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LoginChampions League Final - May 21
274 posts
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Will ManU tainted the CL title like they taint the BPL title??
ManU did once tainted the CL title when they won it via diving & cheating Refs in 1999. Their true qualities were expose when the team they are challenging now Chelsea, trash them in a following match with a 5-0 score
Will Chelsea win this Champion League in Moscow against ManU and do Football a favour with their fair play?
The world hopes so.....
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We must stop Ron at all costs
NICOLAS ANELKA fears Cristiano Ronaldo could wreck Chelsea's Champions League dream. The Blues are desperate for revenge after being pipped to the Premier League title by Manchester United on the final day of the season. But Anelka admits the Portuguese ace is the man the Londoners must stop at all costs if they are to lift the biggest prize in European football on Wednesday night.
The Frenchman, 29, said: "This is the most important game of our season — especially since Chelsea have never been in a Champions League final. "We beat them 2-1 at Stamford Bridge recently, so we are quite confident.
"But they have Ronaldo, of course, who is brilliant. "United play great football and as a result he always manages to find the gaps. "He shines when he has the whole team playing around him but he also shines when he is alone. "He can often make the difference on his own, so it is hard. "But we have good defenders and we hope he has a bad day."
Anelka has had limited opportunities to shine since his £15million switch from Bolton in January. But the striker is confident Chelsea have the ability to beat United in Moscow — with or without him in the starting line-up.
He added: "Collectively, United are a resilient team. They all play good football and can all score. "It's kind of the same for us, although we have more individual stars. "It will make for a very open match. In a final, a one-off match, everything is possible."
Edited by zocoss 18 May `08, 1:46AM
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Originally posted by ronaldog:
Will ManU tainted the CL title like they taint the BPL title??
ManU did once tainted the CL title when they won it via diving & cheating Refs in 1999. Their true qualities were expose when the team they are challenging now Chelsea, trash them in a following match with a 5-0 score
Will Chelsea win this Champion League in Moscow against ManU and do Football a favour with their fair play?
The world hopes so.....
u sound like poh ah pak..
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Originally posted by ronaldog:
Will ManU tainted the CL title like they taint the BPL title??
ManU did once tainted the CL title when they won it via diving & cheating Refs in 1999. Their true qualities were expose when the team they are challenging now Chelsea, trash them in a following match with a 5-0 score
Will Chelsea win this Champion League in Moscow against ManU and do Football a favour with their fair play?
The world hopes so.....
If they win, you come in and complain they cheat/dive.
If they lose, you come in and gloat.
Pretty much what you've been doing all this while.
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We can't give Ronaldo space
RICARDO CARVALHO insists he will do everything he can to stop Cristiano Ronaldo wrecking Chelsea's Champions League dream. Carvalho, 29, has hinted he could be among a number of top stars to quit Stamford Bridge this summer.
But the classy central defender will put aside all thoughts about his own future to ensure fellow Portugal international Ronaldo has a quiet night in Moscow on Wednesday.
He said: "Ronaldo has been fantastic for the Premier League and we have to make sure we don't give him too much space. "It is difficult to stop him but if you focus and work with your team-mates it will be easy."
Carvalho believes Chelsea must forget about missing out on the Premier League title if they are to beat Manchester United to European football's biggest prize. He added: "It was disappointing to lose the title to United but now we have to look forward to facing them in the Champions League final.
"Playing United is going to be very tough. They have shown what a great team they are this season but we really want to win this trophy. "As players we want to deliver this for the fans. "Over the last few years whenever we have played against United it has always been difficult. But we have shown that we can beat them.
"We played excellent football at Stamford Bridge in the league when we won 2-1 and we beat them in the FA Cup final last season. "We will arrive in Moscow confident we can win."
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That match at Stamford Bridge on 26th Apr 2008
Chelsea
Ballack 45,86(pen)
Man Utd
Rooney 57
Edwin van der Sar/ Nemanja Vidic / Mikael Silvestre / Ryan Giggs / Michael Carrick / Darren Fletcher / Wayne Rooney / Luis Nani / Oliveira Anderson.
Sub: Owen Hargreaves (14) / Cristiano Ronaldo (63) / John O'Shea (65)
Petr Cech / John Terry / Ashley Cole / Paulo Ferreira / Ricardo Carvalho / Michael Ballack / Salomon Kalou / Joe Cole / John Obi Mikel / Michael Essien / Didier Drogba
Sub: Claude Makelele (87) / Nicolas Anelka (66) / Andriy Shevchenko (81)
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Chelsea and United players warned Moscow pitch isn't safe for Champions League Final
Chelsea and Manchester United have been warned that the pitch at the Luzhniki Stadium is dangerous and not fit to stage the Champions League Final. The stadium groundsmen are in a race against time to improve the surface which has several bare patches and is very bumpy just two days before the match.
It is the same ground where England played their Euro 2008 qualifier on an artificial pitch against Russia last year, but it has now been relaid with turf shipped in from Slovakia. The blocks of grass had been frozen for several days and they are now struggling to bed in to form an even surface.
English head groundsman Matthew Frost said: “It's not like one of the better Premier League pitches, far from it. Unfortunately things didn't work out. The ball may not travel perfectly like on a pitch that has been in situ for some time. There might be a bit of a bobble.”
Former Liverpool midfielder Steve McMahon was far more critical and fears for the players' safety. He told Sky Sports News: “It's awful and embarrassing. There are undulations and, to be frank, it's very dangerous for the players if it stays the way it is. The players won't be happy.”
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Seedorf: United deserve to win in Moscow
Four-time Champions League winner Clarence Seedorf believes this year's final between Manchester United and Chelsea is too close to call but thinks Sir Alex Ferguson's side deserve to win Europe's most prestigious trophy.
The 32-year-old Dutch international, who is the only player to win the competition with three different clubs: Ajax (1995), Real Madrid (1998), and AC Milan (2003, 2007), expects a battle of conflicting styles in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday night and predicts United will take the game to the Blues.
However, the much-travelled midfielder is unsure whether the Red Devils will be able to break-through Chelsea's formidable defence. 'Chelsea are going to wait for the moment and Manchester are going to try and create the moment,' Seedorf said. 'We will see if they can succeed.'
'Chelsea has a great defence. They make the pitch very short and that is going to be the difficulty for Manchester. And then the counter attack of Chelsea, with Didier Drogba up front and with Michael Ballack in support - this is going to be the difficult part for Manchester to cope with.'
While Chelsea's strength is in the solidity and power of the team Seedorf notes that despite United being a 'very complete' team it's in attack where their real strength lies. 'Their strikers are fantastic, of course; Tevez, Ronaldo and Rooney,' Seedorf explained. 'But it is all going to really depend on how, in the close space they are going to have against Chelsea, they can manage to create space to be able to do the one against one with the defenders.'
The state of the pitch could also be a major factor. The stadium's artificial pitch has been replaced with grass for the final but UEFA, amongst others, have raised concerns about the quality of the surface. Seedorf has already been pitch side at the Luzhniki Stadium and is hopeful the hordes of staff working on the surface can get it right before kick-off.
'I think it will be good tomorrow it seems like it is going to rain. They just gave it some water and the teams will play and train on it today so that will also help to improve the state of the field.' 'If the pitch is not good it will definitely make a difference, especially for Manchester,' he added.
As for who will actually win in Moscow Seedorf is sitting on the fence. 'My prediction is... that both really can win. [laughs].' 'The reason I give for Chelsea is that it is their first time in the final and maybe destiny is picking,' said Seedorf.
'On the other side I see that Manchester has been ruling the game over the last few years in this competition and they would most probably deserve it over Chelsea,' he added.
'I really think we have to wait for the game tomorrow.' midfielder Clarence Seedorf plays for reigning European Champions AC Milan and is in Moscow as part of superb coverage of the UEFA Champions League final. You can watch him on ESPNsoccernet Press Pass special broadcast from Moscow and ESPN's match coverage on the night of the final. To read his a full transcript of his interview with
<!-- <hr> • <b>Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf plays for reigning European Champions AC Milan and is in Moscow as part of <i>ESPN's</i> superb coverage of the UEFA Champions League final. <p> </p> You can watch him on ESPNsoccernet Press Pass special broadcast from Moscow and ESPN's match coverage on the night of the final. <p> </p> To read his a full transcript of his interview with <i>ESPNsoccernet</i> <a href="">click here</a>.</b> -->
Edited by zocoss 21 May `08, 12:12AM
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Wenger: Ref will decide it
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has warned Manchester United and Chelsea the Uefa Champions League final will be decided by referee Lubos Michel.
Michel, who caused controversy in 2005 by awarding Luis Garcia's 'ghost goal for Liverpool against Chelsea, will be the man in the middle for Wednesday's clash in Moscow between.
Wenger feels his Arsenal side have suffered at the hands of officials this season and the Frenchman believes Wednesday's showpiece could be decided by the referee.
"Every match is being decided on a referee's decision and I wouldn't put my house on a ref's decision," said Wenger.
"You saw in the semi-finals that every decision of the referee can influence the result.
"It's that fraction of a second, too difficult to decide if it's off-side or not. Is it a penalty or not?
"It is so tight between teams at the top in England. For me every big game has been decided by refereeing decisions."
Edited by omgukilledkenny 21 May `08, 7:45PM
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Champions League Final Ref Hopes To Be Forgotten
Lubos Michel will be refereeing this evening's Champions League final and is hopeful that he will not be a talking point come full-time.
The Slovakian referee is keen to avoid any controversy in his 49th Champions League game, this coming after comments from Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who hinted the official may "decide the game".
He insists he feels no fear going into the game, and is fully aware of the importance of avoiding making any big mistakes.
"It is the highlight of my career," Michel told Pravda. "English sides tend to play at a high tempo.
"I am not afraid but I do feel responsibility. These are two big clubs that have waited for many years to make it to the final.
"It is important that I do not make any big mistakes. It would be best for no one to remember who was the referee after the game - that way I think it would mean I have had a good game."
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Cole To Play Through Pain In Moscow
The former Arsenal man suffered a swollen ankle after being on the receiving end of a tough tackle from team-mate Claude Makelele in training.
He had been labeled as doubtful for the Champions League final against Manchester United, where his absence would be particularly felt due to his good record of showings against United star Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, the Chelsea medical staff have underlined the importance of Cole to their fortunes, as the England international will receive a painkilling injection in order to play in the final, Chelsea's first in their history.
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