Manchester United, Chelsea well matched

Manchester United has another English title and Cristiano Ronaldo. Chelsea has a huge, talented squad and the wealth of owner Roman Abramovich.

There is no underdog in this Champions League final as two English clubs make history by going head to head in Moscow.

United v Chelsea at the Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday effectively means that the Premier League has come to Russia, the first time two English teams have met in the final of European soccer’s most prestigious competition.

So far as the lineups are concerned, it’s tough to predict a winner. In terms of what the two coaches have achieved, however, it’s a hugely lopsided game and that could give United the edge once more.

Alex Ferguson has averaged virtually a trophy a season during the 22 years he has been at Old Trafford having just edged Chelsea to his 10th Premier League title. Among his haul of triumphs are five FA Cups and a Champions League in 1999.

Avram Grant has nothing to compare with that. But the former Israel coach has only been in charge of Chelsea for seven months since Jose Mourinho left in September and, having lost out to Tottenham in the League Cup final and United in the league title race, is chasing his first success.

Ferguson acknowledges Grant’s achievement in going so close to three titles in his first season and the Scot appears amazed that there is strong speculation that the Israeli may be fired because of Chelsea’s unimaginative, colourless play.

“There’s a lot of clubs that would give a manager a 10-year contract for doing that,” the Scot said.

“It’s not something that anyone can do.

“It couldn’t have been easy taking over from Mourinho in midseason. He was pretty much unknown in this country. Now he’s in a Champions League final.

“He’s done exceptionally well for a manager in his first season and Chelsea are still a very hard team to beat. They are big, strong and experienced and they are experts at holding on for 1-0 victories.”
Ferguson knows that he was close to being fired by United after he failed to win a trophy in his first three years at Old Trafford.

The 21 titles that followed have more than made up for that although he is frustrated that United has not won the Champions League more often.

“Look at the records of Real Madrid with nine titles, AC Milan with seven and Liverpool with five. Ajax and Bayern Munich have four each. That’s the kind of record we should really have,” said Ferguson, who has only taken United to two finals in 14 attempts.

“That’s one thing that should drive us all on now.”

Now that two English teams have made it to the final, there’s a feeling it could happen on a regular basis.

Three Premier League teams have made it to the semifinals two seasons in a row and this is the fourth year in succession that an English club has been in the final.

Liverpool won the title in 2005 and lost to AC Milan in last season’s final and Arsenal tumbled to Barcelona in 2006.

Because of the huge amount of revenue they receive from TV, English clubs can pay attractive wages.

That’s the reason the likes of Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko moved to Chelsea and established English players such as Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard, United’s Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney and Chelsea’s John Terry and Frank Lampard see no reason to move abroad.

The Luzhniki Stadium’s artificial playing surface has been ripped up and replaced for this final with natural turf.

That should make it feel even more like a high-speed Premier League game as if it were at Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea likely will want to force the pace with Joe Cole running at the United defence, Didier Drogba using his height and guile to unsettle Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic and Ballack and Lampard supporting the front men.

United will rely on swift counter attacks using the pace of Ronaldo, the power of Rooney and the finishing of Carlos Tevez.

Ronaldo has also scored 41 league and cup goals this season which Ferguson says is amazing for a winger and he has been compared with another United great of the past, George Best, who scored in the European Cup final victory over Benfica 40 years ago.

Michael Essien’s expected switch to rightback will take away some of his influence in midfield where Paul Scholes hopes to run the show for United.

The all-English final in Moscow has created the potential for fan trouble, especially if the 40,000 visiting supporters are able to get their hands on alcohol.

The Russian police are tough on misbehaving fans and likely won’t be as tolerant of drunken behaviour.

Champions League final statbox
Head-to-head record in Europe – no matches
Domestic head-to-head record (League, FA Cup and League Cup)
Played: 147
Wins: Manchester United 65, Chelsea 40, Draws 42

Previous European finals:
Manchester United
Played 3 Won 3
May 29 1968 European Cup v Benfica 4-1 (aet) in London
May 15 1991 Cup Winners Cup v Barcelona 2-1 in Rotterdam
May 26 1999 Champions League v Bayern Munich 2-1 in Barcelona

Chelsea
Played 2 Won 2
May 21 1971 Cup Winners Cup v Real Madrid 2-1 in Athens (after 1-1 draw aet in Athens on May 19)
May 13 1998 Cup Winners Cup v VfB Stuttgart 1-0 in Stockholm

Champions League record this season:
Manchester United – Played 12, Won 9, Drawn 3, Lost 0, Goals for 19, Against 5
Chelsea – Played 12, Won 6, Drawn 5, Lost 1, Goals for 19, Against 7

Leading CL 07-08 scorers:
Manchester United – Cristiano Ronaldo 7, Wayne Rooney 4, Carlos Tevez 4, Gerard Pique 2
Chelsea – Didier Drogba 6, Frank Lampard 3, Michael Ballack 2, Joe Cole 2

* Both teams have won every European final they have played in though this is Manchester United’s third appearance in the prime competition but a first for Chelsea.

* Manchester United have not played a fellow English team in European competition for more than 40 years. The last such tie was against Everton in the third round of the Fairs Cup in 1964-65, United winning 3-2 on aggregate.

* The only other such occasion came the previous season when United beat holders Tottenham Hotspur 4-3 on aggregate in the second round of the Cup Winners Cup, losing 2-0 at White Hart Lane before winning the second leg 4-1 at Old Trafford.

* By contrast, Chelsea are constantly drawn against English opponents. They have played Liverpool eight times in the last four seasons, all in the Champions League, and met Arsenal twice in the same competition in the 2003-04 season. Before that they beat Manchester City at home and away in the 1971 Cup Winners Cup semi-finals. In 12 matches against English teams, they have won five and lost only two.

* None of Chelsea’s team from their last European final, the Cup Winners Cup in 1998, remain in the squad.

* United have never scored in the first half of a final.
Five of their eight goals in previous finals came in the second half, including, famously, two in time added on to beat Bayern in 1999, and three came in extra time against Benfica in 1968.

* Chelsea have never fallen behind in a final. They went ahead in both of their 1971 games against Real Madrid and scored the only goal against Stuttgart in 1998.

* Manchester United’s only previous game in Moscow ended badly. They drew 0-0 after extra time with Torpedo in the first round of the UEFA Cup in 1991-92 and went out on penalties.

* Chelsea won their only previous match in Moscow, beating CSKA 1-0 in the 2004-05 Champions League group stage.

* United have not conceded a goal in their last five Champions League matches. It is 486 minutes since Karim Benzema gave Olympique Lyon the lead in the first leg of the knockout round on Feb. 20 in France.

* United have kept clean sheets in eight of their 12 Champions League games this season. Chelsea have kept seven.

* The two teams will end the season as they started it back in August — playing against each other. They met in the Community Shield curtain-raiser at Wembley Stadium on Aug. 5 when United won 3-0 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Like this content? Buzz it up!

Free Email updates:

• Get a daily Football email

Our daily emails are only sent if there is content for the sport or that author. You can subscribe to multiple daily emails; or get the daily Roar email with all our content in it. We value privacy. More...

© 2007 AAP