European Champions League

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 nastin