Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea (Manchester United wins 6-5 on penalties)
SUMMARY:
Manchester United and Chelsea played out a thrilling Champions League Final tie in Moscow overnight with the Red Devils emerging victorious to secure their third European cup with a 6-5 win on penalties after extra-time.
United dominated the first half and deservedly went ahead through Cristiano Ronaldo's brilliant header - his 42nd goal of the campaign - in the 26th minute. They continued to press and Carlos Tevez had two glorious chances to put the game out of reach for Chelsea but they held on to equalise from a goal out of nothing.
An attempted shot from Michael Essien 25-yards out took two deflections before landing sweetly into the path of Lampard, who duly supplied a left-footed finish from six yards.
Chelsea were back in it and it was the perfect time to equalise just before the break.
The London club came out rejuvenated in the second half and dominated proceedings much like their opponents did in the first half. Drogba saw a shot hit the woodwork as United held on and had chances of their own when late substitute Ryan Giggs saw a shot cleared off the line by John Terry.
Both teams were even in extra-time before drama unfolded. Drogba was shown a straight red for slapping Nemanja Vidic but his sending off came too late for United to make full use of their numerical advantage and penalties ensued.
Decisive misses by John Terry and Nicolas Anelka handed the trophy to United despite Ronaldo missing his second successive penalty but it did not matter as United marked the 50th anniversary of the Munich air crash with their third European crown.
Wed, Apr 23: UEFA Champions League (Semi-Final 1st Leg)
Barcelona 0-0 Man Utd
SUMMARY
Manchester United wasted a glorious opportunity to take a 1-0 lead - and a crucial away goal - into the second leg of their Champions League semi-final clash with Barcelona as a missed penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo in the third minute meant the score finished nil-all at the Camp Nou.
Ronaldo's admirers will probably point to those hideous red boots he was wearing as the cause for the fluffed penalty kick but his detractors will say the player that has terrorised Premier League defences all season failed to show up in a big game yet again.
Perhaps Ronaldo's performance last night ended the debate as to who is the world's best player once and for all. Barcelona's Lionel Messi, the other major contender for the prized accolade, returned from five weeks out with injury to spark his team into life and terrify the United defence with every touch of the ball.
Ronaldo, on the other hand, failed to inspire his teammates or showcase his famous skills on the biggest stage yet again. Perhaps he was still ruing his miscued spot kick? Nevertheless, the best players gets over those sorts of disappointments quickly.
All in all, the Red Devils will be relieved to be leaving Spain with a goalless draw when the result could have been so different had Barca converted the many chances they had created.
Wed, Apr 9: UEFA Champions League (Quarter-Final 2nd Leg)
Man Utd 1-0 Roma
Barcelona 1-0 Schalke 04
SUMMARY:
Manchester United and Barcelona pulled off 1-0 home wins over Roma and Schalke 04 respectively in the Champions League overnight to setup a mouthwatering semi-final clash in a fortnight's time.
United's 2-0 cushion from the first leg prompted Sir Alex Ferguson to drop the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes to the bench (in anticipation of the EPL clash with Arsenal this weekend) but still managed a narrow 1-0 win over the Italian side.
The home side was let off the hook in the first half when Daniele De Rossi skied a penalty in the first half and were made to pay the price when Owen Hargreaves crossed for Argentina striker Carlos Tevez to score a diving header in the 70th minute to seal a 1-0 win on the night and 3-0 on aggregate.
Barcelona shrugged off their recent woes in La Liga with a hard fought 1-0 win (2-0 agg) over German side Schalke 04 at the Camp Nou.
Despite missing the likes of the injured Ronaldinho and Messi, Barcelona just had too much class for Schalke as Yaya Toure scored the winner with a scuffed shot late in the 1st half to send the Catalan giants through to the semi-final in a competition they last won in 2006.
The first leg of the semi-final clash between Manchester United and Barcelona will take place at the Nou Camp on April 23.
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.
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.
Just in case you were wondering, there is no typo in the title of my post.
That is the amazing score-line by which the Red Devils emerged victorious from their clash against Roma at Old Trafford in a pulsating night of European football.
In one of Manchester United's most devastating performances in Europe, the Red Devils completely and utterly destroyed Italian club Roma to advance through to the last four of Europe's elite club competition.
By half-time, the Red Devils were already 4 - 0 up with goals from Michael Carrick, Alan Smith, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.
All four goals were top notch and everything had fallen into place for Manchester United.
One would have predicted the second half to be less exciting than the first with United to defend their 4-nil cushion, but Ronaldo carried on the rampage with his 2nd goal and United's fifth of the evening just five minutes after the restart.
5 - 0.
If the score-line was getting a little ridiculous, the ease with which United carved up Roma's defence was ludicrous and soon Carrick had his second goal of the night with an arrowed shot into the top right corner.
6 - 0.
Roma pulled one back nine minutes later, but it was hardly worth celebrating as evident from the muted response from their shell-shocked fans.
Second half substitute Patrice Evra completed the rout with United's 7th goal in the 81st minute.
Chelsea's Ghana midfielder Michael Essien scored a sensational late winner to earn his side a berth in the Champion's League semi-final over-night.
With the match seemingly headed for extra-time, Essien rammed home an acutely angled shot in injury time to dump Spanish side Valencia out of the competition.
Valencia's Fernando Morientes had given his side the lead with a goal just past the half-hour and the reigning English champions were in trouble knowing that they had fallen 2-1 behind on aggregate.
Mourinho knew he had to make changes and sent on the talented Joe Cole in place of the ineffective Diarra during half-time and the move paid dividends.
Cole's direct running and trickery caused chaos in the Valencia box and up stepped striker Andriy Shevchenko to bundle in the equaliser - the Blues were back.
Chelsea continued to press and should have scored from a Ballack free-kick had it not been for the brilliance of opposition goalkeeper Canizares' fantastic save but Essien finally managed the vital breakthrough with his angle drive in stoppage time.
Wayne Rooney's first Champion's League goal in 30 months was not enough to save Manchester United from defeat against Roma in a match marred by off-field violence.
Manchester United fans and Italian police clashed during the half-time break with several United fans captured on TV bleeding from head wounds.
Things did not go too well on the pitch either for the Red Devils after going down to Roma 2 - 1 although Rooney's away goal means not all is lost with the return leg at Old Trafford next week.
Former England midfielder Paul Scholes will be watching next week's game from the stands after getting himself sent-off for reckless tackles which earned him two yellow cards and an automatic red for his efforts.
Meanwhile, Valencia showed their class against Chelsea with a 1 - 1 draw and a precious away goal at Stamford bridge.
David Silva's 30th minute goal was superb and Chelsea had to call on their Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba to save their blushes with a lobbed header in the 2nd half.
Although the prospect of three English clubs in the semi-finals of the Champion's League appear premature at this stage, anything can still happen when the return leg of the quarter-finals resume next week.
Bayern Munich's Roy Makaay scored the fastest ever goal in Champion's League history and helped his side claim victory against Real Madrid in the Allianz Arena over-night.
Roy Makaay put Bayern ahead with just 10 seconds on the clock bettering the previous mark of 20 seconds set by Arsenal's Gilberto Silva against PSV Eindhoven in 2002.
A depleted Real team missing defensive lynchpin Fabio Cannavaro and former England captain David Beckham could not find an answer to Bayern's early goal.
When Ferreira Lucio scored in the 66th minute, Real knew they had to score twice to avoid defeat but all they managed was a 83rd minute consolation penalty which Ruud Van Nistelrooy converted.
Bayern Munich are now through to the quarter finals of the competition by virtue of the away goal's rule.
Last season's runner-up Arsenal were bundled out of this year's competition by Dutch side PSV Eindhoven after a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium.
Brazilian defender Alex went from villain-to-hero when he rose above the Arsenal defence to bullet a header into the back of the net with his 'second' goal. His first goal was an own goal that put the Gunners ahead.
However, with the Dutch side carrying a 1-0 lead into the game, the draw was enough to send them through to the next phase while Arsenal boss laments another trophy-less season for his side.
Manchester United's Henrik Larsson signed off in style after scoring the only goal of the game against Lille.
Larsson, whose 10-week loan spell with the Premiership leaders ends on Wednesday week, scored a 71st-minute header to settle a nervy contest that ultimately ensured United advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time in four years.
And Scottish giants Celtic pushed AC Milan all the way during 180 minutes of football and it only took a moment of genius from Milan's Brazilian midfielder Kaka to settle the tie with a goal in extra-time.
UEFA Champion's League action resumed overnight with the first knockout stage of the elite European club competition.
English giants Manchester United earned victory in a controversial match against French side Lille at the Stade Felix-Bollaert with a Ryan Giggs free-kick.
Furious Lille coaching staff attempted to haul their players off the pitch before the final whistle after keeper Tony Sylva was still lining his wall up when Ryan Giggs calmly stroked his free-kick into the top corner seven minutes from time to secure a 1-0 win.
There also appeared to be a security scare at the visitors end where fans seemed to get crushed in front of a 10 foot barrier which thankfully resulted in no reported injuries.
Real Madrid and Bayern Munich took part in a five-goal thriller with David Beckham playing an instrumental role in his side's 3-2 win.
The former England captain played a pivotal role in all three goals before admitting that he still harbours ambition of a recall to the national team.
'My ambition has never changed since the age of 13, even younger. I always wanted to play for my country and I will always be available whether I'm in Spain, for the next four months, or whether I'm in LA,' he said before adding, 'I will always want to do well for my country.'
Scottish champions Celtic battled out an entertaining goalless draw with Italian giants AC Milan at Parkhead.
Meanwhile, last year's runners up Arsenal hopes of progressing were dealt a blow when they lost away from home to Dutch side PSV Eindhoven.
A below-par Gunners side could not find a way back after falling behind to a Edison Mendez goal in the 61st minute but all is not lost with a return game to be played at the Emirates stadium in a fortnight's time.
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