AND WE'RE OFF TO ROME!

 

 

Well the 1st leg of our all-Premiership Champions League semi final match with Arsenal saw us come away with a tight win at Old Trafford. Despite the win, I doubt any United fan was totally happy with how the match played out, we dominated the game and yet the whistle blew with the tie still too close to call. And so we came to the second leg at the Emirates Stadium, Arsene Wenger was talking up the Gunners chances, and had beaten us at their place earlier this season but they still had to do a job on us to turn this round. For United it was 4-3-3, van de Saar in goal, Vidic and Rio(captain) in central defence, Carrick, Fletcher and Anderson in midfield, Rooney, Ronaldo and Park up front.

Well credit where credit's due, Arsenal were the better team in the opening few minutes but then United went forward in the 8th minute, an Arsenal defender count't keep his balance, Park picked up the ball and slotted it in. And just when I'd sent off a gloating text to Sam saying that his team were now out of it, Ronaldo rocketed in a free kick from 40 yards in the 11th minute "Looks like it now" came the reply. After that, well the Gunners had no energy. They had the chances, but they just didn't have the confidence. United had both before half time, but couldn't make much of them. We didn't need to. Somehow we were cruising our way to a Champions League final.

United continued to cruise through the opening stages of the second half and if Arsenal attacked, fine be us. In the 61st minute we pulled off what wasn't so much a fast break as a smooth break, Rooney crossed, Ronaldo grabbed his second and surely now it was game over. Not quite yet though, in the 76th minute we went down to 10 men after a dodgy refereeing decision and Robin van Persie slotted the resulting penalty. That was way too little too late as far as the Gunners were concerned. Arsene Wenger was given a reality check. His team are still a long way off their former glory days. United are still in a position to defend the Champions League.

Elsewhere, Chelsea faced Barcelona at Stamford Bridge. Barca looked to dominate the game from the start but then Chelsea countered and Michael Essien fired in a scorcher. Credit to the Blues, they were certainly more adventurous than they were in the first leg. Yet Barca still looked the stronger side. Could Chelsea repeat our trick from last year, even with a moronic referee annoying both sides. The answer turned out to be no. Andres Iniesta found a last minute equaliser. That left the final score on aggregate 1-1 and Barca were able to win the tie on away goals. The Chelsea players looked like they were about to deck the ref but if I'm honest, the better side over both legs did win.

Well, now we have the final and United are there for the second year in a row for the first time ever! The last side to pull that stunt off was actually the Valencia team of '00-'01, and they lost both finals. The last English team to do it was the Liverpool team of the mid-80s in '84-'85. Let's home the history of '85 won't repeat itself in the Stadio Olimpico where we face Barcelona. On the footballing front, well even though Chelsea gave them a heading in the semis, you really can't underestimate Barcelona. Can we still defend our trophy though? Yes, but we could also get a reality check. It's going to be one hell of a match, and all I can do is cross my fingers.

Going down a level, the UEFA Cup semi final 2nd leg games were taking place. In the all-Ukranian Premier League tie, Shatkar Donetsk beat Dynamo Kiev 2-1 at the RSK Olimpyiskyi with the home side coming up with a late winner. In the all-Bundesliga tie, Werder Bremen beat Hamburg 3-2 at the Nordbank Arena with Werder wrapping the game and tie up late on after a strange incident involving a plastic cup of all things! Either way, it's not exactly the final that people had expected but neither of the finalists will complain. Both of them have now made a piece of club history - how much further they can go from there is anyone's guess.

So, the UEFA Cup final is going to be between Werder Bremen and Shatkar Donetsk at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium. Well what do I make of that? Well for Shatkar it's their first ever European final and domestically, they're out of the Ukranian Premier League title race so this'll be their main shot at glory this season. Werder have more history though, winning the old Cup winners Cup back in 1992 and have the stronger group of players. However they are midtable in the Bundesliga. My hunch still says that the Werder probably have the edge but given the amount of big names that have been slain in this competition, anything could happen.

Going into domestic matters and Aberdeen faced Dundee United at Tannadice Park in the SPL. Lee Miller opened the scoring for the Dons only for their New Firm rivals to reply with David Goodwillie grabbing an equaliser before half time. The Dons certainly had the edge in the second half but weren't helped when they had to finish the game with ten men. That meant that the Tangerines finished the game as the stronger side but couldn't find a winner themselves. Overall, not that bad a result given that the Dons don't have a good recent record at Tannadice Park though it was good to hear Jimmy Calderwood say before the match that his side really should be doing better.

That means that the Dons remain 5th in the SPL, four points behind Dundee United and a Europa League spot. Well, at least they're still in the mixer but they really could have done with a win at Tannadice. As it is they have three games to go and there are no mugs in the top half of the SPL, particularly not Rangers who they have still to visit. And yet, if the Tangerines can drop two points at home despite the Dons finishing the game with ten men, then they can also drop points elsewhere. It'll be a case of seeing what happens in the next round of games but the race for the SPL Europa League spots is still on at least, just a case of seeing if the Dons can put on a late surge.

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