Hello all

I’ve been away a few days but I will be back in the morning to review the Liverpool v Chelsea Champions League semi-final as well as Wednesday’s clash in Milan between AC and Utd.

I will also be reporting on the Liverpool Chelsea game “as live” on Wednesday as I will be lucky enough to be at Anfield on Tuesday night to sample what I’m sure will be an amazing, almost death bed memory, atmosphere!

Talk to you soon!

The Soccer Blogger

It will be Chelsea and Jose Mourinho who will take a one goal lead to Anfield for the second leg of this Champions League semi-final encounter next Tuesday evening. Mourinho is hoping that his team’s attacking potential will be the ultimate factor in deciding the final outcome. Mourinho, who was obviously delighted with his players said after the game, “We normally score a goal and if we score a goal we have got a big chance of reaching the final.

“I think Liverpool think they can overturn the result but we are winning 1-0 and have a good defensive team.”

“I thought our performance was top class,” he continued. “We had so many chances and we finally scored with chance number six.

“The second half was different from the first. Liverpool attacked more and had a chance with a great shot from Steven Gerrard.”

It was Joe Cole who scored the only goal after half an hour after, sliding in Drogba’s cross.

If Chelsea were on top in the first and they certainly deserved their lead, Liverpool picked their games up in the second half and pinned Chelsea back for long periods. And you have to say, if it wasn’t for Petr Cech in the Chelsea goal Liverpool would have left Stamford Bridge with what could have been that vital away goal. Cech pulled off a stunning save from a typical long range volley from the Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard.

However, Cech wasn’t the only goallkeeper on top form last night. Pepe Reina has kept Liverpool in the tie with a couple of fantastic saves from Frank Lampard. You never know, those saves could be the defining moments of this semi-final. Had either of those attempts been converted by Lampard, the second leg would have been a completely different story. Liverpool are capable of turning round a 1 - 0 first leg score, 2 - 0 I’m not so sure!

As he must do, the Liverpool manager, Rafael Benitez, is staying positive for the second leg. He said, “You need to score just one and if we can score two we’ll be there.

“We will have the support of our people. They know they are really important for us and I hope we will feel the atmosphere behind us.”

I’ve said before that the atmosphere at Anfield for a special European night, which next Tuesday will certainly be, is almost unique in football. I am sure the amazing atmospherre generating when the teams met two years ago did contribute to the result. I done think the Chelsea players had ever encountered anything like it. Well, they have now. Even Mourinho was impressed and a little humbled by that atmosphere. He stated yesterday that the Annfield crowd that night was the only one in his time in football that he saw score a goal! How will Chelsea react this time? They know what to expect, they know that it is going to be red hot, surely they will be able to cope with it better!

So Liverpool are going to have to produce a similar performace and result to the 2 - 0 defeat they inflicted on Chelsea in January. The good thing for Liverpool is at least they know they are capable of such a scoreline. They don’t have to overcome that hurdle as well. Benitez and his players returned to Liverpool prabably wishing they had lost 2 - 1 instead of 1 - 0.

At “half-time” in the semi-finals, it is currently looking like we are going to get that first all English final, Man Utd v Chelsea. However, I suspect there are going to be a few twists and turns and a lot of drama still to come and AC Milan and Liverpool are not going to lie down easily when they both play at home. I’m not predicting anything!

The Soccer Blogger

One of England’s World Cup winners from 1966, Alan Ball MBE, has died of a heart attack at just 61.

Ball was the youngest of the World Cup winning team. He won a total of 72 England caps. He was awarded an MBE in 2000 and is only the second member of the side that won at Wembley beating West Germany 4-2, to die. The first was captain Bobby Moore, who died of cancer in 1993.

The scorer of the famous hat-trick in the World Cup Final, Geoff Hurst paid this tribute to Ball, “He was the youngest member of the team and man of the match in the 1966 World Cup final.

“Socially he was always a good laugh and the 1966 team mixed a lot after then. We are all totally devastated.”

Another member of the team, Sir Bobby Charlton has said, “He was probably the best player that day and if it had not been for his impact the result could have been totally different.

He did not appear to have a nerve in his body, and he was an inspiration to us all.

“Alan was always bright and bubbly in everything he did as a player. He went about his work with great enthusiasm and gusto and he always had a smile on his face.

“He was a sensational little player with great touch and great vision. He had great close control and although he wasn’t a fast player he didn’t need to be. He could see things clearly and always made the right decisions.

“He was the youngest member of our squad and we were all looking forward to our latest reunion in two weeks. I am very sad and shocked by the news. Alan will be badly missed.”

Ball, was one of those small, yet very industrious midfield players. The type you hate to play against but always want in your team. He started his career at Blackpool and went on to play for Everton, Arsenal and Southampton before enjoying a spell in the United States. He later managed seven clubs including Portsmouth, Southampton and Manchester City.

Alan Ball died of a heart attack after collapsing outside his home tackling a bonfire.

The Soccer Blogger

Man Utd 3 - 2 AC Milan

It certainly didn’t disappoint, did it? Nothing like leaving it until the last minute to grab the winner! And it was Wayne Rooney who stepped up with the seconds quickly ticking away to strike the stunning winner and put Man Utd slightly ahead in the tie and also as slight favourites to reach the Final in Athens and make it the first all English Final in Europe.

Sir Alex Ferguson the Utd manager now believes his team have a “magnificent chance” of reaching that Final. He said after the game, “We kept playing our football, some of which was fantastic, and dominated the second half.

“Some of the football we played was absolute quality, really top class. We’ve got a magnificent chance now.

“We’re in front and they know that - it’s a really big game now.

“They have got a really difficult game on their hands now. We are chasing the Premiership and this is the biggest boost we could have got.”

It was Cristiano Ronaldo who gave Utd the perfect start after only 6 minutes with a header. But the smiles didn’t last too long. It was the brilliant Kaha, who was a constant threat, that struck twice. First on 22 minutes and then again on 37 minutes to silence Old Trafford and send Milan in at the break 2 - 1 ahead. To be honest the second goal was the result of some poor Utd defending when Heinze and Evra collided. How crucial will that second away goal prove to be when the sides meet in the San Siro next Wednesday?

When the second half got under way, it was going to need someone to “stand up to the plate” because Kaha, in particular, was in excellent form and he was able to beat the Utd offside trap after a beautiful one-two with Seedorf, who only managed to shot wide. It could have been a very different story had Utd gone 1 - 3 down at that point. However, the moment Utd were waiting for came on 59 minutes when Scholes provided a sublime pass for Rooney. The Brazilian goalkeeper was able to half stop Rooney’s effort but the ball had enough strength on it to roll into the net.

Rooney scoring his first to equalise at 2 - 2.

Ferguson stated after the game that Scholes’ pass for Rooney was “fantastic, just a little flick but what a pass.” Rooney also paid tribute to the “genius” of Paul Scholes in setting up the equaliser saying, “I see him do it every day in training. He’s brilliant. He is a joy to play with, a genius.”

The initiative was suddenly back with Utd and Dida had to pull off a brilliant save from Fletcher. Utd started to mount a period of sustained pressure and Dida was yet again called into action and produced another superb save, this time from a dipping drive from Ronaldo. Dida was just able to steer it inches wide.

However, the real drama was yet to come. With the seconds ticking away and the game already in extra-time and looking like 2 - 2 draw, Rooney ran onto a Giggs pass to fire past Dida sending Old Trafford into ecstasy.

Rooney, the hero, said after the game, “It’s a great feeling. It was a difficult match but when it got late we kept going. We knew the victory would make it a little bit easier for the away leg.

“And to get a goal in the last minute is a great feeling.

“It was fantastic. At 2-1 behind at half-time against a very good Milan team, we knew it would be difficult to get the win. The manager told us to keep pushing, keep going and we’ll get the goals, and we did.”

Looking forward to the second leg? Oh yes!

The Soccer Blogger

Chelsea v Liverpool
To Be Played At Stamford Bridge, Wednesday April 25th, Kick-off 1945 BST

This is a re-match of the dramatic 2005 semi-final which Liverpool won 1 - 0 over the two legs thanks to that “was it in?” goal by Luis Garcia which prompted such a noise and atmosphere the likes of which have seldom been heard before or since. It was an atmosphere, in my humble opinion, that contributed to the final result. I am sure that the Chelsea players had never experienced anything like it. John Terry, the Chelsea captain, has said as much. However having already experienced that atmosphere, which is guaranteed again at Anfield, will Chelsea be so affected by it this time?

One of the Chelsea players that didn’t experience that electric atmosphere two years ago was the German captain Michael Ballack. However, Ballack is already ruled out of the Stamford Bridge first leg tomorrow night with an ankle injury. Will he be fit for next week?

Also missing for Chelsea will be Dutch winger Arjen Robben due a to knee injury that has kept him out for a while and midfielder Michael Essien who is suspended. It’s not been a great couple of days for Essien having been picked up by London police in the early hours (5am) for suspected drink driving. He has since been bailed. One other worry for Jose Mourinho has been defender Ricardo Carvalho, however he did train today.

Liverpool on the other hand don’t really appear to have any injury worries. The only issue may have been the right back Irish international Steve Finnan but it would appear that he has recovered from his neck injury.

A milestone will be reached tomorrow night for one Liverpool player. Jaime Carragher, if he plays (which is almost 100% certain), will equal the club record currently held by Liverpool legend Ian Callaghan of 89 European appearances for the Merseyside club.

The two teams have only played each four times in Europe which all took place in the Champions League in the calender year 2005. Obviously the two legs of the semi-final, as mentioned above, and then they meet again in the following season’s group stages. Those two games both ended as 0 - 0 draws which of course means that the only goal scored by the two teams against each other in Europe is “that” Garcia goal. Will something give this year? Well, I suppose something has to, but which way will it go?

What effect will be taking place on the Chelsea players both physically and mentally from their pursuit of an unprecedented four trophies? They of course already have the League Cup under their belts, defeating Arsenal in the “Battle of Cardiff”. “Battle” because of the scrap that took place just about on full-time.

Also Liverpool have had a far more relaxed built up to the semi after easy home defeats of Middlesbrough and Wigan, both 2 - 0. Of course, the mind games between the two managers have already started. Rafael Benítez wasn’t getting drawn into any war of words in his press conference today though. However, one thing he did say which I believe is absolutely correct is that the one trophy Chelsea want to win, whether it be this season or any other, is the Champions League. They have said that continually. They have said that they can not be considered a great team until they lift the famous European trophy. Even though Chelsea are in contention to win both the Premiership and the FA Cup (both directly against Man Utd) I agree with Benítez in that, if Chelsea could only win one more trophy this season, they would choose the Champions League above the others. Do Chelsea therefore have more to lose? Possibly. How will they handle that pressure?

The majority of this Liverpool squad know what it like to win the Champions League and they will be supremely hungry to win it for the sixth time. I just wonder, that if over the two legs, and with the second at an Anfield that is possibly unequalled on such European nights, that Liverpool may just come out on top again in a cup competition against Chelsea.

Hold on tight, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!

The Soccer Blogger