You could say that the English Premiership title race frizzled out but down in Spain it just gets better and better with three games still to play! Just take last night as an example. First Sevilla went top away to Deportivo, then Real Madrid stole a dramatic late victory in injury time away to Huelva and just to wrap the evening up, Barcelona were away at Atletico Madrid and simply had to win to keep in touch with the arch rivals Real. Well, they didn’t just win, they crushed the Madrid team 0 - 6!

Lionel Messi, the Barcelona striker, celebrates his opener at the Vicente Calderon

The destruction of Atletico keeps Barca level on 69 points with Real, who continue to lead La Liga on head-to-head results. There were goals from Lionel Messi (which may have been a little fortunate as repeats showed that Eto’o may have been slightly offside in the build up) , Gianluca Zambrotta and Samuel Eto’o late in the first-half. Barca were never troubled in their win and, with Atletico in tatters at 3-0 down at half-time, Ronaldinho struck a fourth goal in the 58th minute. Messi added a fifth five minutes from time and Andres Iniesta completed the rout at the end.

A shambolic Atletico, who remain sixth and in the Uefa Cup places, finished with 10 men after Brazilian defender Fabiano Eller was sent off for his second yellow card in the 72nd minute.

If Barca’s game in Madrid was totally one way, Real’s was anything but. Madrid were almost cruising at 2 - 0 but Huelva would nit give up and they fought back to 2 - 2. With nearly 2 minutes of extra time gone, it was Roberto Carlos who ventured forward to strike what could prove to be the most important goal of the season.

Robinho’s first-half strike, from David Beckham’s cross, and a Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty had put the visitors in control but Antonio Jesus Vazquez’s spot-kick and a goal from substitute Ikechukwu Uche looked to have salvaged a point for Recreativo before Roberto Carlos’ timely contribution.

Earlier in the evening though Sevilla maintained their challenge and ended a great week, after retaining the Uefa Cup in midweek, with a 2-1 win at Deportivo La Coruna. Fredi Kanoute’s 83rd-minute goal proving decisive.

This title race really is going to go down to the wire as neither of the three teams involved look like they are going to buckle under the pressure. Then again, anything can happen in Spain, it’s so unpredictable and that is why it’s such a fascinating league to watch. You can bet there are going to be a few more twists and turns before the title is decided. Who’s nerves are going to give way first?

The Soccer Blogger

Wednesday 23rd May 2007, Olympic Stadium, Athens. Kick-off 1945 (BST)

The two managers have a few decisions to make before the Champions League Final in Athens on Wednesday evening.

For Liverpool their winger Boudewijn Zenden is a doubt with an ankle problem, so Harry Kewell, who has hardly touched a ball this season could play wide on the left. Manager Rafael Benitez will not make a decision on Zenden until further checks on the injury.

Benitez said: “It will be difficult to say Boudewijn will be fit for the final now, but I won’t say ‘no’ yet. He is strong and determined and it may recover quickly. I still hope he will be OK. It will be a big disappointment for him and for us if it’s not possible. He can bring character, experience and tactical knowledge to the team.”

There is also a decision to be taken with regards Xabi Alonso. His inclusion could depend on where Rafa Benítez decides to play his captain, Steven Gerrard.

Liverpool’s first-choice keeper Jose Reina, who had a shoulder injury, and back-up Jerzy Dudek have both been passed fit. The Final will probably be Dudek’s last game for Liverpool but his defining moment, for which he will always be remembered, is that incredible night in Istanbul.

After being left out of the last game of the season against Charlton at home, Reina trained normally last week at the La Manga training camp in south east Spain.

Liverpool go into the game definitely without injured duo Luis Garcia and Fabio Aurelio, while Benitez is also hopeful Mohamed Sissoko will be available.

Within the other camp, AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti must decide between Filippo Inzaghi and Alberto Gilardino to play up front and there will also be a late fitness test for Paolo Maldini who has a knee injury. If Maldini plays, it will be his eight final.

Probably not surprisingly, Milan fielded virtually a second-string side in their 3-2 defeat to Udinese at the San Siro on Saturday. And while veteran defender Maldini, 38, has been bothered by a knee injury, he is still hopeful of starting his eighth European Cup final.

Ancelotti said: “I’ve already decided on my team except I have to wait and see for Maldini and decide on the striker - Inzaghi scores more goals than Gilardino but his support work is better.

“We will have to play our own game in the knowledge it will be difficult to play the ball around against a team that gives very little space.”

AC Milan and Liverpool’s only previous meeting in European competition was that epic final of 2005 in Istanbul. Eight of AC Milan’s starting eleven that night - Dida, Cafu, Maldini, Nesta, Kaka, Pirlo, Gattuso and Seedorf - are still with the club, as is second half substitute Serginho. Milan’s opening goal in that final was scored by Paolo Maldini after just 53 seconds and is one of only two first minute goals in a Champions Cup/Champions League final, the other was scored by Real Madrid’s Enrique Mateos in the 1959 final, although it is unknown exactly how many seconds had passed before Mateos scored. Maldini’s goal also made him the oldest Champions Cup/Champions League goalscorer at 36 years 333 days. As for Liverpool, nine of their players that started that final - Dudek, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise, Alonso, Luis Garcia, Gerrard and Kewell - are still at the club.

AC Milan have played one other European final against an English club. They defeated Leeds 1-0 in the 1973 Cup Winners’ Cup. Liverpool have played two other European finals against Italian clubs, winning one and losing one. They won the 1984 Champions Cup against AS Roma 4-2 on penalties, having drawn 1-1 after 120 minutes. The Merseysiders were defeated 0-1 by Juventus in the climax to the 1985 Champions Cup. Unfortunately that night will always be remembered for other reasons!

Liverpool have played in 10 European finals in all, winning eight and losing two. In the Champions Cup/Champions League, the Merseysiders have only lost once in six finals.

AC Milan have played in 13 European finals, winning eight and losing five. In the Champions Cup/Champions League, they have played in 10 previous finals, winning six and losing four.

On their way to Athens, both clubs have lost three Champions League matches. Milan succumbed to AEK Athens, Lille and Manchester United, while Liverpool were defeated by Galatasaray (in a game that didn’t mean anything in the group stages as Liverpool had already won the group), Barcelona and Chelsea. But of course, Liverpool ultimately won both ties over the two legs.

Both clubs entered the competition in the third qualifying round, and repeated history. The last two teams to reach the final coming from qualifying were Liverpool in 2004-05 and AC Milan in 2002-03.

As stated above, if Paolo Maldini is passed fit, he will be playing in his eighth Champions Cup/Champions League final, equalling the record set by Real Madrid’s “Paco” Gento in the 1950s and 1960s. Maldini will also be the oldest player to ever captain a team in the Final breaking the 46 year old record held by the Barcelona goalkeeper Antonio Ramallets who was 36. Maldini is the only Italian to have played 100 Champions League matches. He reached his century in the first leg of this year’s second round match against Celtic.

Alessandro Costacurta can become the fourth man to play in at least six finals and Clarence Seedorf can become the 11th to play in at least five. Seedorf can also become the first player to win four Champion League titles.

This match will be AC Milan’s 300th in European competition. If they score two goals they will have recorded 500 in European competition. They also need to score three times to record 350 in Champions Cup/Champions League matches.

For Liverpool Jamie Carragher is the most experienced player in the Champions League with 52 appearances, one ahead of his team mate John Arne Riise. Carragher also holds the club’s record for most European appearances overall, beating the record previously held by Ian Callaghan. Luis Garcia has scored 10 goals in the Champions League, more than any other Liverpool player.

The Final in Athens will be the 58th match of the season for both clubs. Of those 58 games, six Liverpool players have played in at least 48 matches for the club this season. The list is headed by Jermaine Pennant (50) and completed by Reina, Carragher, Gerrard (49 each), Xabi Alonso and Peter Crouch (48 each).

The AC Milan players with the most appearances this season are Clarence Seedorf (49), Andrea Pirlo (48) and Marek Jankulovski (47).

AC Milan head coach Carlo Ancelotti is one of only five people to have won this competition as a player and a coach. He won as a player with AC Milan in 1989 and 1990 and as a coach in 2003.

Both head coaches are going for their second triumph in the Champions Cup/Champions League. Liverpool’s Bob Paisley is the only manager to have won the competition three times (1977, 1978 and 1981). Rafael Benítez has now reached a European final in three of the last four seasons. He won the Uefa Cup with Valencia in 2004 and of course the Champions League in 2005 with Liverpool.

Liverpool can equal AC Milan’s six Champions Cup/Champions League wins. Only Real Madrid have won more with nine. The Spanish record of 11 Champions Cup/Champions League titles will be equalled, regardless of which club wins the match. Both Italy and England currently have 10. If Liverpool win, Spain’s record of 29 European titles will be equalled by English clubs.

Athens is the third city to host the Champions League Final twice. Munich in 1993 & 1997 and Paris (Saint-Denis) in 2000 & 2006 have also served as the venue on more than one occasion. In 1993-94, AC Milan thrashed Barcelona 4-0 in the final at the Athens Olympic Stadium.

We surely couldn’t possibly get another game like the Ataturk again, could we? It would certainly make up for the awful FA Cup Final on Saturday. Whatever happens there will be drama in one shape or another, that’s for sure. Will it be Gerrard or Maldini who lifts “Old Jug Ears” on Wednesday night. I can’t wait to find out!

The Soccer Blogger

Hmmmm!

Well, they kicked off at 3pm on Saturday. That was just about the most exciting thing that happened until the 116th minute when Chelsea managed to string more than two passes together and Drogba woke everyone up.

Drogba’s “alarm call” wakes everyone up only to send Man Utd and their supporters into a nightmare

The final whistle blew. Chelsea players jumped up and down, Manchester Utd players sank to the ground. John Terry lifted the Cup.

John Terry lifts the Cup as people wake from their afternoon nap. Even Frank Lampard appears to be having a good stretch and yawn. It was possibly the most he moved all afternoon.

The End!

Not really much else you can say about it really, apart from the fact that it was such an anti-climax. It was supposed to be the top two teams (apparently) staging the show piece Final for the grand opening of the new Wembley stadium. It simply wasn’t worth the wait. Saturday’s game has to rank up there with the 1996 Final as possibly the worst Final, if not of all time, then at least of the modern era. Personally I’d vote this one as the worst. At least in 1996 it was decided in normal time and we didn’t have to endure an additional 30 minutes. Go down any local park on a Sunday morning to watch the local pub league and you’ll see any number of more entertaining games.

Man Of The Match: There wasn’t one! So I’m awarding it to the stadium itself. Now that was worth the wait!

The Star of The Show

The Soccer Blogger

So, let’s take a look at the two teams who will battle it out this afternoon at the brand new and improved Wembley stadium

Chelsea

Chelsea against Manchester United is a fitting fixture with which to end the domestic season, but it’s only the third time in history that the leading two clubs in the League have graced the FA Cup final. In 1913, Aston Villa beat the champions Sunderland 1-0, and in 1986 champions Liverpool did the League and FA Cup Double, in beating their Merseyside rivals and League runners-up Everton 3-1. Indeed every FA Cup final from 1995 has been won by one of the top four finishers in this season’s Premiership. Having spent the top flight campaign chasing Manchester United, Chelsea are now looking to the 126th FA Cup to compensate for surrendering their League crown to the Red Devils in what has now become the Blues’ most important game of the season.

The Londoners were the last club to win the FA Cup final at the old Wembley in 2000 and are keen to be the first to lift the silverware at the magnificent new structure, built at a cost of more than £750 million. Seven years ago, Chelsea beat Aston Villa 1-0 in the end-of-season showpiece with a goal from Roberto Di Matteo. The same player scored the fastest goal in Wembley Cup Final history three years earlier, when his strike after 43 seconds led to a 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough. It wasn’t so clear cut in 1970 as the final went to a replay. The original tie, played on a disgraceful surface that had earlier hosted the Horse of the Year Show, ended 2-2 after 120 minutes. Chelsea prevailed 2-1 in the replay at Old Trafford. Peter Osgood ensured he scored in every round, and David Webb won it in extra time. The west Londoners qualified for the final only once in the six years it was held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. They lost 2-0 to Arsenal in 2002.

The FA Cup remains the only domestic trophy Chelsea have not won under owner Roman Abramovich and manager Jose Mourinho. They go into Saturday’s game in front of 90,000 and an estimated global television audience of 500 million, on their longest winless run in the Mourinho era of five matches. They ended the Premiership season with five draws, interspersed by the loss on penalties to Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final.

This will be the ninth time that managers Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson have gone head-to-head. The Portuguese has the better record with four wins, one loss and three draws. The defeat was 1-0 in last season’s visit to Old Trafford when United ended Chelsea’s 40-match unbeaten Premiership run. Chelsea gained revenge by clinching their second straight Premier League title with a 3-0 success in last season’s reverse fixture. This season’s two meetings were all square, although the Stamford Bridge fixture was an uncompetitive affair as the title had just been claimed by the Red Devils.

Goalkeeper Petr CECH could well be celebrating an early birthday present should Chelsea win. The Czech Republic international turns 25 the day after the final.

Manchester United

Manchester United take on their free-spending fierce rivals eager to complete a first League and FA Cup Double since famously completing the treble with the Champions League in 1999. At the same time they would also deny Chelsea a Carling Cup and FA Cup Double.

The Old Trafford giants are making a record 18th appearance in the FA Cup final, and are setting their sights on lifting the trophy for a 12th time, thus increasing the outright record they already hold. Seven of the previous 17 final appearances were under Sir Alex, and five of those were victorious (1990, 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2004). Ferguson is looking for an unprecedented fourth League and FA Cup Double. The veteran Scot has won 18 major trophies as United manager and 27 titles in total in his managerial career in Scottish and English football - a post-war record.

While Chelsea eased their way into the quarter-finals with home ties against lower League opposition in Macclesfield, Nottingham Forest and Norwich, before dismissing Tottenham after a replay, and Blackburn after extra time, Manchester United have come up against Premiership opposition all the way. They accounted for Aston Villa, Portsmouth and Watford at the first time of asking, and Reading and Middlesbrough after replays. Their Cup run has produced 23 goals, 15 by United, whereas Chelsea’s has yielded 26 goals, 20 by the Blues.

The Red Devils had dominated meetings with Chelsea in football’s oldest knock out competition. This is the 10th time they find themselves facing each other. United lead by eight wins to one. Since Chelsea’s solitary success in the quarter-finals in 1950, United have won seven clashes, six at the first time of asking. They needed a replay on the most recent occasion, in the last four in 1999. A goalless draw at the Theatre of Dreams was followed by a 0-2 success in west London when Dwight Yorke scored both. United’s most important victory came in the 1994 final, when Eric Cantona was at his height. The Frenchman scored two penalties in seven minutes after the hour of a match which had been level pegging until then. Mark Hughes and Brian McClair were the other scorers in a 4-0 triumph against Glenn Hoddle’s side that completed United’s first ever League and FA Cup double.

This final could provide Paul Scholes with a third FA Cup winners’ medal after successes in 1999 and 2004, but Ryan Giggs could go one better, and become the first player to claim five winners’ medals since Jimmy Forrest of Blackburn Rovers in 1891. Victory would also give the 33-year old Welshmen his 17th major honour, which would equal the all-time record of Liverpool’s Phil Neal.

The PFA’s Player and Young Player of the Year and United’s 23-goal leading scorer this season, Ronaldo, will be making his 150th start for the club if he lines-up for the kick off.

Chelsea v Manchester United (3pm Wembley)

So, it’s finally here. FA Cup Final Day. A special day for any football season but this year there is the added spice of the return of Wembley and, as most neutrals will have wanted, it’s between the top two teams of the season. First plays second. But who will finish No. 1 on the day?

Chelsea were of course the last club to win the FA Cup final at the old Wembley in 2000 and just to put a little more into the mix, Man United will be aiming to claim a fourth domestic Double having won the Premiership title ahead of Chelsea, winners for the previous couple of years. The Londoners will be desperate to finish the season on a high by winning a cup double and denying Utd The Double of leagues title and FA Cup, as Utd denied Chelsea a hat-trick of titles which is something Utd haven’t done. It really is all about stopping the other team getting one over on you.

This is also the only domestic trophy that Jose Mourinho has failed to win so far during his time at Chelsea so he will be doing everything possible to add it to his roll of honour. Who knows, it may be Jose’s last game in charge of Chelsea. Will he be at the Bernabeu next season. Anything could happen over the close season. I for one am looking forward to the football soap opera that will transpire before the kick-off in August. And Jose won’t be the only star involved.

When the two teams have meet this season’s the games have ended in draws, but Mourinho boasts a good record against Sir Alex Ferguson having lost just one of eight clashes against the Utd manager.

Unfortunately for Jose, Chelsea go into the game with an injury list the length of his arm and he’s claiming that out of the richest squad in football he 15 players available to pick from. Bless! Those going to miss out of the first Cup Final at the new Wembley are Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Ballack and Andrei Shevchenko. Mind you I reckon the only one he will really miss is his fellow countryman Carvalho as the other two, obviously bought last summer to ensure Chelsea won the Champions League (DOH!) have been huge disappointments. It wouldn’t surprise me if certainly Ballack will be playing elsewhere next season. Probably not Shevchenko, too pally with Roman!

So in the absence of Carvalho, Michael Essien is set to start in central defence alongside the Chelsea captain John Terry. With Arjen Robben is expected to be on the bench after recovering from a knee injury.

Ashley Cole will be given until the last minute to prove his fitness as he struggles with an ankle injury with Wayne Bridge standing by to replace him. John Obi Mikel is set to undergo a late fitness test as he looks to shake off a thigh problem.

Whilst on the Man United injury list Gary Neville and Louis Saha are missing for the trip to Wembley. With Neville missing both Wes Brown and John O’Shea are battling it out to take his place at right-back.

The captain’s armband will therefore pass to Ryan Giggs and amazingly he looks to win his fifth FA Cup winners’ medal.

The manager also has a selection dilemma at left-back with Patrice Evra and Gabriel Heinze vying for the spot. He must also decide what formation to play as he could decide to bolster his midfield with the inclusion of Darren Fletcher or opt to give Alan Smith a start in attack.

The Player of the Season Cristiano Ronaldo is in line to make his 150th start for the club against Chelsea. Will he continue his marvellous form and help Utd carry off the FA Cup and climb those steps to the Royal Box second? I’m so glad the climb up the steps is back to lift the trophy. So much better than doing it on the pitch. Only problem is, at the old Wembley the teams had to climb only 39 steps. Now there are, I think from memory, 104 of them. Good job they are all fit lads having to climb all those. Another reason they won’t want it going to extra time.

The Teams

Chelsea (from): Cech, Hilario, Cudicini, Geremi, Ferreira, A Cole, Terry, Boulahrouz, Diarra, Makelele, Obi, Lampard, Essien, Kalou, Wright-Phillips, Bridge, Robben, Drogba, Sahar.

Man Utd (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Brown, O’Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Heinze, Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Fletcher, Giggs, Richardson, Eagles, Rooney, Smith, Solskjaer.

The Soccer Blogger