Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea (Manchester United win 6-5 on penalties)
UEFA Champions League Final
21 May 2008 - Luzhniki Stadium - Moscow
Time: 20:45 (CET), 19:45 (UK), 23:45 (PK), 14:45 (EST).

Nothing that I can put into words can express the range of emotions that the players and the fans watching around the world went through during this game. Nothing anyone can say will ever capture the drama of the penalty shootout - Cech saving from Ronaldo, EVDS being beaten every time till Terry pumped it wide, coolness personified from Ryan Giggs to slot his penalty and then Edwin van der Sar’s save to win the Champions League.

It was madness - for United to take the lead, slip up, stagger from the return punch and then slip up again at the final hurdle - it took massive, massive balls to stay in there and while Terry will cop the responsibility from most sections, the game was there to be won for both sides in normal time.

Well played Chelsea - it was an absorbing and fitting finale to the season. When Mourinho left and Grant lost his first game to United, it seemed like their season was over but they came back strong and pushed United to the final hurdle. No other team in the Premier League currently has the quality or the spirit to do this, well done.

Fantastic stuff from Manchester United - defeat here wouldn’t have taken anything away from a great season but victory and the league and european cup double serves to highlight the spirit and tenacity of this United side. Few teams recover from the horror start they had to the season - to go on and win the double is fantastic.

I’m off to celebrate Glory Glory Manchester United!!!

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Andy Greeves on why Avram has struggled to live in the shadow of the Special One.

One of the most abiding images of the season so far was Avram Grant’s reaction to Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final victory over Liverpool. The Israeli crumbled to his knees as the final whistle sounded in west London, overcome by a mixture of emotion. He gave tribute to his father on Holocaust Memorial Day and celebrated the Blues’ victory - a rare and personal moment of reflection rarely afforded in the last nine months he has been in charge at Stamford Bridge.

The focus on Grant since his appointment as Blues manager on 20 September, 2007, has been unprecedented and on occasions, unseemly. Sections of the UK football media and Chelsea’s support base have revelled at every opportunity to lead a character assassination of the former Portsmouth technical director. Grant has been portrayed as a hapless tactician, unable to communicate with his players and ultimately a sub-standard replacement to Jose Mourinho.

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Chelsea’s billionaire owner Roman Abramovich is a man who polarises opinions. Most accept that a) he’s a smart businessman and b) he loves football and Chelsea, but beyond that there are two camps - those who believe that Roman will ‘grow tired’ of Chelsea and those who believe that Roman is truly dedicated to Chelsea.

Both camps are missing the point somewhat. Roman Abramovich’s attachment to Chelsea is based on both passion and sound business sense. This isn’t a sordid love affair (once you’re a fan, you’re a fan for life, right?) and considering his heavy investments in the club and the fact that it will take quite some time to recoup them, he’s not going anywhere for a long time.

In that backdrop, the latest (06/07) financial documents from Chelsea Limited make for some interesting reading (download PDF here).

The highlights:

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Ok, I give up. I’ve written and rewritten the first few paragraphs of this piece more times that I’d care to count and have utterly failed to keep any balance of neutrality regarding the Conference playoff final at the weekend. The situation also isn’t helped by the fact the game is largely a blur to me, and I’d need to sit down and watch the match again if any sensible analysis is to be achieved.

So, with the greatest of respect to readers of this site, bollocks to intelligent non-partisan punditry in favour of a brief but personal journey through five seasons of non-league football.

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Euro 2008 betting punters looking to pull out a few shocks should probably steer clear of Group B as co-hosts Austria and Poland, both looking to make a mark in their first-ever appearance in the tournament, will have their work cut out to prevent the favourites Germany and impressive Croatia from marching into the last-eight.

Without being disrespectful to the Austrians had they not automatically qualified for Euro 2008 as joint hosts then it would be fair to say they would not have got near the finals in a qualification campaign.

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Racing Santander grabbed the last available Uefa Cup place thanks to an 86th minute winner against Osasuna, while at the other end of the table it is Zaragoza who join Levante and Murcia in the second division. It doesn’t seem so long ago that Nayim was scoring against Arsenal’s David Seaman to win them the European Cup Winners Cup. Real Madrid celebrated their season again by thumping Levante 5-2, while Frank Rijkaard said goodbye to Barcelona with a 3-5 win at Murcia.

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This weeks postbag sees a letter from one of the most influential players in English football. Soccerlens is very proud to be chosen as a sounding board by this particular individual.

Dear Soccerlens,

I am a twenty-seven year old footballer who has achieved nearly everything it is possible to achieve in the game. I am a veteran of sixty-five caps for my country and I am a loyal one club man for my beloved club.

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The European domestic leagues are coming to a close, but the US Men’s National Team players based on the continent are just getting warmed up. This summer will be an important one for the USMNT in their run-up to qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. A series of testing friendlies precedes the kickoff of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying.

First, the USMNT will play England at Wembley (Wednesday 28 May, 20:00 GMT) then Spain in Santander (Wednesday 4 June, 21:00 GMT) before coming home to face Argentina (Sunday 8 June, 19:30 EDT) and Barbados (Sunday 15 June, 14:00 PDT).

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The 07/08 Premier League season was the first in the new 3-year deal secured by Scudamore and co., one that promises to bring a crazy amount of money into football. While some people think that football is peaking in England, I respectfully disagree - the scramble for football dollars has just begun, with the Premier League product a star-studded attraction.

Just how much money did clubs earn this season, compared to the last? To give you one perspective, Bolton (16th) earned £32m this season, Fulham (17th) £31.3m and Derby (20th) £29.1m. Last season, Manchester United (1) earned £32m, Chelsea (2) earned £30.9m and Arsenal (4th - last season) earned £29m.

The bottom placed team in 07/08 earns more than the 4th placed team from last season - even when you are comparing the least attractive team (Derby) with a team some consider to be the most attractive to watch on TV (Arsenal - they’re not in as much demand as Manchester United, mind you).

Now you know why Sheffield United were throwing such a strop for being relegated. It was never about right or wrong, it was always about the money.

How the money is distributed

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All year long we’ve been bitching about refereeing decisions going against our clubs. Sometimes we resort to bitching about how refereeing decisions unfairly help other clubs (witness SAF’s comment on Arsenal’s late equaliser against Villa, or Grant’s whinge about referees helping United win the title).

Right Result, since the start of the 2006/2007, have been tracking each Premier League game and answering the question: “how would the Premier League look if refs got all the decisions right?”

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