Barcelona to face Man Utd in Rome Final
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Manchester United and Barcelona book Champions League final spots.
Manchester United and Barcelona defeated Arsenal and Chelsea respectively to book their places in this year’s Champions League final.
On Tuesday Sir Alex Ferguson’s men travelled to the Emirates stadium with a one goal advantage from the previous leg. Arsenal started brightly, determined to overcome the deficit, sadly for Arsene Wenger’s team it wasn’t to be and they were devastated by a brace of deciding away goals within the first 11 minutes.
On the eighth minute South Korea’s national captain Ji-Sung Park took advantage of a nightmare slip by 19 year old Keiran Gibbs, and lifted the ball over an on rushing Manuel Almunia to give United a two goal aggregate lead, and also a precious away goal.
Arsenal needed to score three goals to win but within three minutes Ronaldo killed the game before it had even started with a brutally audacious 42 yard free kick, beating Almunia at the near post. Now needing four goals to progress to the final Arsenal were deflated and Manchester fans were in a state of jubilation.
In the second half Ronaldo added to Arsenal’s misery after he and Wayne Rooney launched a blistering counter-attack and the Portuguese winger fired into the net after a sweeping move. In the latter stages the referee harshly dismissed Darren Fletcher for a seemingly fair challenge on Cesc Fabregas. Robin van Persie duly dispatched the resulting penalty, but it was of little consolation for the Gunners.
United captain Ryan Giggs hailed the night as “special”. Speaking to Sky Sports the PFA player of the year said: “There was some great play and to do that against a very good Arsenal side was brilliant.”
Last night at Stamford Bridge Barcelona, fresh off the back of a 6-2 demolition of Real Madrid at the weekend, looked to wow Chelsea into submission with their much praised attacking prowess. However, Barcelona were left shell-shocked as Michael Essien put Chelsea ahead on the ninth minute with a majestic 25 yard volley.
Chelsea should have finished the game off in the first half, especially with a couple of credible penalty claims which were waved away by referee Tom Henning Ovrebo.
In the second half Chelsea continued to seek another goal, and with Barcelona defender Eric Abidal shown a red card on the 65th minute things were looking good for Guus Hiddink’s men.
However as the game went on Norwegian ref Tom Henning Overbo refused Chelsea two more claims of handball and deep into stoppage time at the end of the second half Chelsea were dealt a hammer blow.
In the 93rd minute Barca midfielder Andres Iniesta picked up the ball and let fly from 20 yards, beating Petr Cech, securing a priceless away goal and cementing his place as a Catalan hero.
When the final whistle went, enraged Chelsea players swarmed the ref to question his decisions but obviously it was too late and Barcelona celebrated a remarkable triumph.
All eyes now look to the final in Rome, where Barcelona will face Manchester United. Can Manchester United set a new precedent by retaining the title or will Barcelona be the team to lift Europe’s premier club trophy? We’ll find out on the 27th of May.
La, la, blue flag, la, la, la.
Well done Man. U.
Man. U. will win they have C. Ronaldo. Ronaldo is the best footballer. He is faster than Messi and can outpace him any day.
what a stage for the two best teams in history. cum on united