Tue, Apr 1: UEFA Champions League (Quarter-Final 1st Leg)
Schalke 04 0 - 1 Barcelona
Roma 0 - 2 Man Utd
SUMMARY:
Barcelona earned a vital 1-0 away win in their quarter-final 1st leg clash against Germany's Schalke in Gelsenkirchen overnight to ease the pressure on under-fire coach Frank Rijkaard.
On the back of a run of poor form in La Liga, Barcelona were too classy for the home side in the 1st half and were duly rewarded with an early goal in the 12th minute from Bojan Krkic after good work from France striker Thierry Henry. Schalke retaliated in the second half but it was a case of too little too late as the visitors held on for the win and a precious away goal ahead of next week's second leg at the Camp Nou.
Meanwhile, English giants Manchester United are in firm control of their quarter-final tie against Roma with a convincing 2-0 victory at the Stadio Olimpico.
Portugese winger Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring with his 36th goal of an amazing season - a powerful header - before the break to give his side the lead. In the second half, it was the other half of United's dynamic duo, Wayne Rooney, who gave his side a two-goal cushion with a simple tap in to put Sir Alex Ferguson's men firmly in the driving seat for the return leg at Old Trafford.
On current form, Manchester United are one of the favourites to win the competition they last won in 1999. If they manage to do so, it will be a special cup triumph for the club in the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster.
The 50th anniversary of the terrible Munich tragedy that saw so many young footballers lose their life is marked today.
Sir Bobby Charlton, one of the survivors of the plane crash, has spoken to the current Manchester United squad and explained what happened and the feelings associated with it.
The 'Busby babes' were travelling back to Manchester after qualifying for the European Cup semi-finals. Although before my time, I am assured that the side was good enough to have won the European trophy that year and become the first English team to succeed some ten years before it happened.
This is an emotional time for the people of Manchester and Sir Bobby Charlton told the current squad that winning this years Champions League would be a great tribute to the friends and colleagues he lost.
Wayne Rooney is quoted today in the Daily Mirror as saying, "Sir Bobby said how fitting it would be for us to win the European Cup in this year of all years, but he also said he didn't want to put too much pressure on us.
"If we did manage to do it, it would be a great achievement and the best possible way to honour the Busby Babes."
Birmingham 1 - 1 Reading
Derby 0 - 1 Middlesbrough
Man City 4 - 2 Bolton
Portsmouth 0 - 1 Tottenham
Sunderland 1 - 1 Aston Villa
West Ham 0 - 2 Everton
Wigan 5 - 3 Blackburn
Fulham 0 - 1 Newcastle
Sun, Dec 16:
Liverpool 0 - 1 Man Utd
Arsenal 1 - 0 Chelsea
Sun, Dec 16:
The Premiership 'Big Four' went head to head over the weekend with Manchester United and Arsenal coming out on top with 1-0 victories over Liverpool and Chelsea respectively.
Despite dominating the match at Anfield, Liverpool failed to make any in-roads pass the United defence and were made to pay when Carlos Tevez pounced on a Ryan Giggs corner to fire home the winner late in the first half.
The win for Sir Alex Ferguson's men has left United nine points in front of their fierce north-west rivals.
Meanwhile at the Emirates, Arsenal captain William Gallas made his former club pay by heading home the only goal of the game on the stroke of half-time. The Frenchman cashed in on an uncharacteristic error from Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech to give his side victory and a six-point cushion over their London rivals.
The match of the weekend - an eight-goal thriller - took place on Saturday between Wigan and Blackburn at the JJB stadium.
Marcus Bent and Roque Santa Cruz both completed hat-tricks in a pulsating match which saw Wigan throw away a three-goal lead before eventually overcoming 10-man Blackburn 5-3 to end their 14-match winless run.
In other matches, wins were recorded for Middlesbrough, Man City, Tottenham, Everton and Newcastle.
Manchester United to returned to winning ways in the English Premier League with a home win over Fulham courtesy of a brace from newly crowned European Player of the Year runner-up, Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portugese winger opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a superb snap and volley from 10 yards out that left Fulham keeper Antti Niemi with absolutely no chance.
In the second half, Ronaldo scored his 13th goal this term when he pounced on a John O'Shea cross to execute a downward header for his side's second goal of the match.
There was a chance for the United No.7 to seal his hat-trick for the club in the 79th minute after he was put clean through by Louis Saha. Flicking the ball past Niemi, he tried to leap over the keeper’s body to reach it but could not make it, and was clipped and went down. However, referee Rob Styles saw things very differently and not only did he fail to award a penalty, Ronaldo was also booked for diving - a decision that Sir Alex Ferguson felt was very harsh.
The game also marked the return of England striker Wayne Rooney from injury but this match was all about Ronaldo, who at the rate he is going at the moment, will get his long awaited hat-trick for the Red Devils sooner or later.
Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs has extended his contract for a further season until the end of June 2009.
The talented winger joined the club as a 14 year-old trainee and made his first-team debut at the age of 17 on 2nd March 1991 against Everton. He has played 727 matches to date.
With his new contract, Giggs is set to surpass Sir Bobby Charlton's appearance record for Manchester United which stands at 759.
“I am delighted to have signed for a further season. I am enjoying football more than ever and I hope to carry on playing football for Manchester United for as long as I can. I would like to thank Sir Alex, the fans and everyone at the Club for the great support I have received over the years.” said Giggs.
Manager Sir Alex Ferguson lavished praise one on of United's favourite sons, saying: “I am absolutely delighted that Ryan has signed for a further season. Ryan Giggs epitomises the word loyalty, he signed here as a 14-year old school boy and is still with the club 20 years on. Apart from his playing ability he has a fantastic demeanour and is a great role model to the younger players. I am sure he will be at the Club for a long time to come.”
As a football fan, Giggs has been one of the most exciting players to watch over the last 16 years. Blessed with blistering pace and great technical ability, it is no wonder the Welsh Wizard has been a mainstay at one of the world's top clubs.
Here is one of his finest goals, against Arsenal, in the FA cup semi-final replay of 1998-99.
Arsenal 5 - 0 Derby
Liverpool 0 - 0 Birmingham
Middlesbrough 2 - 2 Sunderland
Reading 2 - 1 Wigan
Fulham 3 - 3 Man City
Sun, Sep 23:
Newcastle 3 - 1 West Ham
Aston Villa 2 - 0 Everton
Blackburn 0 - 1 Portsmouth
Bolton 1 - 1 Tottenham
Man Utd 2 - 0 Chelsea
SUMMARY:
Premier League leaders Arsenal ran riot against Derby on Saturday by firing five unanswered goals past the bottom team in the league.
Emmanuel Adebayor scored a hat-trick with further goals from Diaby and inspirational midfielder Cesc Fabregas.
Socceroos captain Mark Viduka showed the Toon army his ability with a double that sent his side on the road to victory against West Ham.
Dukes struck as early as the 2nd minute before completing his double just before the break. Viduka's striker partner Michael Owen had no such luck and limped off with an occurrence of a groin injury that puts his participation in England's Euro 2008 qualifiers in doubt.
Liverpool were held at home by a stubborn Birmingham side. A frustrating day for the Reds saw the side fail to break down the opposition defence thus falling 4 points adrift of Arsenal.
On Sunday, the most anticipated match of the weekend - Manchester United v. Chelsea - went underway with the Red Devils emerging victorious.
Chelsea's new manager Avram Grant debut could not have been any easier - away at Old Trafford - and he saw his new side fall a goal behind on the stroke of half-time to a well timed header from Carlos Tevez - his first goal for the club.
Frenchman Louis Saha made sure of the victory a minute from time when, after going down under minimal contact from Tal Ben Haim, he drilled home the penalty.
In other matches, wins were recorded for Reading, Aston Villa and Portsmouth.
Reigning English Premier League champions Manchester United will be officially launching their new away kit for the 2007/08 season tomorrow (13/09/07).
The blacked-out kit features thin red stripes, the trademark 'tail' design (as featured on the home kit) in red, a Red Devils shirt badge and a new United badge.
This kit is manufactured by Sportswear giants Nike and shirts sponsor AIG and is available for order now!
Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is set to announce his retirement from football today at the age of 34.
The UK's The Sun newspaper has reported that the Norwegian has finally given in to the persistent knee problems he has suffered since 2003.
Affectionately named the "Baby-faced assassin" by the press and United fans alike, the striker epitomised the role of "super-sub" - by coming off the bench to rescue his beloved United side many times.
None more so than in the Champions League final of 1999 when he scored the winner with effectively the last kick of the game thus writing himself in Manchester United history.
Playing in an era when footballers collected super big pay cheques, Solskjaer avoided the big ego that came almost hand-in-hand with the money and adulation by keeping his private life exactly that - private.
He was also the consummate professional and never moaned nor complained about his place in the United team and squad, despite starting many games on the bench. When called upon, he never failed to deliver and that is the reason why he has been a mainstay in Ferguson's team for over 10 years.
Making a total of 235 appearances for the Red Devils and scoring 92 goals, these statistics would have been even more impressive had he not experienced persistent knee problems since 2003.
His injury nightmare first arose in 2003 when a recurring knee problem restricted his first-team appearances but worse was to come in season 2004-05.
Solksjaer celebrates after scoring THAT goal
After undergoing intensive knee operations, he was forced to sit out the entire season which coincided with Chelsea's dominance in the Premier League that saw United endure a barren spell when it came to trophies.
Solskjaer finally recovered well enough for regular football last season and helped the club win the Premiership with 30 appearances and 11 goals - making him the club's third highest scorer for the season.
His injury nightmare returned in June 2007 when he began to feel discomfort in the same problematic knee whilst in Norway. After undergoing another knee operation, Solskjaer failed to recover well enough to cope with the demands of top-flight football.
He is scheduled to officially announce his retirement later today.
Now that three rounds of Premiership action have passed, full of surprises and curious situations, the big question of who will obtain the title this year gets even harder to answer a view on the performance of the top teams in the first rounds would make this task a little bit easier.
Chelsea are the current favourites of the bookies(2.10), but to be frank I'm not impressed with them. Pizzaro, Malouda and co are yet to show their capabilities, and they are quiality players, but this season I think that the problem for Chelsea won't be up front, they have too many top-class players there, and in case they don't play against Liverpool for instance(sorry but Chelsea were so plain and without any ideas against Benitez's boys last week), they will score enough. The issue is that they concede too many goals. It's not the pragmatic Chelsea of the last seasons, who scored one or two but didn't allow the opponents to respond(it was trendy to bet 1-0 or 2-0 correct score when Chelsea are at home). Now we have 3-2 at home against NEWCOMERS of Birmingham, 1-2 away to Reading and 1-1 at Anfield. The first two wins were very hard, and basically for a team with Chelsea's likes, such matches are supposed to be easier. And the draw against Liverpool was a gift from the referee, Liverpool were the winners there.
Liverpool is the team that is about to be the new participant in the pursue of the title. After spending more than 50 million euro for players like Torres, Babel and Voronin Benitez has no excuses now. Previous seasons Liverpool made more than enough for the capabilities of their squad, but now they have to fight for the Premiership, 18 years without a title is just too much. Benitez will put into action his famous rotation principle, that enabled Valencia some years ago to win two times La Liga. Still, we haven't seen enough from Liverpool, but judging from the performance against Chelsea,
their style remains the old one - pragmatic, deadly tactical and disciplined football. But now that they have a variety of performers, Merseysiders could be more stable and endanger not only the Champions League contenders as before, but Chelsea and Manchester United as well.
The odds for Liverpool to win Outright were 6.50 in the beggining of the season, and now are 4.50, which speaks for itself.
Keep eyes on the Sunderland - Liverpool match in the weekend, I consider it a very important one for Liverpool's self-confidence after the blow against Chelsea.
Manchester United hit a bad streak in the first rounds. 2 draws and 1 lost in a row are results that we haven't seen from the Red Devils in the last two seasons. But it would be an airy statement that United are out. They just need one win to boost their confidence, and good results will flow. I guess, Tottenham this Sunday will be the first victims, though this promises to be a very tight fixture. Yes, it will be more difficult without injured Rooney and the suspended Ronaldo, but a team with the likes of United must be able to cope with such situations. My personal prediction is that United will bounce back in the next rounds and we will witness a three-sided fight for the title this season. A really intriguing one.
Arsenal, the other member of 'the big four', don't have the capability and the squad for the title. No offence to their fans, but this is reality and now without Henry it's even harder.
Some said that Tottenham will be able to intrude in big four's hegemony, but they still are quite unstable. And I'm really puzzled why did Jol buy Darren Bent for so much money, instead of strengthening his defensive line with experienced backs. So now he has around 5 forwards, but if a defender is injured(like skipper Ledley King is now), defensive problems occur.
Sorry, just UEFA for Tottenham, or the maximum is a fight with Arsenal for the 4th position.
So, perhaps the most intriguing season in the best league in the world is in front of us.
For previews and stuff before the rounds, see my b-log
Manchester United and England star Wayne Rooney could face an extended spell of around three months on the sideline after sustaining a fractured left foot in the opening weekend of the English Premier League 2007-08 season.
This is a blow to his club with Louis Saha, Ole Gunnar Solkjaer and Carlos Tevez all short of match fitness for one reason or another.
England would have been dealt an even bigger blow with the news that one of their key players will almost definitely miss key Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Russia next month with the possibility of missing qualifiers in October against Estonia and the return leg against Russia.
In pre-season interviews, Rooney had said that he was itching to get back to football after the off-season - the longest one he has had for a few years.
Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson claimed that Rooney's early season form on their East Asian tour proved that he would be a key player for United this season and felt that his absence in the second-half costed the reigning champions victory against Reading.
Newly crowned Premiership champions Manchester United will sport a new home kit for the next two English Premier League seasons (2007-09).
The new home kit will be completely red from the front and will also feature a new badge surround and a "The Red Devils" badge located on the bottom right of the shirt.
The back of the shirt will feature a broken white stripe with the Red Devils logo near the neck and "MUFC" on the rear 'tail'.
It has also been announced that Wayne Rooney will wear the coveted number "10" shirt for next season. His previous squad number was "8".
Goalkeeper jersey
The Red Devils now has their own MySpace page complete with pictures and a video shoot of their new kit. Click here here to view.
Fresh from winning the English Premier League for the umpteenth time, Sir Alex Ferguson has already dived into the transfer market to bolster the Manchester United squad for the upcoming season.
Portugese Winger Nani
The imminent arrival of England midfielder Owen Hargreaves aside, the Red Devils have invested heavily in two youngsters, 20 year-old Portuguese winger Nani and 19 year-old Brazilian attacking midfielder Anderson.
Brazilian midfielder Anderson
Both players currently ply their trade in the Portugese league with giants Sporting Lisbon and FC Porto respectively and both are very highly rated players.
Anderson has been included in the Brazil squad for the upcoming Copa America in Venezuela while Nani is said to offer similar attributes to that of his compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo.
Initial terms have been agreed by the club and players.
According to the Sun newspaper in the UK, Ryan Giggs is set to announce his shock retirement from international football just three days out from a crucial Euro 2008 qualifier against the Czech Republic.
The Wales skipper is said to be retiring in a bid to prolong his career at Manchester United, the club he made his debut for in 1991 as a fresh-faced 17 year old.
The Welsh wizard recently won a record-breaking ninth League title with Manchester United this season and played a major part in their triumph as one of the veterans in the side.
His conversion from an all-out pacy winger to midfield maestro/support striker is a testament to the all-round ability of this truly wonderful player who never ceases to amaze his manager, team-mates and fans alike.
Ryan Giggs stars for Manchester United
Former team-mate and current Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce, formerly Pallister's partner in central defence, once said: "When Ryan ran, he ran like the wind. You couldn't hear him he was that light on his feet.
"He had that natural body swerve, that way with a ball only the great players have got."
Despite achieving great success at club level with the Red Devils, Giggs' biggest regret is being unable to grace the world stage at major international finals - Wales can be said to be footballing minnows in that respect.
He readibly admits he finds it tough listening to his United team-mates talk about World Cups and European Championships.
He once said: “Playing for Wales is completely different from club football. At United you are used to winning things and to be favourites. Then you come away with Wales and you are the underdogs.”
Giggs was due to win his 64th cap for Wales against the Czech Republic on Saturday.
In a dull affair, Chelsea ended the Double dream of Manchester United when Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba pounced in the second-half of injury time to score the only goal of the match.
The first FA cup final at the new Wembley failed to live up to expectations with both teams failing to make any significant breakthroughs throughout the match.
The first-half drew comparisons with a boxing match - both Chelsea and Manchester United sparring with one another with neither team willing to press forward in search of a killer punch.
Both teams upped the ante in the second-half with Chelsea's introduction of Dutch winger Arjen Robben sparking considerable life into the Blues' attacking play with a series of mazy runs and crosses into the United penalty box.
However, nothing could mask the level of fatigue both sides were experiencing.
Triple award-winner Cristiano Ronaldo was in stealth-mode for much of the game - his lack of involvement was one of the main reasons why United lacked the creativity they needed so much from midfield.
Inevitably, the game ended nil-all in normal time and the crowd braced themselves for the third consecutive FA cup final to head into extra-time.
Manchester United had the upper-hand and Welsh winger Ryan Giggs thought he had scored the winner when he slid in to meet a far-post cross from Rooney. TV replays showed Giggs was correct, although if it had not been for him maintaining his slide to bundle into Cech, he would not have been.
From what I saw, however, was that Cech made the save but then pulled the ball into his chest protectively and that was what made the ball cross the line.
With the match seemingly headed to penalties, Drogba exchanged a neat one-two with Frank Lampard to score the winner with just five minutes left on the clock.
15:00 UK - Wembley Stadium
Chelsea vs Manchester United
PREVIEW:
This year's FA Cup final will return to the world famous Wembley Staduim after an absence of six years while the stadium was rebuilt.
Chelsea will be looking to add the FA cup to the Carling cup the team won earlier this season. Failure to do so will see a disappointing return for club owner Roman Abramovich's millions invested into 'world-class' players.
Manchester United are looking to complete the Premier League and FA cup double yet again but will be without injured stars Louis Saha and captain Gary Neville. Chelsea are without Michael Ballack, Ricardo Carvalho and Andriy Shevchenko.
Newly crowned English Premier League champions Manchester United visited Stamford Bridge over-night to be welcomed by a guard of honour led by Chelsea skipper John Terry as the players strolled onto the pitch.
With the destination of the Premiership already decided over the past weekend, both Chelsea and Manchester United fielded largely reserve teams in this fixture which included the debut of China striker Fangzhou Dong for the Red Devils.
Despite this, both teams had much pride to play for with seven yellow cards awarded by referee Graham Poll.
Chelsea dominated for much of the game, particularly in the second half, but the Red Devils were able to hang on for a draw courtesy of some fine shot-stopping from stand-in keeper Tomasz Kuszczak.
The two teams will meet again in the final of the FA Cup on May 19.
AC Milan are through to the final of the UEFA Champion's League for 2007 with a crushing win over Manchester United at the San Siro.
The Red Devils were distinctly off-colour for such an important game and Milan's Brazilian maestro Kaka duly punished them with a goal inside the first 11 minutes to add to the brace he scored in the 1st leg.
Confusion in the United defence between Gabriel Heinze and Nemanja Vidic gave Milan their second goal of the evening with Clarence Seedorf the scorer.
It took until the hour for United to really get going but they still did not manage to break down the Milan defence and shortly after, it was all over - game, set and match Milan when substitute Alberto Gilardino was released down the middle and he ran 40 yards before coolly curling the ball home.
While a Liverpool - Manchester United would have been absolutely mouth-watering, we will now witness a rematch of the epic 2005 final between Liverpool and Milan which the mighty Reds came out on top after coming back from 3 - 0 down to win on penalties.
The Champion's League final 2007 will be in Athens on May 23rd.
Wayne Rooney's double which included a sensational injury-time winner handed the Red Devils the advantage as Milan slipped to a 3-2 defeat although an equally brilliant brace from the talented Brazilian Kaka ensured that Milan are still in with a chance.
The second-leg of semi-final one will take place on Wednesday May 2nd at the San Siro.
Barclaycard Premiership leaders Manchester United meet Italian giants AC Milan in the first leg of the Champion's League at Old Trafford on Wednesday (AEST 04:30).
The Red Devils enter the match on the back of a bouyant 7 - 1 romp over Roma a fortnight ago, but their injury-ravaged squad could prove to be a huge obstacle to overcome with none of their first choice defenders fit.
Sth Korean Park Ji-sung and striker Louis Saha are also ruled out which leaves only a 13-man senior squad for Sir Alex Ferguson to choose from.
In contrast, AC Milan boss Carlo Ancelotti has a virtually fully-fit squad available, with striker Alberto Gilardino returning after suspension which means the Rossoneri must start as favourites.
It will be an interesting battle between the youth in attack of United and the wealth of experience of Milan's defence.
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