to perform at his current level for longer to convince that he is a star of the future but there is still the possibility that Ashley Cole will be the Arsenal left back for years to come. That would make three quarters of a genuine world class back four.

As with Henry, Cole's future is still possibly going to be defined by what happens in the Champions League. Arsenal have already firmly re-established themselves as a European force by reaching the semi finals. There will be massive disappointment now, however, if the club fail to overcome Villareal in the last four.

This might provide a different kind of pressure but it will be a major surprise if Arsenal do not reach the final given their present form. Even including Barcelona the Gunners look to have the most potent attack in the competition and the records state that they have the best defence.

We also suggested before Christmas that the emotion of it being the last season at Highbury might have some sort of effect on Arsenal's European campaign. Subconsciously this might have had a bearing. Against Villareal this will be more of a tangible effect.

The atmosphere will be extra special and nobody will want the night to be an anti-climax. It is the kind of occasion on which a player like Henry will want to leave his mark. That should be a worrying consideration for the Spaniards.

Friday, March 31
Boro On The Brink....Boom, Boom

The first thing to comment on after last nights UEFA Cup tie is the annoying pronunciation of the name of Middlesbrough's opponents.

I've always called Basle Baaal, if you know what I mean. I don't know if that's technically right or not but it's been good enough for me all these years so I see no reason to change now. The current fashion of calling them Basil annoys me intensely.

For starters it gets me thinking about Basil Brush and it just makes the fact that you're watching Middlesbrough and not the comic fox genius even more upsetting than it already was.

Call me old school but I don't see why we should start worrying about how to pronounce foreigners names now.

As for the game Boro face a huge task to progress to the semis after losing 2-0 in Switzerland. The game was surprisingly open and hinged around a three minute spell just before the break when both goals went in.

The first was the important one and it was a freakish event. When one of the Basil players cut in from the left (it might have been Chipperfield) and sent in a shot Chris Riggott decided to duck clean underneath it rather than head it clear or bring it down on his chest. Normally the effort wouldn't have unduly troubled Mark Schwarzer but the ball landed in a huge skid mark in front of him and ballooned over his dive at the near post.

It was an effort right out of the best traditions of Chipperfield's circus. A clown should probably have appeared from the stands and squirted water in Schwarzer's eye.

Moments later a swift attack down the right exposed Boro and Schwarzer made a feeble attempt to save at his near post.

The second half brought no solace by way of an away goal for Boro and also saw disturbances among the visiting contingent. All in all a bad night.

At least Riggott got back to make a goalline clearance from Chipperfield after a magnificent move had carved open the Boro defence.

It was also mildly diverting to see Emanuel Pogatetz have his nose smashed into pieces after having his eye mashed last Sunday. I know it's cruel but what else can you do?

Wednesday, March 29
Viera Oh Oh Oh

Having had to listen to Man United fans singing the song about Patrick Vieira giving the ball to Ryan Giggs and how little that left Arsenal wining that season they can now use it to their own advantage.

On a thoroughly miserable night for Juventus, Vieira's own personal nightmare was sealed when he was robbed by that renowned midfield scrapper Robert Pires in the build up to Arsenal's first goal in a 2-0 win. Later on he was booked and will miss the second leg. So will his two teammates who were sent off in the closing stages as all semblance of discipline vanished from the Italians performance.

Personally I was not really surprised to see the former Arsenal "giant" left in the slipstream of the current Arsenal midfield so often. I always thought he was a bit of a carthorse.

He was hardly helped by his mates, however, as an attacking looking line up was left to chase shadows for most of the evening. Encouraged by their visitors failings Arsenal ended the night looking every inch potential European champions.

The players taking most of the plaudits on the night were Cesc Fabregas and Thierry Henry. Fair enough. The pair both scored and assisted each other into the bargain.

Fabregas was light years ahead of the man he replaced in speed of thought and movement. His passing is also on a different level. To cap matters off he even put in a better foul on Vieira than the lumbering Frenchman was able to offer in return.

Henry ended up shredding the Juventus defence with chilling ease and was mainly responsible for their descent into pub team challenges which brought about the sendings off. Although these were the result of second yellows on both occasions both should really have been straight reds. It ended up embarrassing.

Credit must go to some of the support players too, however. Robert Pires gave his most impressive display of the season and Jose Antonio Reyes was also too quick and strong for the Juventus defence.

There is no question that Alexander Hleb is improving rapidly as his first season in English football draws to a close. Much of Hleb's passing is a delight and the ball he slipped through for Fabregas in the build up to the second goal was his best of all.

When Fabregas squared for Henry to control and score the Juventus defence was as spread eagled as it could have been for a very long time.

Arsene Wenger had a slight moan that the third goal which he felt was there for the taking had not arrived but he must have been thrilled by what he had seen. A side that looked remarkably fragile a month or two ago now looks capable of bringing him the ultimate triumph. There is no doubt that a lot of the credit for this goes to Kolo Toure who looks more dominant at centre half every time he steps out.

For all the magnifcent stuff being played at the other end the transformation of Arsenal's season could not have occured without the defence getting its' act together. Toure cannot be far away when the Gunners player of the season is sorted out.

Thursday, March 16
UEFA Cup Update

I'm not sure whether any mention of the UEFA Cup has been made previously on this site and there seems little need to apologise for this. The format of this competition now seems designed to bore everybody rigid and, with the proper amount of respect, the presence of Bolton and Middlesbrough as our representatives was hardly likely to increase the pulse rate.

Of course one of our big guns had the chance to make an impression after an early exit from the Champions League but Everton's brief flirtation with the competition was less then successful.

Bolton's leaden footed march through Europe came to a halt in Marseille in the previous round which left Middlesbrough alone in the last sixteen and a meeting with Roma at last gave the fans something to capture the imagination. It obviously wasn't that tempting, however, as the attendance for the first leg at the Riverside was still lower than for any league game there this season.

Boro eked out a typically hard faced 1-0 lead to take to Rome after a Aiyegbeni Yakubu penalty and they managed to win through to the quarter finals courtesy of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's headed goal last night.

Boro hardly went hell for leather in search of the away goal they must have felt they would need to progress but were admirably clinical in taking their first opening of the night. It was perhaps as well, there would only be one more.

Stewart Downing was the architect, making ground quickly before supplying a cracking ball which the in form Hasselbaink put away with the minimum of fuss. Downing also made Boro's one other chance later on in the night but Yakubu was unable to force that one home.

Roma would have fancied their chances after drawing back level on aggregate with almost half an hour still remaining. Ray Parlour had only just been sent on to shore things up when he conceded the penalty which gave Roma the lead on the night.

Although Boro's progress can be seen as a feather in Steve MacLaren's cap it is this kind of negative thinking which alienates many Teeside fans and is a worry with regard to his influence in the England set up.

Boro's away goal still gave them the advantage, however, and their defence remained resolute to see the club through to a famous triumph.

Gareth Southgate was outstanding and has certainly been an excellent servant to the English game. It is almost nine years ago now that Southgate was similarly assured in the same stadium as England clinched qualification to the 1998 World Cup finals. An unsung hero if ever there was one.

Thursday, March 9
Arsenal's Foreign Legion Left To Fly The Flag

This weeks events in the Champions League have provided a resounding body blow to those people who choose to consider the Premier League as the greatest in the world. After setting out in the competition with five representatives we have now been whittled down to one at only the quarter final stage. And while Arsenal did progress to the last eight after a superb victory over Real Madrid they did so without using one English player. Not the best of weeks in European football for Dear Old Blighty.

Liverpool's surrender of their title came in an appropriate manner, failing to score against in either leg against perhaps the weakest side left in the competition. This may be doing Benfica an injustice, however, pretty much the same was thought of Porto when they knocked Manchester United out on their way to winning it a couple of years ago.

Liverpool made a ferocious start as they sought, with the help of the fabled Anfield atmosphere, to overwhelm their faint hearted opponents. This approach should have brought some reward as early chances were created. None were taken, however.

Peter Crouch will claim bad luck after seeing a shot deflected onto the post but can have no explanation for the timid prod he sent at the keeper after being released by Gerrard. On other occasions the lanky striker was simply too slow in moving to capitalise on other reasonable openings. Of course his latest failure has once more been ignored by a fawning media, the nearest thing to criticism being the suggestion that he is lacking confidence. Lacking ability is the correct diagnosis. Nobody in the media is brave enough to say this, even though most probably think it privately, but in the not too distant future Crouch's transfer fee and England caps will have become the stuff of legendary ridicule.

At present, however, we have to listen once again to how good he is every time he manages to trap a ball. It is the reaction you get when the worst player in your pub side doesn't slice his clearance into touch for a change. It gets him a few compliments in the boozer afterwards, before everyone goes back to taking the mickey out of him, but it doesn't get him a transfer to Liverpool and it doesn't get him in the England team.

As for Morientes, I don't really know what to say. Maybe someone should do some DNA tests on that guy just to make sure it is the same player we used to watch on the tele and not some evil imposter.

With those two firing blanks Benitez turned to Cisse, once again stuck on the wing where he is virtually pointless, and Fowler. Now Fowler cartainly has talent and we know he can finish but a lot of fuss was made over his return considering that although he wasn't injured he was deemed not fit to play. Does anyone seriously think that at this stage of his career Robbie is going to get any fitter. His signing looks little more than a gimmick.

Indeed both he and Morientes look in danger of becoming victims of the Benitez way of playing. The direct, powerplay approach is designed to render gifted touch players ineffective. It can stifle more than the opposition, Rafa.

Benfica, having survived the opening onslaught, showed more composure in possession and scored two outstanding goals, one in either half, to progress. Liverpool spent the last half hour, having withdrawn what width they had, slamming long balls directly down the middle of the pitch. It has been well known for a long time that these are the easiest balls in football to defend but it was all that the former European champions had left to offer.

Arsenal's foreign legion fared better in their meeting with Real Madrid. Leading one nil from the first leg the Gunners were faced with a tricky decision as to how to approach the game at Highbury but the game had an irresistable flow to it from the start that made the decision for them.

Chances arrived at both ends with predictable regularity and it was almost astonishing that the game should finish goalless, the one result I reckon even Minty would have thought most unlikely. There was no doubt that, as in Madrid, Arsenal were the more likely scorers, however.

Thierry Henry, again operating alone up front, was a constant threat while Jose Antonio Reyes, for an hour, gave his most convincing display of a disjointed season.

It was undoubtedly the much criticised rearguard that took most of the plaudits on the night after recording another shutout against the Galacticos. Jens Lehmann drew praise from Arsene Wenger, and rightly so, although Kolo Toure is in danger of becoming the Gunners most crucial player. His compatriot Emmanuel Eboue has also made a magnificent start to his career in England.

Much comment has been made about the ageing state of the Madrid team and this was only emphasised by the lean, youthful zest shown by the Gunners. Toure's almost disdainful robbing of Zidane and Gilberto Silva's expert dispossessing of Ronaldo as he looked to have broken through were the highlights of an excellent nights work. Those players are not as great as they once were, however, and there will be greater challenges ahead for the Gunners. They, alone, will await the draw with vested interest and will feel they have a fighting chance against anyone. I'm sure everyone at Highbury would settle for Barcelona being paired with one of the Italian sides left in, however.

Tuesday, March 7
Chelsea Fall Short In The Miracle Department

Nobody really dared say it but the chances of Chelsea making it through to the last eight of the Champions League after losing the first leg to Barcelona at Stamford Bridge were always practically nil.

Jose Mourinho does have an aura of invincibility but in truth the triumphs we have seen him orchestrate have all been of the highly methodical, structured type. Everything in the right order and everybody doing exactly as they ought.

To triumph here Mourinho's side would have had to produce something very much out of the ordinary, something magical. Above all something totally out of character. Whereas you might have secretly fancied the Manchester United side of 1999 to pull this one out of the fire they were a team built for adventure, who were capable of overcoming the odds because they were born chancers themselves. Mourinho does not build his sides that way and while it reduces the possibility of them ever experiencing nights like United had in Turin and Liverpool bizarrely conjured in Istanbul it gives them every possibility of collecting the Premier League title year after year for the foreseeable future.

Of course it should be added that if Chelsea had prevailed here it would have eclipsed United's comeback against Juventus and possibly even Liverpool's against Milan, which is surely best filed in the drawer marked "Flukes".

Mourinho's starting line up in the Nou Camp looked adventurous enough with Duff, Robben and Joe Cole all selected to support Drogba but there was precious little true daring in the performance. Chelsea still seemed intent on waiting for Barca to come out and play so they could hit them on the break. Shrewdly the home side took no undue risks.

Forced to try and break the home side down Chelsea could fashion only a handful of chances and only Cole looked truly likely to hurt Barca.

Robben made one decent run but got no real power on his shot while Drogba might have done better with a close range header which he could not direct far enough back across goal. Cole was then unlucky to see an instinctive lob fall just over the bar.

Chelsea's best move of the night, in the second half, saw Cole whip a superb ball into the near post but Crespo, on as a sub, could only poke it wide at the near post. This was an uncharacteristically clumsy effort but it is always harder to do things under pressure and for once it was Chelsea with their backs to the wall.

There had been moments of danger at the other end and when Barcelona did eventually open the scoring it could hardly be counted as a surprise. Ronaldinho slipped through the middle of the Chelsea defence, sending Terry flying as he rode his challenge, before shooting past Cech. The goalkeeper had been left exposed but his attempt to save was nevertheless flimsy.

Eto'o could have punished Chelsea further as gaps began to appear but hit the outside of a post before Chelsea were spared defeat by a possibly generous penalty in the last few seconds of the game. The general consensus seemed to be that the decision was incorrect although I actually thought it was fair enough. You can't tackle from behind, which is what Van Bronkhurst did, and he seemed to clip Terry's ankle before playing the ball.

In the greater scheme of things it was all irrelevent, other than allowing Mourinho to harp on about Barca never beating them when it's 11 a-side. Give it a rest Jose. Over the two games you have been beaten fair and square and for all your whining you've had the best of the refereeing decisions.

The question now is will Barcelona go on to win the thing or will they falter as Chelsea did last season after coming through the same fixture? It will take a good team playing at the top of their game to stop them, that's for sure.

As for Chelsea, they'll have another shot at it next season and for several seasons after that unless something truly incredible happens. Sooner or later you have to imagine they will win it but it might just take a bit longer than their demanding manager would like. Unless he signs Ronaldinho of course.

Thursday, February 23
Great Game; Bad Loser

Jose Mourinho has certainly made an impression in England, not just since arriving at Stamford Bridge but from the moment he went skipping down the Old Trafford touchline celebrating Porto's fortuitous victory over Manchester United which sent them on towards Champions League glory and him to self imposed importance and immortality.

It is hard not to have an opinion on Mourinho given the fact that he apparently goes out of his way to keep the greatest possible distance between himself and any lurking fences whenever he opens his mouth, which is often.

His opinions are often brutal and if you don't like them then its your problem not his. He does not come across as someone particularly interested in any point of view other than his own.

For him to retain credibility then it is important that when he does venture to opine his comments remain reasonably close to what can be considered or construed as fair and accurate. In general he has done so. Last night, after suffering a bitter, almost certainly fatal defeat to Barcelona Mourinho's opinions veered so far from the truth as to make him look either silly or painfully biassed and, above all, a very bad loser.

It is comparatively easy to put yourself forward as a man of integrity and honesty when you are in charge of a side that wins virtually every game it plays. How you conduct yourself in defeat is likely to say a lot more about you. Last night Mourinho faced that test and failed it miserably.

Whether he actually meant what he said when claiming Asier Del Horno should not have been red carded for his ridiculous challenge on Lionel Messi and then basically calling the Barcelona man a cheat we do not know, but that is what he said.

The truth of the matter is that Del Horno had been totally incapable of handling Messi from the first minute. He was fortunate to have escaped punishment for a similarly ugly challenge on his tormentor minutes before the thigh high lunge which was never intended to play the ball and resulted in his dismissal.

Another truth is that Chelsea have been courting some such punishment all season long and getting away with it. In fact if a few Premier League referees had had the nerve to officiate strongly at Stamford Bridge this season then Chelsea might have been forced out of the frame of mind which allows them to believe they can do whatever they please at home and get away with it.

Not that they didn't receive any assistance from the referee again last night. Geremi could easily have been punished for a handball by the award of a penalty and John Terry certainly should have been when, having just distinguished himself by clearing off the line, he chose to bulldoze an opponent to the ground in pursuit of the rebound.

Mourinho's comments are more likely intended to try and influence in some way the outcome of the second leg but they do himself, his team and the game in general no favours. Respect for your opponents is a vital part of the game, everything bad in football comes from the lack of this quality.

Off the field, at least, these two clubs seem to have none for each other. This is a great pity because on it they have served us up with three real treats and you sense the quality would be even better if the sides were intent on only playing football.

Chelsea came out of this game, even in defeat, with massive credit and yet it is telling that most of this glory was earned after they had gone a man down and were facing the mother of all uphill struggles.

At 11 a side Barcelona had looked by far the better side without quite showing the urgency in front of goal to confirm this.

When Chelsea came out for the second half with Drogba on for Crespo and obviously intent on ruffling a few Barcelona feathers in the right way their efforts, and abilities, were incredible.

Makelele was effective as usual but the real plaudits go to Lampard and Gudjohnsen for their part in carrying the game to Barcelona in such a determined manner. Gudjohnsen's ability to adapt to a scheming midfield role really does take you back to the total football concept of the Dutch sides of the 1970's and it is certainly a pity that his talents are never likely to be seen on a major international stage.

Having opened the scoring when Lampard's driven free kick was turned into his own net by Thiago Motta it was always likely that Chelsea's job was going to become even more difficult and so, with over half an hour still to play, it proved.

Barcelona's response was almost frightening. With Silvinho and Henrik Larsson on to give even more attacking options Chelsea were put through a thirty minute ordeal.

With Ronaldinho, Deco, Eto'o and the irrepressible Messi already tormenting the home defenders Barcelona swept forward with waves of bewilderingly quick, incisive movements.

The inevitable equaliser came from another own goal, Terry flicking an inadvertant header over the excellent Petr Cech and was followed eight minutes later by a close range Eto'o header in front of a static Paulo Ferreira.

Not that Chelsea succumbed meekly. Moments before the games decisive goal Gudjohnsen's best moment of the night saw him put Drogba through for a great chance. The different assets of Drogba and Crespo have been widely discussed recently and they were never more apparent than last night.

Drogba had done much to keep Barcelona occupied for the ten men Chelsea where Crespo had been annonymous. When this chance came, however, there is no doubt who anyone with Chelsea's interests at heart would have wanted on the end of it. Sure enough Drogba fluffed his lines.

It will now take something absolutely extraordinary for Chelsea to progress in the Nou Camp and yet it is the kind of challenge a man like Mourinho will relish. Although you could take issue with his post match comments there was no doubt that once again his managerial skills had passed the test in his handling of affairs after Del Horno's dismissal last night.

To pull this tie round, however, Chelsea are going to need more than just the "Special One". Everybody in the squad is going to have to be that little bit special in Barcelona for them to win through.

Wednesday, February 22
Arsenal's Night To Remember

Having spent all season tearing Arsenal's away performances to pieces it gives me great pleasure to report on one of the finest European displays, home or away, given by anyone anywhere in a long time.

As always with Arsenal the silver lining comes with a cloud. It is an unlikely grumble but a valid one that the Gunners, while basking in the rightful glory their stunning performance earned, should be disappointed that they returned home with only a one goal lead from Madrid when a four goal margin of victory would hardly have flattered them.

It is still possible that this profligacy might come back to haunt them.

It has also got to be mentioned that in becoming the first English team to beat Real Madrid in the Bernebeu they did so without having an Englishman on the pitch.

This is not meant as a snipe at the club but it is a fact and it is difficult to know when the current flood of imported players might stop and what the ultimate effect on the English game will be.

Indeed, looking at it from an English point of view it was slightly difficult to know where to place an allegiance early on as Real Madrid did actually start the game with two Englishman on the field.

From the moment Reyes could, maybe should, have opened the scoring in the opening moments this question was answered. Perhaps neither of these two teams were playing "English" football but there was something very uplifting about Arsenal's play and something vaguely nauseating about Madrid's.

Let's be fair, this was not Arsenal at their best. As often as not they carved out their chances after being gifted possession somewhere around the halfway line with almost everyone in a white shirt piling forward with abandon.

Two or three quick, accurate passes and the Gunners were in. They have had to work harder to break sides down in the past and they have certainly been more ruthless in front of goal.

And yet this was Real Madrid in their own back yard and it takes a special performance to leave with a victory at any time. Credit in the first instance must go to Arsene Wenger for the positive approach he ordered from his players. From the first whistle Arsenal were hunting the opportunity to get at Madrid and committing men forward when these chances arose.

Would any other English side have adopted this approach at this venue? Liverpool certainly wouldn't. Neither would Manchester United. Alex Ferguson would have adopted the same formation but you would scarcely have seen two men together in the Madrid half all night. And if Madrid had been allowed to dictate possession and territory there would surely have been only one outcome.

Chelsea might have been more positive but they could scarcely have dominated the game more comprehensively than Arsenal did last night.

There were big games being played all over the park by Arsenal players who have offered little away from Highbury in the Premiership all season. Nowhere more obviously than in midfield.

Cesc Fabregas has performed pretty well during this difficult season in general but last night he was immense. His passing and movement dictated the game for well over an hour and offered a stark contrast to the individual contributions of the Madrid superstars.

Reyes and Ljundberg, who have looked jaded in recent weeks were also outstanding and offered a consistent threat in support of Henry. Reyes, in particular, gave the Brazilian right back Cicinho a torrid time, indeed how he escaped being sent off after a series of fouls on the winger was hard to fathom.

At the back the two men from the Ivory Coast, Toure and Eboue, were absolutely magnificent in dominating Ronaldo and Zidane and behind them Lehmann enjoyed another night of calm authority.

And up front there was Henry. Definitely not his best nights work. On top form he would have left with a hat trick and yet he did more than enough to have had the big boys around Europe drooling.

In contrast to Ronaldo he looked a thoroughbred against a carthorse. It was perhaps fitting that the portly Brazilian should be the first man he cruised away from in scoring the nights only goal. Of course, when this goal did come it had to be a classic.

Indeed, the game almost seemed to boil down to being one side that could run and one that couldn't and the question Jose Mourinho once asked did keep crossing my mind, "What exactly is a Galacticos?"

And yet it cannot be ignored that Madrid still had their chances, the best of them falling to Beckham, and I would certainly expect them to perform a whole lot better at Highbury when, even though they are in front, it will be difficult for Arsenal to shield their back four so well.

It would be fantastic if Ashley Cole was fit to take a place in this game but if he isn't Arsenal will again be vulnerable down their left side and be wary of the need to protect Senderos in the middle.

And yet if they were to make only half the chances they wasted last night again then you would expect them to take three of them.

All in all, last night was a cracker and I expect the second leg to be just as good.

In the other tie involving an English side Liverpool followed Manchester United's lead by losing away to Benfica.

This game had little of the quality and even less of the excitement that the Madrid Arsenal game offered.

Liverpool, as is their wont, looked happy enough to stay 0-0 against a side they looked better than. Although they will be confident of overcoming the 1-0 defeat they ended up sustaining there will be little margin for error at Anfield and their lack of goals always leaves them suspect should Benfica manage an away goal.

The Portuguese defence did not look one best suited to coping with the high octane pressing game they will encounter in the second leg though and I expect Liverpool to come through.

The Arsenal tie I'm not entirely sure about. That one could become a white knuckle ride for all concerned.