AC Milan European Champions

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In the Champions League Final Two years ago, Liverpool came back from being 0-3 down at half-time to equalise and then beat AC Milan on penalties. Wednesday saw a chance for Milan to get their revenge in a repeat of the 2005 edition.

As is so often the case with finals – perhaps because of nerves, or the pressure to win, or fear of losing – this was not a particularly exciting affair. Liverpool had the better of the first half but went in for the half-time oranges 0-1 down to a freak goal; on the stroke of half-time, Andrea Pirlo took a free kick that deflected off the chest of eventual Man-of-the-Match Filippo Inzaghi and past the wrong-footed Reds ‘keeper Pepe Reina. 

The second half was more even, but Liverpool’s hopes of turning the game around were shattered on 82 minutes when Kaká (who else?) put a perfect pass through to Inzaghi, who coolly finished. Dirk Kuyt cut the deficit with a close-range header a minute from time, but it was too little, too late for Liverpool and they left Athens empty-handed, while Milan picked up their 7th European Cup.

The presentation of the cup to Milan’s veteran captain Paolo Maldini – still playing at 38 and lifting this particular trophy for an astonishing 5th time – saw an unusual and welcome bit of sportsmanship from Milan, whose players formed a tunnel and applauded the Liverpool players as they trudged up to get their losers’ medals, the sound of the Reds’ anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ ringing in their ears. It was sung by thousands of dejected but proud Liverpool fans – the lucky ones who could get into the stadium.

UEFA were criticised before and after the game for its method of allocating tickets to the two clubs, who got only 17,000 each for the 64,000-capacity stadium. Of that allocation, thousands of tickets went to the corporate sponsors of the two clubs, which meant that the true fans got even fewer.

This did not deter supporters without tickets, especially those of Liverpool, from travelling to Athens simply to be close to the action, or in the hope of buying a black-market ticket. These were changing hands for hundreds of euros, and in some cases the money was spent on forgeries.

At the game, those fans with forged tickets were turned away, but as kick-off time approached, and pressure increased at the turnstiles, some fans (once again, especially Liverpool’s) were able to force their way into the stadium, whether they had a forged ticket or no ticket at all. This meant that once the stadium was full, fans who had genuine tickets and who arrived a little later were turned away, causing disturbances at the gates as they clashed with the police.

Elsewhere in Athens, other supporters had the chance to see the game on giant screens, but with the police presence concentrated in the stadium, there was also trouble between rival fans. But we have to spare a thought for 150 unlucky Liverpool fans who were left back in England after their charter flight was grounded for technical reasons.

Back to the football, Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez was magnanimous in defeat: “We lost against a good team with top-class players,” he said. His opposite number, Carlo Ancelotti, who has won the Cup twice as a player and now twice as a coach, was understandably delighted: “It's an extraordinary achievement - the greatest victory we've had.”

by Phil Town

Chelsea win the Cup

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Manchester United and Chelsea have been neck-and-neck in the Premiership all season, they both got to the Champions League semi-finals, and on Saturday they met in the very first FA Cup Final at the new Wembley Stadium. It was perhaps appropriate that the two best teams in England should be involved in this historic match, but their closeness in terms of quality (“There was nothing between the two teams - neither deserved to lose or win,” said United manager Sir Alex Ferguson) turned out to be a recipe for football that was less than exciting. Chelsea coach José Mourinho claimed a tactical victory, including having “a minimum of six players behind the ball line, so that when you lose the ball you have those six players there”. There was, therefore, very little goalmouth action, and both sides appeared content to pass the ball around in midfield most of the time, with only the occasional goal opportunity interrupting the tedium.

Alex Ferguson also pointed to a certain amount of fatigue in his players: “It’s been an exhausting season with a lot of matches,” he said. United, like Chelsea, have been involved in four competitions, and most of the players have played between 50 and 60 games.

United star Cristiano Ronaldo was marked out of the game, and it was left to Wayne Rooney to provide the most danger for his team with a couple of strong runs on goal. Chelsea’s most dangerous player, as always, was Didier Drogba, and the Ivorian striker did in fact prove decisive; five minutes before the end of extra time, when everyone was thinking that the stalemate would only be broken by penalties, he performed a delightful one-two with Frank Lampard before prodding the ball past the oncoming Edwin van der Sar for his 33rd goal of the season. United had claimed a goal in the first half of extra time when Ryan Giggs slid into Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech and the ball was carried over the line, but it didn’t count and Drogba’s did. And Chelsea had their fourth FA Cup title.

So it was John Terry who will be remembered as the first captain to climb the new Royal Box steps (possibly for the last time as Chelsea’s captain since there are rumours that he will be leaving the club) to receive the FA Cup, on this occasion from Prince William; seven years ago, the then Chelsea captain Dennis Wise lifted the same trophy in the last FA Cup Final at the old Wembley, Chelsea having beaten Aston Villa 1-0.

It’s taken a long time and an awful lot of money (an estimated £750m – over a billion euros) for the new Wembley to be conceived, designed, built and inaugurated, and it’s certainly a magnificent stadium, with a massive, unique arch replacing the similarly iconic twin towers of the old Wembley. The game has moved on, though, and comfort is now the key for the 90,000 spectators who can fit into the stadium: there is more leg room between the seats, there are more refreshment facilities (albeit much more expensive than of old), and there are now 2,618 toilets (as opposed to 361 before). The view of the pitch is also much better, and access to and from the stadium, notably along the famous Wembley Way, is far smoother.

In three months’ time, the two teams will return to this beautiful stage to contest the Community Shield, the opening game of the English season between the Premiership Winners (United) and the FA Cup Winners (Chelsea). We can only hope that it’s a more enjoyable game than this Final.

Mourinho, who spoke after the game as if he will be staying at Stamford Bridge, said that he will need reinforcements, notably a central defender, a midfielder and a striker (mainly to cover for Essien, Mikel, Drogba and Kalou when they are absent on international duty for the African Cup of Nations.) And he called for Chelsea to give key players John Terry and Frank Lampard new contracts. United, on the other hand, are already diving into the transfer market, their eyes on Bayern Munich’s English international Owen Hargreaves. At £17 million (roughly €25 million), it seems that money will once again be talking in the coming close season.

by Phil Town

Relegation battle decided

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It was quite a dramatic last day in the Premiership, but as the title had been decided a week before, most of the drama was happening at the foot of the table.

Watford were relegated some time ago, and Charlton joined them during the week when they lost to Tottenham; Alan Pardew was unable to keep them up after taking over from Alan Curbishley mid-season. It was therefore a straight contest to avoid being the third relegated club between Wigan Athletic, Sheffield United and … West Ham, coached by the very same Alan Curbishley.

West Ham had won six of their last eight games, but their final one was against Champions Manchester United, and although United put some of their stars on the subs’ bench (with the FA Cup Final against Chelsea on the horizon), it was always going to be difficult to get a result at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ … especially as United received the Premiership trophy before the game and must have wanted to reward their fans with a decent display. But the improbable happened, and Carlos Tevez gave the Hammers the goal that lifted them out of the drop zone. In the end, then, it was seven wins out of the last nine games … and West Ham got the double over United.

As fate would have it, the other two clubs fighting for their survival had to play each other: Sheffield United, in their first season back in the top flight, and Wigan. The latter came out 2-1 winners, helped by an inexplicable handball in the area by Sheffield United’s Phil Jagielka. David Unsworth scored from the spot against the club he was playing for at the beginning of the season.

The result meant that Sheffield United were relegated (the two teams finished on the same points, but the Blades’ goal difference was inferior to the Latics' … by one goal!). That may not, however, be the end of the story. Sheffield United may take legal action to seek reinstatement after West Ham were recently found guilty of transfer irregularities (involving Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano) but only received a fine (£5.5 million, roughly €8 million), while in other divisions, clubs have had points deducted for similar infractions. “We have played to the rules of the Football League, whereas another club has not,” said the Blades Chairman Kevin McCabe. He said that his club stands to lose an estimated £50 million (€73 million) because of the relegation, meaning that West Ham will no doubt gain at least that much from their survival … which makes the £5.5 million fine seem a rather insignificant amount.

Elsewhere, Tottenham, Everton and Bolton qualified for the UEFA Cup. Reading, in their first ever season in the Premiership, missed out on Europe by a single point after drawing 3-3 in a thriller at Blackburn, but their 8th place was the highest they’ve ever finished – an historic effort. The Royals’ coach Steve Coppell is a local hero and will be taking the club into new adventures next season, but some of his counterparts at other clubs were less fortunate: Glenn Roeder left Newcastle, Paul Jewell resigned at Wigan, and Stuart Pearce was sacked at Manchester City.

(The BC Blog Premiership Mini-Awards):

Most Attractive Football: Manchester United.
Dullest Football: Chelsea
Biggest Surprise: Reading
Biggest Under-Achievers: Newcastle United (again)
Most Exciting Player: Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham)
Dirtiest Player: Ben Thatcher (Manchester City)
Most Astute Coach: Steve Coppell (Reading)
Most Stylish Coach: José Mourinho (Chelsea)

by Phil Town

Manchester United champions

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Manchester United are the English Champions. They won their own game on Saturday and Chelsea needed to win on Sunday to keep the title race alive. They didn’t, and it isn’t.

United travelled across town to face Manchester City. City’s Michael Ball was in the spotlight on three occasions: early in the game he stomped on Cristiano Ronaldo when the Portuguese forward was on the ground (worth a red card but it wasn’t shown), then he tripped the same player to give United a penalty on 34 minutes (CR scored from the spot – his 17th of the season), and ten minutes from time he was fouled by Wes Brown in the area (Darius Vassel’s penalty was blocked by goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar’s legs). City haven’t scored at home since January 1st, and on this form, it’s quite understandable why.

United’s players, coaching staff and fans were ecstatic after the game because they knew they were within touching distance of the trophy … but Chelsea were still in with a mathematical chance of catching them; all they had to do was beat Arsenal to keep their hopes alive. But the result of this game was also influenced by a penalty; just before the break, Khalid Boulahrouz brought down Júlio Baptista, and Gilberto scored from the spot. Boulahrouz was sent off, putting Chelsea at an extra disadvantage. Essien’s header 20 minutes from time re-launched Chelsea, but they couldn’t find the net again and the draw wasn’t enough.

Alex Ferguson didn’t want to watch the game, but couldn’t help himself and saw the last 15 minutes: “My heart was in my mouth”, he said. Chelsea coach José Mourinho was gracious in defeat but proud of his own team: “I have to congratulate the Champions”, he said, adding: “My players are heroes … The season was magnificent.” The two teams meet at Stamford Bridge in the week in what is now an academic question. But they meet again in the FA Cup Final on May 19th, a chance for Chelsea to get some revenge.

It’s United’s first title since 2003, their 16th in their history and their ninth under Sir Alex Ferguson. Chelsea’s hopes of four trophies in the season have been shot down in flames in a dismal week that also saw them knocked out of the Champions League by Liverpool.

Liverpool lost at Fulham, a result that allowed Arsenal to draw level with them on points and dragged Fulham out of trouble … for the time being. West Ham’s win at home to Bolton, Wigan’s home defeat to Middlesbrough and Sheffield United’s 0-3 defeat at Aston Villa keep the struggle to avoid the drop open.

Liverpool and Arsenal are assured of a Champions League place, while the teams in 5th, 6th, and 7th will go into the UEFA Cup; Everton look practically there, with Bolton, Reading, Portsmouth, Tottenham and Blackburn fighting it out for the other two spots.

Blackburn got a good 2-0 win at Newcastle, who are in no-man’s land in the table … and that’s not good enough for a club with the ambitions of the Magpies: manager Glenn Roeder has left (whether he resigned or was sacked is in doubt), and former Bolton boss Sam Allardyce is rumoured to be in line to take over.

Celtic, already Champions in Scotland, have had a really poor end to the season, aggravated on Saturday when they lost 0-2 to eternal rivals Rangers. The result confirms Rangers’ runners-up place in the table and a place in the final qualifying round for the Champions League next season.

by Phil Town

Sometimes there is no logic in football

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Sometimes there is no logic in football: the sides that are currently best in England have been knocked out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage, Chelsea by the team that is third in the Premiership, Liverpool, 18 points behind top club Manchester United, and the latter by AC Milan, third in Série A, a massive 28 points behind top club and city rivals Inter.

AC Milan took a 2-3 deficit from the first leg at United to a rainy San Siro on Wednesday and proceeded to demolish the English side. From the word ‘go’ they were superior in every department, and in Gattuso, Seedorf and Kaká they had arguably the best players over the two legs. Kaká got one to add to his two at Old Trafford, assisted by Seedorf, which meant that United had to score two to win (because of Milan’s two away goals last week). When the Dutchman got one himself, United still needed two to win. But when Gilardino made it 3-0 in the second half, United needed two just to draw. And the fact is that United could still be playing in the San Siro as you read this and they would probably still not have scored, such was the poverty of their performance. Sir Alex Ferguson admitted as much afterwards: “In fairness, we didn't really look as if we were going to score.” Cristiano Ronaldo was a shadow of his normal self, Scholes was ineffectual, Rooney and Giggs apparently had their minds on something else, but in fact the whole team had an awful, badly-timed off-night.

Milan will play Liverpool on 23 May in Athens, a replay of the Final two years ago which Liverpool won on penalties after being 0-3 down at one point and pulling the score back. There are seven survivors of that game in Milan’s squad who will be desperate for revenge. But it will be difficult to predict a winner, if only because of what history tells us: Milan have won the trophy six times, Liverpool five.

Liverpool beat Chelsea over a very even two legs. They had lost the first one 0-1 at Stamford Bridge but were soon winning the second 1-0 with a goal by defender Daniel Agger from a move which they must have practised an awful lot at the training ground: a square free-kick by captain Steven Gerrard for Agger to hit it first time and in. It was a game of very little beauty, the English styles of the two teams (despite their having Spanish and Portuguese coaches and international players) cancelling each other out. So it was no real surprise when it went to extra time and then penalties, Dick Kuyt getting the winner, more than a satisfactory consolation for his earlier header that hit the bar and the goal he had disallowed for a disputed offside. Reina was Liverpool’s hero, though, with two penalty saves, Robben and Geremi Chelsea’s villains with two misses. They might be forgiven for being a little nervous, though, because when they stepped up to take their kicks, the wall of sound from the Anfield crowd was immense. In fact it was immense throughout the game, with the famous Kop producing a full repertoire of songs, including, of course, the club anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.

However, if Pepe Reina was happy with the result, he was less so when he got home: his house had been burgled and his car stolen, later found burnt out. Apart from the defeat, there was misfortune on the Chelsea side, too: a wealthy fan and his son who had travelled north to the game by helicopter died on the way back when it crashed, also killing two others. The legendary former manager of Liverpool, the late Bill Shankly, once said: “Some people say football is a matter of life and death. They’re wrong: it’s more important than that.” No, Bill: this time death cast a shadow over what was, after all, only a game.

by Phil Town

Only a miracle ... or a disaster ...

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The closeness between the top two teams in the Premiership, Manchester United and Chelsea, which has been apparent all season, was summed up for over an hour on Saturday. Both teams were for once playing at the same time (United at Everton, Chelsea at home to Bolton), both were a goal down before recovering, both benefited from an own goal from the other side (Jaaskelainen for Chelsea, Phil Neville for Manchester United … doing his old team a favour), and both were drawing 2-2 at around the 70-minute mark. The difference was United’s will and ability, and they came back to win 4-2 while Chelsea could only hold on to their 2-2 draw. It means that it will need a miracle for Chelsea to win the title now … or, from the point of view of United’s fans … a disaster.

Chelsea are five points behind United with three games to play, but United have a vastly superior goal difference: 56 to 40. United visit local rivals Manchester City and receive West Ham in the last game. Chelsea travel across London to Arsenal and receive Everton in the last game. In between, both sides meet at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea, then, need to win all their games, including at home to United, and hope that United lose one of their other games – an unlikely prospect.

Third and fourth spots in the table both earn a Champions League place. Liverpool, in third, lost 1-2 at Portsmouth, while Arsenal beat Fulham 3-1 on Sunday. Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez rested seven players with an eye on Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final second-leg against Chelsea – the London club weren’t able to do that, and lost influential centre-back Ricardo Carvalho to injury in the game against Bolton.

Portsmouth are one of five clubs realistically in with a chance of a UEFA Cup place – the others being Bolton, Everton Tottenham and Reading. Bolton’s point at Chelsea will help in the final reckoning … but the fact that their coach Sam Allardyce has resigned will not. It’s a strange time for a coach to quit, with only two games left. Allardyce, who is rumoured to be joining Manchester City, has done great things for the club in his time there, but his resignation and the scandal surrounding him earlier in the season with respect to his alleged involvement in transfer irregularities has cast something of a shadow over the club.

Also apparently involved in transfer irregularities were low-lying West Ham over the signings of the Argentinean players Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano (who has since moved to Liverpool). The club itself admitted the infringement to the authorities and so ‘escaped’ with a fine ... of £5.5 million (over 8 million euros), when it was expected that they might have points deducted, which would have been disastrous for them. The team bounced back from the news, winning 3-0 at fellow strugglers Wigan. Of the clubs fighting for survival, Fulham and Charlton also lost; the last games will no doubt be heart-stoppers for their fans.

Bouncing back to the Premiership will be Sunderland and Birmingham City, after just one season away. Former Manchester United player Roy Keane, in his first job as coach, has performed a minor miracle at Sunderland, which was a club in crisis until he arrived. At the bottom of the Championship (second tier) Leeds United, until recently a force in the Premiership, look certain to be relegated.

In Scotland, Celtic’s shaky end to the season continued with a 1-3 home defeat to Hearts, but the team had already won the title and so were able to celebrate it with their home fans. Rangers look on course to secure second spot, despite only managing a point in a 3-3 draw at Hibs. Third-placed Aberdeen beat Kilmarnock 3-0 at home.

by Phil Town

Alan Ball, R.I.P.

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If you had to convince a non-believer that football (soccer) was, as Pelé once famously called it, “a beautiful game”, you need only have sat with them on the sofa on Tuesday night and pointed at the television screen. In a classic Champions League encounter, Manchester United and AC Milan served up a veritable feast of delicious football, with large helpings of skill, goals and drama.

Beforehand, the game had been reduced by some in the media to a head-to-head clash between two young giants of the game – Cristiano Ronaldo (fresh from his English PFA Player of the Year awards) versus Milan’s impossibly gifted Kaká. Who would win the duel? Well … apart from an explosive first ten minutes when CR looked like he actually did want to win the game single-handedly (much to the frustration, on several occasions, of team-mates when a pass might have been a better option than a solo run), it must be said that the Brazilian Kaká was much the more decisive on the night, scoring Milan’s two goals (assisted by a weakened and shaky United defence). CR did get United’s first, but in the end the Manchester United player who really stood out was Wayne Rooney, who also got two goals, the second in added time.

AC Milan will be relieved that they performed just a little better than the last Italian team to visit Old Trafford – AS Roma, who suffered an historic 7-1 defeat there at the beginning of the month. They will also be pleased with their two away goals, which could prove crucial, but the 3-2 result does leave the tie intriguingly open. Anyway, make room on the sofa next Wednesday for those non-believing friends.

We have a saying in English: “After the Lord Mayor’s show comes …”, well … the cart that cleans up after the horses. It could be applied to the other semi-final, which was several light years away from the quality of Tuesday’s classic, predictably so, perhaps, as it was an all-English affair between the second and third-placed teams in the Premiership: Chelsea and Liverpool. The Reds beat Chelsea at the same stage of the same competition two seasons ago, so this was/is a chance for Chelsea to enjoy a little bit of Blue revenge. But it was a poor game, with both sides a little too cautious and too often careless. The goalkeepers Cech and Reina were the heroes for their respective teams with a couple of brilliant saves each, but the brightest moment was the excellent goal scored by Chelsea’s Joe Cole, after a lightning-quick counter-attack involving Ricardo Carvalho and Didier Drogba.

Chelsea coach José Mourinho was employing his famous mind games again. Before the match, he insisted that Liverpool were the favourites … something surely he wouldn’t have been repeating to his players in the changing room. Then after the game, he once again criticised the referee, the experienced German Markus Merk (he’d done the same after the weekend’s Premiership programme). This time, however, he was very wrong: his main claim was for a penalty for handball by Álvaro Arbeola … the ball was definitely handled, but it clearly happened outside the area. The ‘Special One’ was forced to admit that he was wrong, although the minor embarrassment caused him will certainly not stop the outspoken genius from continuing to speak his mind in the future.

Wednesday’s game was preceded by a minute’s silence in memory of Alan Ball, who died of a heart attack that very day at the age of 61. Ginger-haired, squeaky-voiced Ball was a member of the legendary England team who won the country’s only World Cup title at Wembley in 1966. At club level he represented Blackpool, Everton, Arsenal and Southampton, among others, and he was later a manager, with less successful results. All of the tributes offered by friends and former team-mates highlighted his infectious enthusiasm for the game. For this beautiful game.

Alan Ball, R.I.P.

By Phil Town

Celtic at last, Watford down and Cristiano Ronaldo the best

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After several weeks of missed chances, Celtic can finally call themselves Scottish Champions after a 2-1 win at Kilmarnock on Sunday. Second-placed Rangers had beaten Hearts 2-1 on Saturday, meaning that Celtic had to win to clinch the title, and they did … but only just; it took a free-kick in added time from Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura to send Celtic fans wild with joy. They might have preferred the decisive points to come in a home game, with the team wearing the famous green and white hooped shirts instead of the green and black stripes of their away kit, but they won’t be complaining too much.

Coach Gordon Strachan was, of course, delighted … but he said that his thoughts were mainly with a player who returned to the team for the first time in three years due to injury: defender John Kennedy. Strachan said: “I said to him, ‘in all your dreams, I bet you never imagined this.’” That’s for certain.

South of the border it’s as you were, that is, three points still separate the top two … but Chelsea will be kicking themselves for missing a golden opportunity to cut the gap between them and Manchester United, who surprisingly drew 1-1 at home to Middlesbrough on Saturday. The Blues could have gone to within one point of their rivals, but they could do no more than draw 0-0 with Newcastle in front of 52,000 at St. James’ Park on Sunday.

Chelsea looked tired, lacked inspiration and didn’t deserve the win, but that didn’t stop coach José Mourinho from commenting on the refereeing, both in his team’s game and the game at Old Trafford: “One rule is not to allow penalties against Man United and another says none in favour of Chelsea,” he said. He claimed two penalties were not awarded to his team, and one was not given against Manchester United in added time of their game when John O’Shea clearly brought down Lee Dong-Gook.

Elsewhere, Watford confirmed their inevitable relegation when they could only draw 1-1 at home to Manchester City. Also at the bottom, West Ham were the only team that won, and although they remain second from bottom, there are now only four points separating five clubs with just three games to play. Four points also separate five teams challenging for Europe: Everton, Bolton, Reading, Portsmouth and Tottenham. Reading pulled off perhaps the result of the weekend with a 3-1 win at Bolton, their three goals coming in the last ten minutes. Meanwhile, Portsmouth goalkeeper David James was setting a new record of clean sheets in the Premiership: 142: beating the record held by Arsenal’s David Seaman; his team drew 0-0 at Aston Villa.

Finally, the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) announced on Sunday the awards for Premiership Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year, won by Cristiano Ronaldo, and … Cristiano Ronaldo, respectively. It was the first time that the same player has won both awards in 30 years, the last one being Aston Villa’s Andy Gray in 1977. Cristiano Ronaldo had to overcome a lot of pressure at the beginning of the season after he was blamed by English fans for Wayne Rooney being sent off in the World Cup game between England and Portugal, but his football has silenced his critics. “It’s a tremendous honour for me, and to be the first Portuguese player to win this award makes it even more special,” he said. It also helped, of course, to be part of a special team: the PFA Team of the Year includes eight (!) Manchester United players.

by Phil Town

Are there only two teams in England?

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For better or worse, there appear to be only two teams in England: Manchester United and Chelsea. The two bitter rivals are up against each other directly in two competitions, could be up against each other in a third, and may meet three times in two weeks in May.

They’ve been neck-and-neck in the Premiership for most of the season, but didn’t play this weekend, letting others get a little bit of the limelight. The fight for third spot is interesting, with Liverpool dropping two points in a 0-0 draw at Manchester City, allowing Arsenal to come within two points of them after they beat Bolton 2-1, the Gunners in turn putting five points between themselves and the Wanderers in 5th. City manager Stuart Pearce complained after the Liverpool match that the Premiership is “not a fair playing field” because of all the money that the top four have. “The more years that tick by, the harder it becomes to win anything,” he said.

The problem, if it is a problem, is not confined to the Premiership. United and Chelsea were not on Premiership duty because they were busy winning their semi-finals to go through to the first ever FA Cup Final in the new Wembley Stadium. United had the easier task of the two, two goals from Wayne Rooney helping them to a comfortable 4-1 win over Premiership bottom club Watford at Villa Park, the home of Aston Villa, while Chelsea struggled to beat Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford. The latter game was drawn after 90 minutes and went to extra-time, Chelsea fans perhaps forgiving Michael  Ballack for some poor displays over the season when he got the winner on 108 minutes.  The FA Cup semi-finals are traditionally played at neutral grounds full to capacity, but this season the Football Association was criticised for poor organisation after there were empty seats at both games. Next season, both semis will be played at Wembley.

So Manchester United have a Cup showdown with Chelsea on 19 May, ten days after they have a showdown in the Premiership, and four days before they may have a third showdown, this time in the Champions League … if they both win their semi-finals in that competition. “It would be great to play them three times between now and the end of the season,” said Chelsea coach José Mourinho. “The reality is that what Chelsea and Manchester United are doing this season is unbelievable.” Unbelievable, yes … but good for the English game in the long term? Well, that’s another question.

On the other side of the Premiership chasm, there are a handful of teams fighting desperately to avoid going down. One common factor over the weeks has been bottom club Watford, who must surely go down, although mathematically they can still survive.  Above them, West Ham, Charlton, Sheffield United, Fulham and Wigan are the most likely to have to battle it out to escape the other two relegation places. Sheffield United did themselves a big favour by beating West Ham 3-0, and Wigan got a point in a thrilling 3-3 draw at home to Spurs; the other teams lost. There will be some short fingernails among the fans of those clubs in the 4 or 5 remaining games.

If English football has been dominated by a small clique of clubs in the last couple of season, the Scottish game has always been dominated by just two, who more or less take it in turns to be No. 1; sometimes it’s Rangers, this season it’s Celtic. Once again, they couldn’t celebrate their inevitable Premier League title at the weekend because, like their English counterparts, they were involved in the Scottish Cup. Vennegoor of Hesselink got the two goals that beat St Johnstone in the first semi final, while Hibs and Dunfermline will have to replay theirs after it finished 0-0. Celtic, though, are on track for a very doable double.

by Phil Town

Wow! What a week for English football!

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It started on Saturday with results that threw open the race for the Premiership title: leaders Manchester United lost 1-2 at Portsmouth, thanks to an inferior performance and an embarrassing own-goal in the dying minutes from Rio Ferdinand (with a little help from goalkeeper Edwin van der Saar). Earlier in the day, Chelsea had beaten Tottenham 1-0 in the London derby with a 30-metre strike from Portuguese central defender Ricardo Carvalho. United’s lead at the top was cut to just three points, with a game between the two clubs on the horizon …

The rivals were involved in the Champions League during the week, too, both in a similar position: their quarter-final first leg games had left them with a tough job to do in the second legs.

Perhaps the more complicated task was Chelsea’s: they had only managed a draw at Stamford Bridge against Valencia, and the Spanish club are notoriously difficult to beat in their own stadium. But after going one down to a Morientes goal in the first half, Mourinho’s warriors (and on the night it was more a battle – albeit generally fair – than beautiful football), with hard work and perseverance, broke Valencia down and came back to win 2-1 with goals from Shevchenko and, on the stroke of time, Essien.

The Londoners will play European legends Liverpool in the semi-finals, which means that there will be at least one English club in the Athens Final. The Reds brought a 3-0 lead against PSV Eindhoven back to Anfield, and the stroll they were expecting (despite coach Rafa Benitez’s pre-match insistence that it wasn’t over yet) turned out to be more or less that, Peter Crouch confirming Liverpool’s superiority over the two legs.

In the Final, Chelsea or Liverpool may meet AC Milan. The Italian giants were second favourites at Bayern Munich because the German team had scored two away goals in a 2-2 draw in the first leg. But Milan put all their European experience on the field and surprised Bayern with two goals in four first-half minutes, two strokes of genius from Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf making the difference: on 27 minutes he dummied two Bayern defenders to make room for himself to shoot and score from the edge of the area, and then on 31 minutes he flicked the ball on to leave Filippo Inzaghi (possibly offside) in a one-on-one with Oliver Kahn; the German ‘keeper didn’t stand a chance.

Milan’s win restored a little Italian pride after what had happened on Tuesday night. Roma’s captain Francesco Totti had said before the game at Old Trafford that to beat Manchester United would mean more to him than winning the World Cup with Italy last summer, and it looked possible for Roma to do just that; they had a 2-1 win from the first leg, and Italian sides are famous for their tight defending … normally. What happened to Roma on the night, though, was nothing short of total humiliation. In a seven-minute spell early in the first half, they were 0-3 down through goals by Carrick, Smith (because of injury, his first since November 2005 - a magnificent one-touch, six-pass move from defence to attack by United) and Rooney, and just before the break, Cristiano Ronaldo added a fourth – incredibly, his first Champions League goal for United. As the Roma players trudged off for the half-time oranges, damage limitation must have been uppermost in their minds, but there was more damage to come. Ronaldo and Carrick got their second goals to make it 6-0, De Rossi got a meaningless consolation, and substitute Evra made it 7-1 (!!) near the end.

Asked by journalists what he could have done differently, the shell-shocked Roma coach Luciano Spalletti didn’t hesitate: “I could have stayed at home …” Fans of the Italian giants will take some time to put the Manchester massacre behind them – on the day after the game, shares in the club fell in value by 10% – but for United fans, they had witnessed one of the greatest victories in the club’s history. And a repeat of violent scenes between fans before the game could not take the shine off this historic triumph.

by Phil Town