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Manchester United's Ryan Giggs celebrates after scoring a late equaliser against Celtic during their Champions League Group E soccer match at Celtic Park Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland, Wednesday Nov. 5, 2008. AP Photo/Jon Super
I met another person in my travels at work today who agreed with me that Chelsea was robbed and should have been in the European Champions League final instead of Barcelona.
I didn’t even know he followed football, let alone the Blues.
The Barcelona versus Chelsea ECL semi final was full of controversy and had many talking points.
But enough of that.
Tomorrow morning’s ECL final is a fitting way to finish off Europe’s biggest club competition, with a showdown between two of the most famous teams in world football – Manchester United and Barcelona.
Between them they have five Champions League titles, including Manchester United’s victory last season, and they are the reigning and defending heavyweight champions of world football.
This is the first time they meet in the Champions League final and everyone hopes they put on a classic at a heavily sold out Olympic Stadium in Rome.
“When we get a game that paints the real story of football, then we are all lifted. Barcelona and Manchester United can do that,” said United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.
“The players we both have suggest it will be a great final. I hope it lives up to it. There’s the opportunity for us to put ourselves among the pantheon of teams who have won the competition four times and that would be fantastic for us.”
He’ll need a Pantheon all right to put all his trophies in it.
Sir Alex, who is chasing his 26th trophy in 23 seasons with the Red Devils, arrived at Old Trafford in October 1986 after being hugely successful in his native Scotland with Aberdeen.
He is without doubt one of the most successful football managers in the world today.
The Barcelona manager, Pep Guardiola is not as famous or as successful as Sir Alex. Not just yet, anyway.
Guardiola took over from the sacked Frank Rijkaard and in his first season in charge this year, has already taken the team to the Spanish league title and an ECL final.
While Ronaldo v Messi and Rooney v Henry might be two of the biggest match ups on the field, the manager’s clash of Ferguson versus Guardiola in their first ever head-to-head contest, will be just as significant in determining the winning tactics and the 2009 ECL Champions.
If Manchester United win, it will give them another treble.
Who can forget their last treble back in 1999 when they clinched the ECL title in the last few minutes of the game in a dramatic win over Bayern Munich (don’t mention the war).
As the one formerly known as “the one formerly known as” once sang – they will party like its 1999 in the Red Heart of Manchester – all over again.
What about the referee: is he going to play another big part in deciding the winner?
Massimo Busacca of Switzerland was announced yesterday by UEFA as the referee for the Champions League final, which will be Busacca’s second European club competition decider, after the all-Spanish UEFA Cup Final between Sevilla and Espanyol in 2007.
The 40-year-old Busacca was in charge when Barcelona and Manchester met in the controversial semi-final of last season’s Champions League.
He awarded visiting Manchester United a hotly disputed penalty for a handball after only three minutes of the match.
In this year’s Barcelona Champion’s League semi-final, Chelsea could certainly have used his expertise in determining what constitutes a handball in the penalty area.
Cristiano Ronaldo shot high and wide and didn’t convert the penalty on that day and the match ended scoreless.
I can’t see a scoreless draw happening again tomorrow morning, can you, but controversial decisions?
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