Manchester United return to the stadium where we experienced our greatest European night. That night in Barcelona was something all United fans would savour, as would Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs. Today, however, we will face the home team in the intimidating cauldron that is the Camp Nou.

Much has been made about how mouth watering this clash is going to be but that would be the media talking. Yes, we will get to see the odd flourish or two because of the number of creative players that will be on display. But I think it would be a cagey affair.

Continue reading “Barclona v Man Utd: Preview”

Welcome back. Yesterday, Liverpool beat Arsenal 4-2. Yes, the ‘dippers actually scored four goals. How they manage to turn it in Europe is beyond me. I didn’t get to see the game but from reports, they were helped by a dodgy looking penalty decision. I really can’t feel too happy nor too sad about the result. I heard that Wenger looked like he was going to kill himself by digging his head into the turf. Meanwhile Chelsea completed a robotic win against a Fenerbahce side that showed little ambition going forward.

So there you have the first semifinal decided: 90 minutes, and perhaps a little more, of shit slinging orgy. But all that’s an aeon and a half away. So let’s get to today’s game against Roma.

Continue reading “Man Utd v Roma: Preview”

Manchester United won 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico thanks to goals before and after the break by Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. The Red Devils take a vital 2-goal lead into the 2nd leg, to be played on Wednesday, 9th April 2008 at Old Trafford. The semi-final beckons, and with it another crack at history.

Highlights (You can read the play-by-play match report here on ManUtd.com):

Cristiano Ronaldo scoring an away goal in a crucial game for Manchester United - showing a resolve that seemed missing in seasons gone past.

Wayne Rooney’s all-round performance, easily the man of the match for his work-rate, creativity and commitment. Ronaldo stole the show with his goal but the rest of the game was more about Rooney.

Vidic’s injury - a knee strain as he landed awkwardly after jumping for a header - will be a cause of concern but hopefully it’s not a long-term injury like last season.

Roma’s wastefulness in front of goal - granted, by the end of the game both teams had their fair share of chances but there were periods of time before both goals that Roma had clear-cut chances to score, and they bottled it. For United to grab those crucial away goals in difficult games - at Lyon and now here at Rome - is a good sign of maturity from their players.

Continue reading “Rooney and Ronaldo punish wasteful Roma to give United 2-0 away win”

Four things spring to mind when we talk about a clash with Roma: Foremost in every United fan (and every Roma fan as well, albeit with a hint of dread) would be the 7-1 win at Old Trafford; the second would be the shit United fans had to put up with every time they went to Rome; the third, although to a lesser extent, would be Francesco Totti; and the fourth, especially when we got to hear the draw would have been, ‘Oh no, not again!’

So there we go, in yet another edition of a Roma-United clash; the word ‘clash’, we’d hope is not literal, and something our fans don’t face today.

But before diving into the excitement, let’s get a little United related news out of the way first. It’ll be quick, I assure you.

Continue reading “Roma v Man Utd: Preview”

Manchester United have been, for several years now, circumspect in Europe (ponderous and over-cautious if you want to be picky about it). It’s not something the fans enjoy, but it is a combination of Fergie’s choices and how our players perform (both are equally responsible), so we have to come to terms with it.

On the surface, the season has gone well - United are one point behind Arsenal with a superior goal difference and Arsenal still to come to Old Trafford. United are also in the quarter-finals of both the FA Cup and the Champions League, and would be good bets to progress to the last four in each of the competitions.

But there are times when United’s performances disappoint and leave you wanting for much more. Last night’s performance against Lyon at Old Trafford was one of those games.

Continue reading “Manchester United players need to do better”

Alain Perrin thinks Karim Benzema would be a big hit at OT today — a big hit for Lyon, that is. The young hotshot was more than a handful for our defence, manufacturing a goal out of nowhere in the first leg. So he is certainly one to watch out for. I certainly rate the mountain of a player.

Continue reading “Man Utd v Lyon: Preview”

There has been a lot of talk on midfielders in the comments section, I realise Penguin did a post on this topic, however, his was more centred on individuals whereas I will be looking at partnerships as well. And there is a big decision to be made by SAF on who to play in the centre of the park on Tuesday when we host Lyon in the second leg of the tie.

Continue reading “SAF’s European Headache”

As most of us already know, the year 2008 would represent 50 years since the Munich disaster. It is also 40 years since the 1968 European Cup win.

Ideally, we would love to mark these occasions with a win in the Champions’ League. Of course, it would be great if such a thing actually happened. Anyway, we admit we didn’t bring out a ‘breaking news’ of some sort once the UEFA draw got over. But now that you’ve had some time to have looked at the groups it might be good to discuss about how our group stacks up with the rest.

Continue reading “History Beckons As United Discover Their Group”