TODAY'S MATCHES

Monday, 13 June 2011

Manchester United secure deal for Blackburn's Phil Jones

Manchester United have sealed a five-year contract for Blackburn defender Phil Jones in a deal believed to be worth up to £17m.

The England Under-21 centre-half had a medical with United on 8 June before a late hitch delayed the transfer.

And despite offers from Arsenal and Liverpool, the 19-year-old insisted he only wanted a move to Old Trafford.

"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity and I'm looking forward to a new challenge," Jones said on Twitter.


Match of the Day analysis of Jones playing for Blackburn against Man Utd last year

"I'd just like to say that I've loved my time at Blackburn and I will always be a huge fan."

A United statement said the club were "delighted" to conclude the transfer.

"The player passed a medical in Manchester last week and has agreed a five-year contract," the statement read.

"The deal will be completed once the player returns from international duty."

Jones only made his Premier League debut in March last year but has made a big impact in his first full season and featured for the England U21s in the 1-1 draw with their Spanish counterparts on Sunday.

Several United players expressed delight on their Twitter accounts on Monday afternoon after hearing about their new team-mate.

Striker Wayne Rooney said: "Welcome to Man Utd Phil Jones. Looking forward to playing with u," while defender Rio Ferdinand said: "Welcome to Phil Jones. Another top young talent joining the club. The future is bright."

Blackburn boss Steve Kean revealed the club had made a "staggering" offer in an attempt to keep hold of their star defender.

"Phil wants to play Champions League football now and we're not at that level," Kean said.

"I'm sure we will be in the coming years, and we gave it a real good try and made him a fantastic offer, but I understand why he wants to go now.

"He goes with our blessing and it's an opportunity for us to invest in other young players across other areas of the pitch.

"We were hoping he was going to be captain of our club and captain of England, he's a fantastic prospect and I'm sure he'll be an England regular very soon."

The teenager will face a battle to immediately break into United's first team with Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic the clear first choice for the centre-half spots.

Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans are also competing for places at the heart of Sir Alex Ferguson's defence.

A string of fine performances by Jones helped Blackburn end their season with a four-game unbeaten run, which included a 1-1 draw with United and wins over Bolton and Wolves, to guide them to Premier League survival.

Preston-born Jones joined Blackburn's youth set-up in 2002, making his debut in a Carling Cup win at Nottingham Forest in September 2009. His first Premier League appearance came six months later in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Ewood Park.

Saturday, 28 May 2011

Barcelona outplay Manchester United to win Champions League

Lionel Messi scored his 53rd goal in all competitions this season, as Barcelona won its third Champions League crown in the last six years with a dominating 3-1 win over Manchester United at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

Pedro and David Villa also scored for Barcelona, which also defeated United in the 2009 final. Barca beat Arsenal in the 2006 final and has won four European titles in its history.

Wayne Rooney scored for United, which fell short of its fourth European title. The English club was in the final for the third time in the last four seasons, but its lone win was in 2008 against Chelsea.

Barcelona was rewarded for an extended spell of possession in the 27th minute, as Andres Iniesta played a long ball through midfield to Xavi, who flicked a pass off to the right with the outside of his foot to find Pedro.

Pedro was wide open and he slotted inside the right post before United center back Nemanja Vidic could close the space, leaving goalie Edwin van der Sar no chance.

Although United struggled after a good opening few minutes, it pulled the goal back just seven minutes later when Rooney and Ryan Giggs combined to level the match. Rooney found Giggs just inside the area, and despite a hint of offside, he dropped the ball back to Rooney in space.

Rooney ran onto the ball and curled a right-footed shot past a sliding Barca fullback Dani Alves and out of the reach of goalie Victor Valdes for his first goal in three Champions League finals appearances.

Barcelona still controlled the match after Rooney's goal, and the Spanish side regained the lead nine minutes after halftime. Messi took a few dribbles in an open space outside the area and, despite being in traffic, fired a left-footed shot to the right post from 20 yards to beat Van der Sar.

Villa pushed Barcelona's cushion to two goals in the 69th minute, accepting a short pass from Sergio Busquets just outside the top of the area, where he hit a brilliant strike into the upper-right corner past a diving Van der Sar.

Barcelona controlled the majority of the match, and United failed to produce a real threat over the last 20 minutes as the Spanish champions sealed their win over the English champions.

Tuesday, 3 May 2011

Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid (3-1 agg.): Catalans Through To Champions League Final After Controversial Camp Nou Draw



Barcelona all but won the Champions League semifinal when Pedro netted in the 53rd minute.

The second leg match was all tied up but Iniesta produced a class ball and Pedro slotted it past Casillas who had a great game up to that stage.

But then just 10 minutes later Real Madrid got one back and tied it up again.

Di Maria beat one at the edge of the box and then knocked a shot off the post. It rebounded back to him and he has the presence of mind to lay it square for Marcelo, who slammed it into the net

The match finished 1-1 with Barcelona going through to the Wembley final 3-1 on aggregate to either face Manchester United or Schalke.
Teams:

Barcelona: Víctor Valdés, Dani Alves, Carles Puyol, Gerard Piqué, Javier Mascherano, Sergio Busquets, Xavi,  Andrés Iniesta,  Pedro,  Lionel Messi,  David Villa.

Real Madrid: Iker Casillas,  Marcelo,  Álvaro Arbeloa, Ricardo Carvalho,  Raúl Albiol,  Ángel Di María,  Lass Diarra,  Xabi Alonso,  Kaká,  Cristiano Ronaldo,  Gonzalo Higuaín.
Pre-game

The second leg of the Champions League semi-final between Barcelona and Real Madrid takes place at the Nou Camp with the Catalan side carrying a healthy 2-0 advantage to their home base after last week's acrimonious encounter at the Bernabeu.

On the eve of the match, Pep Guardiola's men put the final touches to their preparations for a possible seventh appearance in the final of European club football's premier competition, but the pre-match talk spent little time on the football itself.

Midfielder Xavi Hernandez and his coach Pep Guardiola had to field question after question about possible sanctions on both sides after accusations of institutional bias in favour of Barcelona from Real Madrid and that 'Barca' - often cited as the most attractive side in world football - have a darker side to their game in terms of play acting and what UEFA term as 'simulation'.  

It’s a serene-looking Barcelona side prepared for their latest encounter with arch-rivals Real Madrid, eyeing a fourth appearance in the final of the UEFA Champions League and a seventh European championship final overall.

Last week in Madrid, two goals from the Catalan club's mercurial Argentine striker, Lionel Messi, gave 'Barca' a 2-0 victory and a huge advantage going into the second leg.

However, his efforts were overshadowed by two red cards in the game, a half-time brawl, and Real coach Jose Mourinho crying 'foul' over alleged bias towards 'Pep' Guardiola's side.

'Barca' midfielder Xavi Hernandez attempted to put Tuesday night's game back into its 'proper' perspective.

"For us it is a pleasure to be here playing semi-final stages of Champions (League) and to be able to enjoy this. We have a very good first leg result. We want our supporters to have a good time and enjoy the moment. This is a historic moment with a historical rival such as Real Madrid in front of us. We think it is fantastic to be able to reach this stage in these conditions,” says Hernandez.

Xavi had little success in steering the pre-match discussions away from off-field matters and even fell into the trap of talking about Real coach Jose Mourinho - a double Champions League winner with Porto and Inter Milan.

Mourinho will be serving a touchline ban on Tuesday night for protesting too vehemently against the sending off of his Portuguese defender Pepe in the 61st minute of the first leg - Messi scored both Barca's goals after that contentious incident.  

"It is sad for me to be asked to talk about things that are not related to sport. Things that have nothing to do with this great sport called football. We always try to do our best on the pitch, always with great respect towards our rivals and play our game. Evidently (Real) Madrid have their weapons such as their coach. He (Jose Mourinho) is a coach who likes the polemics, not only because of the latest events but since forever. But we try to remain outside of these games."

Mourinho faces further charges from UEFA for suggesting that there is a pro-Barcelona bias within the game, but the allegation clearly stung Xavi, who protested that Barcelona always try to play football in the right spirit and with an open style.

"This type of denunciation doesn't lead anywhere. UEFA has obviously disregarded these accusations and that's it. We try to talk about our football and not about these lamentable details."

Barca coach Pep Guardiola had better luck in keeping the comment centred on matters pertaining to the pitch.

Guardiola warned his own players - and Barca fans - against complacency, as their opponents will have little to lose.

"We have talked about the fact that tomorrow that we need to be prepared for anything. All of them (Real Madrid) know how to play football very well. They are capable of putting pressure on us in our penalty area as well as being able to attack us in the midfield and in their area. All that will dictate how they will attack and defend. We have to be prepared. Tomorrow is like a final. And in a final game you don't speculate because there will be a second leg. And that will be all. The only reality is that tomorrow Real Madrid will play the game of their life in order to make it to the final. That is the only fact we know.,” says Guardiola.

After four matches against the 'Old Enemy' already this season - Barca have won two, drawn one and lost the Copa del Rey final 1-0 last week - Guardiola says he will be happy to finally complete a fifth 'Clasico' tomorrow night.

"We are lucky that tomorrow finishes. We are lucky. Tomorrow finishes everything. So tomorrow we have a game at 20:45 (PM, Local Time. 19:45 GMT) and after that we are going to finish everything. So we are lucky."

With a two-nil advantage and the home leg to come, many pundits are already assuming that Barcelona will take their place in the Champions League final against either Manchester United of England or Germany's Schalke 04.

Guardiola was not taking anything for granted, but said that it would be fantastic for Barca to reach another milestone in their history and perhaps even win a fourth European crown.

"We play to reach a final in as much that Real Madrid will play to reach a final. The draw told us we had to face Real Madrid, but it could have been any other team. We won't play to eliminate Real Madrid. We'll play to reach the final stage of Champions League. One year it is Inter (Milan), another Chelsea and in future years I wish we could be able to face many more teams. We play ninety minutes so we can defeat our opponent and reach the final game."

Barca already have one hand on the Spanish league title and they will be hot favourites to make it through to a seventh European championship final.

Only twice in the Champions League have teams overturned first-leg defeats at home in the knockout stages - outgoing holders Inter Milan did so earlier this season against Bayern Munich and Dutch side Ajax came back to beat Panathinaikos in 1996.

Add to that the fact that 'Barca' also have Messi in their line-up and Real Madrid's task becomes mountainous indeed.

Meanwhile, UEFA is sending Italian refereeing great Pierluigi Collina to monitor Belgian match official Frank de Bleeckere's handling of a potentially volatile Champions League semifinals clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

UEFA has named Collina, its head of referees, as its official observer at the Camp Nou.

While UEFA sends a referee observer to every match it organises, it is rare for Collina to be called in.

UEFA's choice of the 44-year-old de Bleeckere, who has a long-standing reputation as one of Europe's best referees, also reflects the high-risk status it has given the rematch of storied Spanish rivals.

After Barcelona won a bad-tempered first leg 2-0 last Wednesday, Madrid made a failed protest to UEFA about German referee Wolfgang Stark sending off Pepe when the game was scoreless.

Madrid coach Jose Mourinho was sent from the dugout by Stark for his comments about Pepe's red card, then later accused UEFA and its referees of actively helping Barcelona reach Champions League finals.

Mourinho included de Bleeckere in the supposed conspiracy after his handling of the second leg of last year's semifinal when the Portuguese coach's 10-man Inter Milan side eliminated Barcelona.

UEFA named another Italian official, Sergio di Cesare, to serve as its match delegate on Tuesday.

UEFA's disciplinary panel will meet Friday to examine six charges arising from the first-leg match.

Mourinho, who is banned from the touchline Tuesday, faces further punishment for his comments during and after the match. Pepe also faces a longer ban for his red-card challenge, and Madrid has been charged for its fans throwing objects and invading the pitch.

Barcelona's substitute goalkeeper Jose Pinto has been charged over his part in a touchline brawl at halftime.

Collina was referee for the second leg when Madrid and Barcelona last met in the Champions League semifinals.

In 2002, the sides drew 1-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium allowing Madrid to advance and win the title.

Collina also refereed the 2002 World Cup final, when Brazil beat Germany 2-0, and Manchester United's 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final.

Pre-game controversy

Pep Guardiola's side took a 2-0 win away from the Santiago Bernabeu on Thursday in a game marred by red cards to Real Madrid defender Pepe and manager Jose Mourinho, as well as Barcelona reserve goal-keeper Jose Pinto.

Real Madrid appealed against the red card handed to Pepe for his challenge on Dani Alves, and also accused Barcelona's players of provoking the defender throughout the match.

But yesterday the governing body dismissed the protests, meaning Pepe will be banned for the return leg at the Nou Camp on Wednesday.

"In the case of the behaviour of the FC Barcelona players, it was deemed that there was no common strategy to provoke the Real Madrid CF player, while in the case of Pepe, the referee's factual decision is upheld," a UEFA statement read.

Barcelona lodged a complaint against Mourinho for his post-game comments, in which the Portuguese manager claimed there was a conspiracy against his side.

"No one has any chance against Barca. Where does all this power come from? To win like this is very nasty," Mourinho said after the match.

"Why do the opponents of Barcelona always have a man sent off? Where does this power come from? Maybe it is to give more publicity to UNICEF, maybe because of the power of (Spanish federation president Jose Angel) Villar in UEFA."

But UEFA dismissed Barcelona's complaint because Mourinho is already set to face the Control and Disciplinary Body on Friday to explain his comments."

In this instant, FC Barcelona have been referred to the proceedings already brought against Jose Mourinho," the statement said.

Both clubs have three days to appeal the decisions.

Leg 1 wrap

Lionel Messi lit up an ill-tempered Champions League semifinal (Leg 1) with two goals in the last 15 minutes to give Barcelona a 2-0 victory at 10-man Real Madrid in El Clásico 3 – the third time in a short few weeks that the two teams have met.

Messi guided substitute Ibrahim Afellay's cross through the legs of goalkeeper Iker Casillas to open the scoring in the 76th minute.

    Click for tempers flaring at halftime
    See extended coverage of both Lionel Messi's goals

With three minutes to play, the elusive Argentina forward brilliantly ghosted past three defenders before clipping the ball past Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas for his 52nd goal of the season, and 11th in the Champions League.

Barcelona dominated throughout but only managed to break through after Pepe was red-carded in the 61st at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Madrid coach Jose Mourinho was sent to the stands for protesting the decision, which left Madrid playing with 10 against Barcelona for the fourth straight game.

Mourinho has seen his team finish with 10 players in his last five matches against Barcelona, counting Inter Milan's 1-0 defeat at Barcelona in the semifinal return leg last year.

"If I say to (the referee) and to UEFA what I think and feel, my career ends today," Mourinho said. "One day I hope to get an answer to the question: why?"

It was Barcelona's first win in three games between the bitter rivals in 12 days after a 1-1 league draw and a 1-0 extra-time Copa del Rey final defeat.

Madrid's defense in Tuesday's return leg will be short-handed with Pepe and Sergio Ramos both suspended. Ramos was booked for a foul on Messi in the 53rd.

Mourinho described the second leg in Barcelona as "mission impossible" as he continued to bemoan his side's treatment by the referee.

"We'll go there with pride, without Pepe who did nothing, without Ramos who did nothing and the coach who can't be on the bench," he said. "If we score a goal they'll kill us again. It's a result that is impossible.

"Today showed we have no possibility. And my question is why? I'll live my whole life with this question but I hope one day to get the answer. Why in a game that was equal did he do what he did? But he won't answer, he'll go home because he doesn't have to answer to anyone."

Counterpart Pep Guardiola refused to respond to Mourinho's comments, preferring to congratulate his team's performance.

"A team that has nine European Cups never gives up on a series, I'm convinced of that," Guardiola said. "We played a very good game. We controlled their counterattacks, their aerial game which is very dangerous."

Messi's 178th goal tied him with Josep Samitier as the third highest scorer for Barcelona, behind only Cesar Rodriguez (235) and Laszlo Kubala (196).

"At 23 he's the third leading scorer in club history. That's incredible," Guardiola said.

Both coaches had stoked tensions on the eve of the match, with Guardiola launching an expletive-filled attack on Mounrinho, and the ill-will spilled over into the match.

Substitute Barcelona 'keeper Jose Manuel Pinto was the first to be sent off for a red card at halftime as the two teams skirmished while leaving the field.

Pinto's sending off left Barcelona without a reserve 'keeper as the frustration of being unable to exploit 70 percent of the possession in the first 45 minutes seemed to boiled over.

Pepe was then harshly sent off after clashing with Daniel Alves as he lunged for a ball and Mourinho was sent to the stands for sarcastically clapping and showing a thumbs up to the fourth official.

"If you know football you know that's not a yellow card," said Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo, who was limited to testing Barcelona 'keeper Victor Valdes with a dipping shot before the half and a header over the bar after the restart. "The coach was set to make changes over the last 20 minutes."

Barcelona dominated possession as expected from the start and Madrid defended while looking for an opportunity to counterattack, which only materialised when Emmanuel Adebayor came on at the start of the second half.

The visitors patiently threaded the ball around and David Villa and Xavi Hernandez nearly put the Catalans ahead with good chances as Madrid clamped down the center with Pepe sticking to Xavi and Messi.

Tensions finally exploded in the 40th when Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa was booked after a tussle with Pedro Rodriguez, while Alves was shown a yellow card for a push on Di Maria.

As the second-half minutes ticked down, Madrid looked set to succeed in frustrating Barca, but Pepe's expulsion complicated things.

Mourinho took a seat in the first row behind the dugout and began scribbling instructions that were passed to assistant coach Aitor Karanka, as he looked to reshuffle his team in the absence of his defensive lynchpin.

But there was no stopping Messi, whose second goal was a wonderful example of his trademark darting run and finish.

Madrid stumbled against Barcelona again at the Bernabeu, where it hasn't beaten Barcleona in nearly three years - a run of four games.

"The expulsion marred the game," Casillas said. "We'll have to see now if anything happens in the return game, which is very complicated from the result."

Apart from hitting out at the officiating, Mourinho also continued his war of words with Guardiola by insisting that if the Catalans coach wins his second Champions League title it will be marred by Wednesday's result.

"I've won two Champions Leagues and I won them both on the field and they were with two clubs," the Portuguese coach said. "Josep Guardiola is a fantastic coach, I repeat he is a fantastic coach. But if he wins again then it will be affected by today."

Sunday, 1 May 2011

Arsenal 1-0 Manchester United


Arsenal rocked Manchester United at the Emirates, battling to a hard earned 1-0 win to allow Chelsea right back into the Premier League title race.

With Cesc Fabregas absent from proceedings after taking a knock in training, it was his deputee Aaron Ramsey who came to the fore, netting an accomplished winner for the Gunners after Robin Van Persie’s cut back.

In a game where Manchester United never really clicked into gear, Arsenal were the better team throughout and their winner early on in the second half was a just outcome for their prolonged superiority in the matchup.

Whereas the result doesn’t quite drag Arsenal back into the title race – with just three games remaining – Chelsea will be thanking Arsene Wenger’s men, after seeing their deficit to United reduced to just three points ahead of their monumental clash next weekend.

The win proved a shot in the arm for the underfire boss, with the assured performance proving contrary to the new criticism faced concerning his team’s resilience.

Evidently feeling like they had a point to prove, Arsenal started the game in buoyant fashion.

Sustained pressure early on led to a collection of half chances for the hosts – the most glaring of which fell to Jack Wilshere after Nemanja Vidic fluffed his clearance, yet the England man could only drag his shot wide from the edge of the box.

United struggled to impose themselves as the game developed, with Arsenal enjoying more than their fair share of possession. A fluid move culminated in Theo Walcott drifting in from the right flank to meet a whipped Gael Clichy cross, though the lively winger couldn’t keep his effort down.

It then took a fantastic piece of back post defending by Patrice Evra, in stark contrast to the lacklustre start by the Premier League front runners, to further keep Arsenal at bay. Van Persie rolled the ball into the far post and with Walcott again cutting in from the right to great effect and seemingly primed to side-foot home, Patrice Evra intervened to poke the ball out for a corner.

It wasn’t until the 25th minute that United really got out of first gear. A short burst of incisive play from the visitors saw Fabio burst beyond the Arsenal backline, but an effective cut back from the Brazilian, with Chicharito waiting in the six-yard box, never quite materialised.

The first half’s major talking point came after Walcott again marauded down the right and sent in an inviting ball to Van Persie in the box. With the lone front man primed to power a header home, the ball took a slight nick off Vidic, diverting it to safety. On closer inspection, the ball definitely caught the Serb’s hand.

As the first half came to a close, Manchester United looked a lot more sure footed, with Wayne Rooney become an increasingly influential figure, though unable to craft any clear cut errors on goal.

The voracity with which Van Persie argued his denied penalty appeal as Chris Foy blew for half-time was an indication of Arsenal’s frustration not to have capitalised on their superiority at the Emirates.

Arsenal emerged for the second half with Andrei Arshavin replacing Samir Nasri but were lucky not to see themselves a goal down almost immediately, after Rooney ominously curled a free kick into the top corner of Szczesny’s net only for the Pole to turn it away at full stretch.

Such danger for the hosts proved an isolated incident as Arsenal eased back into the fluidity that characterised the game’s opening 45 minutes. Though, for all their endeavour, efforts on target came at a premium, with Bacary Sagna’s driven shot from range flying just wide.

Finally a breakthrough came in the 55th minute when Ramsay justified his start by finishing off a Van Persie raid down the right after arriving late in the box. The Dutchman picked up the ball and probed as he entered the visitor’s penalty area. With the chance looking like it had been and gone, Ramsay caught up with play, received the cut back and swept an assured finish with his right foot into the far corner.

The goal seemed to shock Manchester United into life though, for once, Arsenal’s defense looked steadfast - especially when confronted with the disconcerting number of sloppy errors made by the visitors in the final third, who were nowhere near their potent best.

As the game entered its latter stages the attritional and niggling nature of the tie worked in Arsenal’s favour. Looking bereft of ideas, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side continued to knock but to little effect, prompting the introduction of Dimitar Berbatov with just under 20 minutes remaining.

The switch almost paid dividends right away, with the Bulgarian releasing Antonio Valencia down the right, yet the winger’s insipid ball in did little to threaten Szczesny, who had previously looked confident in beating away similarly uninspired efforts from Nani and Rooney.

As the clocked ticked down, United were denied their own penalty appeals, most significantly when substitute Michael Owen was chopped down by Clichy. With the impetus on the visitors to snatch an equaliser, Arsenal continued to look dangerous on the counter, yet they remained stout at the back to see out a well-earned victory.

Wednesday, 27 April 2011

Real Madrid vs Barcelona 0-1 goal Lionel Messi


In the champions League semifinal we will have wo Spanish giants taking on each other in what will be a European Elclassico it will be a huge match which will be played at at the Santiago Bernabue on 27th April 2011 and it will be interesting to see how this match goes about. First Leg is always hold the importance because if you lose too much ground the 2nd leg becomes useless. In the other SemiFinal United scored two away goals and now are favourites to go into the 2nd leg and have one leg in the Final in Wembly and it will be interesting to see how this tie goes about as the winner of this match will be taking on Manchester United at Wembley which is huge.

Jose Mourinho and pep Guardiola have been in war of words and they will be hoping to keep the good run of form going, Real Madrid are coming into this match on the back of a Copa Del Rey win against FC Barcelona when they managed to win the final and lifted the trophy after so much time. While We have huge match as Real Madrid will be taking on Barcelona for the big match.

FC barcelona are playing at top of their game at the moment, but from the last few games they have been undersome kind of pressure at the moment and with Jose Mourinho in good form, like they showed against Valenica when the scored 6 goals with Gonzalo Higuain scoring a Hattrick in his return to first team football.

Competitions: Chmpions League Semifinal
Team: Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona
Date: 27th April 2011 - Time: 19:45 BST
Vanue: Santiago Bernabue, Madrid

Real Madrid (4-2-3-1):
Casillas; Arbeloa, Ramos, Albiol, Marcelo; Pepe, Alonso; Ronaldo, Ozil, Di Maria; Adebayor

Barcelona (4-3-3):
Valdes; Alves, Pique, Puyol, Maxwell; Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta; Pedro, Messi, Villa

Match Status and Video Goals
[ Real Madrid 0-2 FC Barcelona ]
[ RED CARD] 45' Jose Pinto
[ RED CARD] 61' Pepe
76' [0 - 1] L. Messi
87' [0 - 2] L. Messi



Tuesday, 26 April 2011

Schalke 04 0-2 Man Utd: Report



United have one foot in finalBarring an unlikely Schalke victory at Old Trafford next week, Manchester United will contest the Champions League final at Wembley on May 28 after a one-sided encounter in Germany.Ryan Giggs and the outstanding Wayne Rooney scored United's goals in a three-minute second-half spell in the semi-final first leg at the Vetlins-Arena to register a 2-0 victory.Prior to that, though, Sir Alex Ferguson's men had wasted an astonishing 13 chances to score - 11 of them coming before the break.It leaves Schalke needing a three-goal triumph to progress to a meeting with either Real Madrid or Barcelona. On this evidence, United have absolutely nothing to worry about.And for Rooney in particular, a fifth European Cup final for the Red Devils - on the ground where they won their first in 1968 - means personal redemption, having returned to the Gelsenkirchen arena where he was sent off on his last visit for England, to produce a wondrous performance that confirmed his renaissance beyond any doubt.As United trudged in at half-time, they cannot have known whether to laugh or cry.Their pace, power and precision was simply too much for Schalke, who were opened up with a regularity barely credible at this level of the game.Incredibly though, the score remained goalless.Starting with a Rooney effort that flicked off Atsuto Uchida and forced Manuel Neuer into the first of a series of magnificent saves, and ending with a last-minute opportunity when Giggs raced onto a Rooney through-ball and failed to beat the Germany number one, United created 11 clear chances.Had they done that over the duration of both legs, Ferguson would probably have been quite pleased.To do so in a single half, and not to take any of them, defied belief.Rooney could only have wished he was on the end of some.Instead, Park Ji-sung had two opportunities charged down, Giggs was denied by Neuer twice and Fabio flashed a half-volley over the bar.By far the worst culprit was Javier Hernandez.Lauded to the skies in recent weeks after a series of timely interventions which have sent United surging towards a record 19th league title, the Mexican was too much for Schalke's beleaguered defence.For once, though, the 22-year-old had left his shooting boots at home.Whether he was being set up by Antonio Valencia, outstanding on the right wing, Rooney or Park, Hernandez just could not find the target.Partly it was his fault as shots flew wide of the Schalke goal, while on other occasions Neuer was in the way.It appears the Germany keeper is on his way to Bayern Munich this summer, which for United is a pity, because on this evidence he would be a worthy successor to Edwin van der Sar, who is retiring at the end of the season.On a record-equalling 13th semi-final appearance, Van der Sar was a virtual bystander once he had made a couple of early stops to deny Jefferson Farfan.Worryingly for Ferguson, the profligacy just continued after the restart.Neuer denied Michael Carrick with a brilliant fingertip save but, when the Schalke defence opened up for Giggs shortly afterwards, the Welshman's effort with his weaker right foot was woeful.There must have been a huge fear in the United camp that Schalke would soon start to show the form that got them to this stage of the competition and put five goals past Inter Milan at the San Siro in the quarter-final.Thankfully for Ferguson and his team, they did some damage first.Rooney was the architect of the opener, threading a fine ball through to Giggs who, with his left foot, calmly slotted home.Within three minutes, United had another chance as Hernandez set up Rooney. From 10 yards and in a similar position to Giggs, he was never likely to miss as he bagged his 14th goal of the season.In the knowledge that a three-goal triumph for Schalke at Old Trafford in eight days' time is impossible to imagine, Ferguson's introduction of Anderson and Paul Scholes was designed purely to shore up the midfield.It worked, too, allowing United to stroll home and let their minds wander towards Sunday's Barclays Premier League trip to Arsenal.

Wednesday, 20 April 2011

Madrid beats Barca 1-0 after extra time to win cup


Ronaldo guided Angel Di Maria's 103rd-minute pass back across goal and past the outstretched hand of goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto into the top corner as Madrid won silverware for the first time since a 2007 Spanish league title.

Madrid dominated the first half and then relied on goalkeeper Iker Casillas' second-half stops as Barcelona took control in an electric atmosphere at the Mestalla Stadium.

Madrid's 18th domestic cup also ends a six-game winless run against Barcelona, which lost for only the 10th time in its 35th final appearance.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/2011-04-20-2427036556_x.htm