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Arsenal v United

Well there never seems to be a straight forward Champions League match nowadays!! United played Arsenal on Tuesday and won 3-1 (4-1 on aggregate). It was an excellent performance by United. United played almost a 4-3-3 formation with Ronaldo playing as a striker and Park and Rooney to the right and left. Park played excellently and as also Rooney was amazing.

Arsenal were poor and its not about 5 years since Arsenal won anything. Wenger is going to need to spend some money!

There was abit of luck in the 1st goal and arguably the 2nd goal (freekick) was not a foul but there is no denying the fact that the 1st goal was well taken by Park and Ronaldo’s freekick for the 2nd was amazing – although the keeper maybe should have done better.

The 3rd goal from United was a brilliant super fast attack with about 8 passes from one end of the pitch to the other. It pretty much started from Ronaldo’s back heel to Park, who passed to Rooney, who passed to Ronaldo to finish excellently.

Shortly after the 3rd goal the cameras showed David Beckham in the crowd rubbing his hands in glee and with a huge smile on his face. A United legend!

The only bad thing of the night was the ref card for Fletcher. To be honest, the ref generally performed poorly giving freekicks for everything! The slightest touch seemed to get a foul and sometimes a yellow card. Fletcher’s red card was for a challenge on Fabregas in the penalty box. It was clear to everyone that he got the ball. After getting the ball he of course contacted Fabregas but it was no penalty and pretty much everyone things so.

The rules state that there can be no appeal unless its mistaken identity (which it wasnt). However, the latest news today is that Fletcher could still be able to play in the final.

Chelsea v Barcelona

If there was controversy in the United game, thats nothing compared to the Chelsea v Barcelona game. I am sure this will be in the news for the next few days and it will be interesting to see what happens.

The game finished 1-1 will Barcelona going through on the away goals rule. Chelsea scored early on with a brilliant volley. However, must of the game Barcelona had the vast majority of the possession. Something like 70% to 30%. They certainly played the Barcelona way with lots of passing in pretty shapes but not really getting anywhere. Eto’o was very quiet and Messi was marked by about 3 players so pretty much kept quiet. In fact, Barcelona didnt have 1 shot on target till the 92nd minute.

The main talking point of the game was the ref. He had a really poor poor game. He wasnt completely biased as some decisions went against Barcelona but Chelsea properly should have had at least 2 penalties, maybe even as many as 4! They included a couple hand balls.

Barcelona, had a red card against them with Adibal sent off. It was for a tackle on Anelka but it seemed like a very minor touch and Anelka may have tripped himself up. Also, at least 1 Barcelona defender was in-between the player and the goal. Also, Alves (who was really poor and tried his best to get the ball into the crowd) got a yellow card for a nothing challenge really and that means he misses the final.

The game was almost finished with 4 minutes injury time. Just after the 92nd Alves finally didnt fall over like he had been shot and also finally put in a half decent cross which was poorly cleared by Essien. It ended up at the feet of Messi who passed to Iniesta. He scored a great goal right in the top right of the goal.It left Chelsea shell-shocked but they still had some time and the game eventually finished in the 97th minute.

Near the end of the match, Ballack did his best to show what an idiot he is running after and waving his hands all around the ref after another hand ball by Barcelona. Never knew he could run that fast! Then, Drogba had a go at the ref and had to be pulled back. He had been subbed (he went off “injured” – he spent the whole match doing his usual diving, play-acting and it back-fired when his feigning injury confused his own manager who ended up subbing him) and came out from dressing room in his flip-flops. He also said to the TV cameras that the ref was a f*cking disgrace. Drogba is going to be in trouble with UEFA!

As a United fan I am happy playing Barcelona as we should really beat them with what they have shown in semi finals. Chelsea were a lot more organised and much better tactics. Also, Barcelona will be without their full backs (and one of their main centre defenders).

The negative point about this is that Platini will be happy – he clearly doesnt like English football teams!