David Beckham made his long-awaited return to Old Trafford tonight but was handed a stern reminder of the force the club he left all of seven years ago still possesses. As widely predicted, Beckham began the game on the bench and was only introduced past the hour mark when his side were 3-0 down. The ex-United man, famously part of the Manchester United ‘kids’ generation received a huge ovation from the home crowd and looked notably touched.

Whether or not the United fans would have been so welcoming had their side not been in such a comfortable position will never be known, but the fact is that before Beckham’s entry United had demolished their opponents and were in complete control of the game. United’s star of the past was outshone by their star of the present as Wayne Rooney brought his season’s total to 30 goals.

Ronaldinho spoke to the press before the game about the importance of stopping the bang in-form Rooney but the Brazilian must have forgotten to mention the same thing to his team mates as inside just  just 13 minutes of the opening Gary Neville broke down the right and delivered a pin point cross onto the Englishman’s head which duly glanced the ball into the bottom corner of the Milan goal past a hopless Christian Abbiati.  It was Rooney’s third headed goal in the two legs against Milan and his ninth from his last eleven strikes.

Milan, who now required a near miracle to progress, did manage to create a few opportunities but a mixture of good goalkeeping and poor efforts from their strikers meant that they were never really likely to overturn the deficit. Ronaldinho and Pirlo probed the United defense but soon lost their motivation and it wasn’t long before the Milan players seemed to be dreaming of the full time whistle. Instead, all they got was a half time break and another 45 minutes of suffering.

Whether or not Milan boss Leonardo tried to rally his troops in the interval, it did not take long from the restart, for United to destroy any hopes of a comeback their opposition may have gained during their few minutes in the safety of the dresssing room. Once again Rooney (pictured celebrating, right) was their tormentor as Nani  raided down the left and delivered a masterful pass into his path which the United hitman neatly stroked past the onrushing Abbiati. The clock had not reached 46 minutes as the ball rolled over the line.

Milan now needed 3 goals just to tie the game on aggregate and never really tried to get back into things. Alex Ferguson’s men are nothing if not relentless and never even seemed to consider taking their foot off the pedal. Ji Sun Park added a third in the 59th minute before Darren Fletcher completed procedings with a smart header from an excellent Rafael delivery with just three minutes of normal time remaining. In the meantime Beckham made his way onto the pitch and was actually at the heart of some of the best chances Milan created in the whole game, first stinging Edwin Van Der Sar’s fingertips with a scorching volley from outside the box and later crossing to Pipo Inzaghi which the Italian pathetically shinned wide despite it perhaps being easier to score.

All in all, it was a dream display for Ferguson who lived up to his promise of ensuring his side would bot be resting on their laurels in the tie. In coming out on top of this tie his side also ended the run of four straight eliminations coming from the hands of AC Milan from when the sides have last met in European knockout situations. There is no doubting that Milan are no where near being the force they once were and it will be interesting to see where they go from this result.

For United, attention once again turns to the league and Ferguson will be delighted to have been able to rest some of his players, especially Rooney who came off with just less than a half an hour remaining, ahead of this weekend’s clash with Fulham.

It was one of those special European nights at Old Trafford, perhaps made even more so as news of Real Madrid’s elimination filtered through. It’s very rarely a good career move to leave Old Trafford….. just ask David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo tomorrow morning.

Teams:

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Neville (Rafael Da Silva 66), Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Fletcher, Scholes (Gibson 73), Park, Valencia, Nani, Rooney (Berbatov 66)

Unused Subs: Kuszczak, Jonathan Evans, Obertan, Diouf.

AC Milan: Abbiati, Abate (Beckham 64), Bonera (Seedorf 46), Thiago Silva, Jankulovski, Flamini, Pirlo, Ambrosini, Huntelaar, Borriello (Inzaghi 68), Ronaldinho.

Unused Subs: Dida, Gattuso, Zambrotta, Favalli

Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland)

]]> http://backpagefootball.com/info/manchester-united-4-0-ac-milan-agg-7-2/feed/ 0 http://backpagefootball.com/columnists/reports/deva-stated-chester-city-rip/ http://backpagefootball.com/columnists/reports/deva-stated-chester-city-rip/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:33:45 +0000 Neil Sherwin http://backpagefootball.com/?p=3796 Chester City are no more after the club was officially wound up today following a court hearing, ending their 126 year existence.

In January the club was given six weeks to sort out its financial affairs, including the amount of £26,125 owed HM Revenue & Customs in unpaid taxes, but they were unable to comply with the court order.

They were booted out of the Blue Square Conference in February, and recently made an application to join the Welsh Premier League in the hope of saving the club.

Supporters’ group Chester Fans United now looks likely to form an independent club in the mould of AFC Wimbledon and AFC Telford.

“We understand it was a last-ditch effort by our former owner Stephen Vaughan to keep hold of the club,” CFU spokesman Jeff Banks told BBC Sport.

“But we would have had to start at the very bottom.

“And it would have been rejected out of hand in any case by our local council, who say we are an English club and should be playing in an English league.”

The club was initially placed into administration last summer with debts totalling £7 million, and they started the 2009/10 season with a 25 point deduction.

Chester had previously been in financial difficulty in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and attendances had fallen dramatically over the past two years, reaching rock bottom on January 19th this year when just 425 fans turned up for the home game against Salisbury

The trouble really took hold last month when Chester failed to fulfill a fixture at Forest Green Rovers after players refused to board a bus to the game in protest over wages owed to them.

The Football Conference decided to suspend Chester from the league for seven days as a result in the hope that they would use to time to sort out their finances.

A meeting of the league’s clubs was called at Rushden & Diamonds’ Nene Park on February 26th and the decision was taken to expell Chester City from the league and expunge their results to that date.

Former managing director Rob Gray, who has remained at the club in an unpaid capacity for the last two months, told the BBC that it is a sad and emotional day for the club.

“We’re in the hands of the receivers now,” he said.

“And my only hope right now is that a deal can be done quickly so that the staff here can keep their jobs. Then I hope that someone can come in and resurrect the club and allow us to carry on playing football.

“But, whatever level we end up at, it has to be a level the club is comfortable at financially. Anything beyond that is a bonus.”

Manchester United vs AC Milan (agg 3:2)

Much of the spotlight ahead of this clash once again falls on David Beckham (pictured, left) as the ex-United no.7 and current Milan no. 32 makes his way to Old Trafford as an opposing player for the first time  since leaving United seven years ago to join Real Madrid. Whether or not Becks will feature in his return remains to be seen, his influence in the first leg was minimal and this time around Alex Ferguson foresees a supporting role for one of the most recognised players in world football. Just as he was before the first leg in Milan, the United boss has been quick to stress the importance of the game itself over any of the media hype surrounding Beckham’s return as his past player recieved a hero’s welcome upon his arrival into Manchester airport on Tuesday.

Manchester United have a habit of making life tough on themselves and Ferguson will be rueing Clarence Seedorf’s late goal three weeks ago that still very much keeps Milan’s hopes alive when the tie should have been all but put to bed. The scotsman fully recognizes his teams difficulties in defending leads and has said that they will not be looking to  merely hold on to their advantage and will go out and attack Milan in order to put their visitors on the back foot from the start. The Italian side need at least two goals to have any hope of qualifying and an early goal will give them full belief that they can grab another and promise for a very nervous night for United supporters.

Ferguson will be well aware that on the previous four occasions that United have come to face Milan in European knockout stages they have been eliminated by them. There is a feeling however that Milan are a long distance away from the  dominant European sides of the past and despite the fact that they still find themselves in the hunt for a place in the last eight, the Rossinieri have failed to win their last four Champion’s League games and have not kept a clean sheet all season. Given the fact that United have not lost a knockout tie at Old Trafford since 2005 (when losing to Milan) they will fell confident that they have enough to progress.

In terms of team news, United have been boosted by the availability of talisman Wayne Rooney (pictured, right) who sat out their game at the weekend with a knee complaint. Rooney bagged two in the first leg and the man with 28 goals to his name already this season may be all the hungrier to bag some more following his short rest. Aside from Wes Brown, who broke a bone in his foot last week, United have no fresh injury concerns from the first leg.

Unlike United, Milan may not be lucky enough to call upon their number one hitman as Alexandre Pato looks set to miss out again, despite being named in the 22 man squad. The Brazilian faces a race to be fit for the game after sitting out last weekends game with a hamsring injury. Dutch striker Klaas Jan-Huntelaar will be expected to deputise in the case that Pato cannot feature.

Real Madrid vs Lyon (agg 0:1)

The €250m that Real Madrid spent in the summer could very soon become the noose to hang some of the folks in the higher offices of the Santiago Bernebau as Madrid aim to battle back from a shock defeat to Lyon in the first leg. The  spending spree that the club embarked upon last year would suggest that they were taking their shot at European success very, very seriously this year and an exit before the quarter finals for the sixth season in a row would cause shockwaves around the continent, aswell as the Madrid boardroom.

Lyon hold their advantage thanks to a wondrous strike from Cameroonian midfielder Jean II Makoun (pictured, right) in the first leg and will be no pushovers despite their indifferent form in their domestic league.

Real Madrid have been unstoppable at home in the league this season, winning each of their thirteen games so far but they have not been able to bring that form into European competition with them, losing to AC Milan in the group stages this season and both Juvents and Liverpool in last years competition. A big performance will be required to overcome he team who they could not beat in their last five encounters and who scored against them each time.

Big name signings Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka will join with Gonzalo Higuain to try break down the walls of the French club’s defence but xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema, who himself left Lyon last summer, are out due to suspension and injury. Also out through suspension is midfielder Marcel meaning boss Manuel Pellegrini will have some rearranging to do. For Lyon, Francois Clerc and Cleber Anderson as well as Michel Bastos are all ruled out, but striker and top-scorer Lisandro Lopez looks set to be risked.

]]> http://backpagefootball.com/info/general/wednesday-nights-champions-league-preview/feed/ 0 http://backpagefootball.com/info/general/bundesliga-round-25/ http://backpagefootball.com/info/general/bundesliga-round-25/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:23:32 +0000 Martyn Fisher http://backpagefootball.com/?p=3691 Poor old 1. FC Nuremberg have the rather unflattering record of seven Bundesliga relegations. Yet joy to the world, the Moting is come! An eighth may yet be averted thanks to rare defensive mistakes from Bayer Leverkusen stalwarts and the right-footed glue-trap & placing-abilities of a Hamburg Loanee. Eric FHM Loaded Maxim Choupo-Moting ended the league’s only unbeaten record with 2 goals in his temporary side’s 3-2 victory at the easyCredit-Stadion. In spite of an inevitable late rally after going 3 goals down, not even Raphael Schäfer line-leaving reluctance, Andreas Wolf body-checks or the bouncy-ball volleyed second-consolation scored by a chunky Patrick Helmes were enough to snare a point for the away side, who drop to 3rd spot. After just 1 win in 4, this defeat carries less wow-factor than one might think. In fact, the only thing that saw “wow” leave my lips regarding this tie was the fact that Kießling remembered how to score. The victory lifts Dieter Hecking’s outfit to the heady heights of 15th place – a psychological lift given that they’d resided in the drop-zone since Round 15.

Unsurprisingly, other results helped initiate this shift in the standings. Namely, Hannover 96’s 2-1 victory away at SC Freiburg. Undaunted by the 6-hour drive down to Germany’s south-west (despite the ever-present comedic blunderings of Ďurica, Andreasen, Schulz & co. trying to render the task daunting), the away side somehow survived a plethora of splicing attacks: and even won the match courtesy of that bloke in the left-hand picture, Élson. On 63′, the on-loan Brazilian began a ten-minute spell which saw three goals. His involved caressing the ball with the big-toe on his right-foot from the edge of the box into the top right-hand corner after some adept ball-control.A quite splendid strike that deserved to grace the tally of the side who won.

Freiburg, the site of a renowned German university, weren’t (brace for the *cringe*…) particularly clever in front of goal. Papiss Cissé showed more positional awareness than he normally does – thus engineering some clever angles to operate from – yet his execution was matched only by Mo Idrissou in terms of embarrassing profligacy. Technically, the former did find the net – unfortunately for him and his beleaguered colleagues, the club’s fans etc, it was via head-deflecting in Bruggink’s scuffed left-footed free-kick. By rights, Breisgau-Brasilianer should have buried the visitors both metaphorically and physically (the snow was pounding down). Alas, only Yacine Abdessadki’s composed place-volley beyond the athletic Fromlowitz found the net, and Robin Dutt’s men (he lambasted the “sitters” his side missed) now find themselves primed for a speedy return to the second-tier. Not that his counterpart Mirko Slomka is able to sit comfortably just yet mind – victory in the clichéd six-pointer or not, they still occupy the third and final spot in the relegation zone.

No one really needs reminding as to who the other team in the bottom-three is, although Hertha Berlin didn’t use their trip to HSH Norbank Arena to muster up owt that’ll remedy the situation. You pretty much know you’re in the brown stuff when late on, the man you leave to defend against the counter-attack (Kobiashvili) is burned for pace by perma-crock Ruud van Nistelrooy (pictured waving goodbye to Real Madrid fans before heading to Germany). Ramos was lively but unfortunately not very deadly as 1978-79 league champions Hamburger SV (nowhere nearer to ending that drought as they boringly hover in the purgatory of 4th spot) sought to ruin a polished first-half display by clinging on during a needlessly-nervy second period. Friedhelm Funkel’s men threw the proverbial kitchen sink at Labbadia’s lackies, and the capital city side’s coach found himself unable to criticize the application of his players after the game.

The home side settled from the off, although their relative opening-stanza comfort had to wait until the 40th minute until receiving the ultimate epitomisation with a goal that fused beauty and guile. From the right-back berth, Rozenhal fed the centre-back-luring sprint-drop of Petric, who combined strong hunch shoulders with tidy touches to tee in Elia. His pass in from the chalk fed the Casper-style float of Torun to carry through the ‘L’. After cheekily ‘megging selling-himself Friedrich, Hubnik resorted to what some call the tactical foul (others would just refer to it as a cynical lunge into the back of a speedier bloke’s calves). With the Turk gesticulating to the referee and the congregation of Hertha defenders crossing their arms, looking up at the sky and doing the Innocent’s Whistle, only Drobny and Marcell Jansen remained 100% focused on the loose ball. The FC Hollywood reject let the ball roll across his body to pass in first-time low and left. The thunder-shaped four-player pass-and-move that fed the Turk’s dash into the box encapsulates why these sides linger at different ends of the table – as does the contrasting fortunes of each’s left-sided midfielders to bury well-worked moves (just think how many assists Raffael would have if he played for a continental powerhouse). For all of the intricacy Cicero occasionally provides, he’s netted just 2 goals. Jansen not only matches that figure, he can add an extra 7 (home and abroad).

On the subject of young, talented and native left-side midfielders, the SV Werder Bremen triumvirate of Hunt, Marin and Ozil all contributed to a highly entertaining 2-2 draw at home to Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart. Although it was Hunt who provided some telling crosses in the first-half that his team-mates failed to convert, Marin was the man who used the left-channel to the greatest effect – tumbling after dropping a shoulder in by Celozzi to win a penalty kick. Frings converted it to conclude the match’s scoring after Almeida’s left-footed drive across goal (after a brief libero-impression by Mertesacker – troubled all afternoon by the brute force of Die Roten’s forward pairing – saw him swerve a lovingly-accurate right-footed pass 40 yards across the field) from the left ‘L’ beat Lehmann far too comfortably. Although the away side had more than enough chances to go beyond the 2 goals that they scored, it was Bremen who propped up the key areas of the field for the majority of ticking-digits on the ref’s stopwatch.

Nevertheless, their defensive frailties were exposed by 4 of them attending to a Hleb jinx infield during the first half. The dullards failed to nick the ball off him and thus his poke through to Pogrebnyak allowed the Russian to place a passed-effort over the onrushing Tim Wiese (at least he left his line – Vander wouldn’t have). The goal that initially made it 2-0 to the nation’s other Champions League representatives can be attributed to some tasty football though rather than typical Bremen backline mishaps. Cacau used upper-body strength, awareness and a confidence with the ball at his feet to set the move on its way (partially making up for a semi-open goal he had earlier blasted over under no pressure). The ball was eventually shipped to Gebhart’s right-side-of-the-box surge after Pogrebnyak cleverly cocked his leg to reverse-flick. A chest-high square was played in instantly and met by the head of Khedira.

Two throwaway games orchestrated by left-footed magicians act as an interlude to this round-wrap. Borussia Dortmund were indebted to fez-less Egyptian Mohamed Zidan (pictured whilst playing for Egypt right) in their 3-0 defeat of After Eight Dinner Mint-shirted 1976-77 league-winners Borussia Mönchengladbach. Nevertheless, the jolly and snow-sieged crowd at Signal Iduna Park acknowledged the interplay and counter-attack-aiding contributions of Barrios, Großkreutz and Schmelzer.

During teatime on Sunday, Carlos-Eduardo dictated as TSG 1899 Hoffenheim hosted 1. FSV Mainz 05. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, his fed-on-a-plate colleagues had a paucity of appetite, and it was down to bolshy, boisterous Burkinabé Bance to salvage yet more points (0-1) for the goals-at-either-end-shy visitors. Maybe the plush but modest surroundings of Hoffe’s Rhein-Neckar-Arena felt like home to a side who’ve been poor on their travels this season – excellent if so, because they move into a remarkably similar venue from 2011.

Going with some injury time in this quasi-half-time, and I suppose one could describe VfL Wolfsburg beating VfL Bochum 4-1 as a throwaway tie. I doubt Lorenz-Günther Köstner would though – another fine result that does his chances of getting the job on a full-time basis no harm. With it snowing heavily in the first-half and Volkswagen FC enduring frustration with a series of Riether right-channel bursts and crosses coming to nothing, it was perhaps unsurprising that Heiko Herrlich’s men crept into the lead. Perhaps ‘crept’ is the wrong verb, because the goal they netted was due in no small measure to Barzagli dithering that Freier juxtaposed with a moment of class: gracefully dinking it over an outstretched foot and curling the ball to the top-left.

Any aspirations they might have had of departing with all three points were ended in an entirely contrasting second half. Out came the sun, and like that Rancid album of the same name, out c[a]me the Wolves! Now working the ball more down the left through Marcel Schäfer, the hosts forced their guests into a series of blunders as they effortlessly dismantled them. Džeko’s first saw him effortlessly belly-dance around a favoured-defender’s body to steer a cross in, while his second was a right-footed (!) penalty-kick into the top right-hand corner after Heerwagen let a foot fetish get the better of him (little else could explain a lunge that felled Bosnia’s finest). The custodian was equally at fault for Santana’s goal – Wolfsburg’s fourth and final strike – as he stood in an advanced position that enabled a relatively tame 25-yarder to dip over him. Obafemi Martins let Grafite know that although he’s seemingly part of Dunga’s plans, he may yet have a fight on for a starting berth at club level. Bochum did their utmost to help the Nigerian-flipper make it 3-1 mind. All 4 defenders anticipated that Hasebe would square the ball into the six-yard box and adjusted their positions accordingly. The man from Japan responded by pulling it back for Martins’ peel to the dot, and the striker scuff-ishly finished first-time with a right-foot half-volley across-goal.

So then there were 4… 1977-78 champions 1. FC Köln went with their party-piece for the second-week running; a camped-in defensive mission to stifle another mob of potential 2009-10 title-winners. This week’s victims were FC Bayern Munich. Even more predictably so after not scoring for what seems like an eternity, and an impotent showing for the national side during defeat to Argentina, Podolski buried a screamer past his former employers. Mimicking a free-kick tried moments earlier by the away side (two stand over the ball, a hip adjacent to goal, with one rolling for the other to stand on it as attacker #3 sprints-up to welly it – Van Buyten’s thunderbolt failed to test Mondragon), the hosts had looked threatening on their rare forays forward. Schweinsteiger levelled the tie in the second half after clever build-up play from Klose (who feigned a hold-up to cock-leg a backheel through) and Müller (pull-back when the square seemed easier/obvious), and the match finished 1-each. With Robben and Ribery absent from the starting XI, it’s clear that van Gaal had an eye on tonight’s fixture in the Champions League.

However, his players started this game with gunning-down Köln firmly top of the agenda (clearly the instructions were to nick an early goal and preserve energy against goal-shy opposition). Roma-Milan aside, I doubt many games this weekend started in such a frenetic, high-octane fashion. Bayern looked clever, energetic, confident and classy. In the centre of midfield, Schweinsteiger, van Bommel and Altintop bridged and bobbed, moving the ball with incisiveness and always providing options to complement the ants-in-pants front-pairing of Gomez/Olic. Even the never-say-die attitude that Petit plays with off-ball wasn’t enough to stifle the juggernaut. With Lahm looking useful whenever he ducked challenges and carried infield (oi… who said ‘for a change’??!), and Müller and Contento petrifying McKenna out left with their electric pace and willingness to view opponents as the orange cones you run around during training drills, Bayern’s arsenal fired from all angles.

Excepting of course, that right side. As I noted, Lahm decided to try his luck infield, and thus the game’s first real chance came when he was intercepted and Freis was able to break out left. He fed Podolski who cracked a fierce shot off the cross-bar. Zvonimir Soldo’s men just about managed to use their strength (i.e. strength) to compensate for panicked clearances and dummy-buying full-backs and gradually eased their way into the game. With McKenna by now knowing that Müller prefers to cut in and cross right-footed, and Podolski’s eagerness making Contento a little more reluctant to fully commit upfield, the centre-back pairing of Geromel and Mohamed began to position themselves perfectly to clear Bayern’s balls in. The former especially was particularly adept for the entire game when it came to clearing telling crosses. However, as Novakovic persistenly made a point of telling him, “STOP GIVING THE $5^@£ BALL AWAY!”. Under pressure or not, the Brazilian – who’s spent the week talking up a move to Juventus – just isn’t comfortable enough on the ball to warrant a *big* move. Camped in for 90 minutes and playing for a team where throwing your body in the way of the ball makes you look heroic and gifted, a move to a side unfamiliar at being penned-in and wanting its centre-backs to get involved with the build-up play has been the undoing of many ballsy defenders recipients of unjustified and bloated fees.

Slotting in to 2nd spot are football’s equivalent of The Beano’s Les Pretend, Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04. A journey to Europa League challengers Eintracht Frankfurt? Piece of cake. There was an element of symmetry to this game that bordered on the beautiful. With the home side keen to entertain their followers, Magath’s boys (his ever-tinkered XI normally contains several teenagers) pounced to score twice from set-pieces (Matip and Howedes near-post headers with their trackers invisible) in the opening fifteen minutes. The first-half petered out with the hosts shell-shocked and the away side always comfortable when being dictated to. Then, that aforementioned symmetry was further attested to as Frankfurt emerged quicker out of the HT-traps, Skibbe’s barks presumably fresh in their ears. Schalke committed the mandatory faux-pas of the side in control at the beginning of the second half – namely beginning in too relaxed a manner and taking time to find the structure that had been stifling their opponents as the last half closed. Ochs showed great energy to carry beyond Rafinha towards the right ‘L’, sucking Westermann out in the process, and feeding Meier to tap in at the back-post with the cash-strapped über-fit outfit temporarily adopting the Neil Ruddock/Eric Cartman attitude to shape.

Buoyed by pulling the scoreline to a surmountable 1-2, Frankfurt had nothing to lose by committing to attack. Surprise surprise, Schalke scored 2 late goals on the break, symmetry achieved. Although the record books will list goal #4 as Kuranyi’s and #3 as Rakitic’s via an assist from the man Magath thinks is the best in the league, the latter’s net-rippler should really be credited to the clever play of Edu. He carried a back-to-goal hold towards halfway, spun round, and cleverly split the entire defence as Kuranyi ran down the area of the pitch normally reserved for the AMR. Rakitic slid in at the back-post to bury the eventual square.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

DINERS
14 goals
Stefan Kießling (Bayer Leverkusen)
13 goals
Kevin Kurányi (Schalke 04)
12 goals
Edin Džeko (VfL Wolfsburg)
11 goals
Lucas Barrios (Borussia Dortmund)
Albert Bunjaku (1. FC Nuremberg)
Eren Derdiyok (Bayer Leverkusen)
10 goals
Mario Gómez (Bayern Munich)
Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen)
9 goals
Vedad Ibišević (1899 Hoffenheim)
Toni Kroos (Bayer Leverkusen)
8 goals
Cacau (Stuttgart)
Grafite (VfL Wolfsburg)
Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)

WAITERS
12 assists
Mesut Özil (Werder Bremen)
10 assists
Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen)
Marko Marin (Werder Bremen)
8 assists
Toni Kroos (Bayer Leverkusen)
Edin Džeko (VfL Wolfsburg)
Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich)
7 assists
Carlos Eduardo (1899 Hoffenheim)
Eljero Elia (Hamburger SV)
Andreas Ivanschitz (FSV Mainz 05)
Zvjezdan Misimovic (VfL Wolfsburg)

Arsenal vs FC Porto (agg 1:2)

A few weeks ago it seemed that European success may be the main priority for the remainder of Arsenal’s season following their  tame elimination from the FA cup and their distant position behind Manchester United and Chelsea in the Premier League. Since then however things have changed at the Emirates and whilst the Champions League remains a trophy that the Gunners would still like to get their hands on, Arsenal may sense that domestic success now represents a more realistic possibility. The decision to rule out Cesc Fabregas despite the influential midfielder claiming he was willing to play would certainly seem to indicate so as the Londoners prepare for the title run in. Arsene Wenger’s men currently sit in third place in the league, equal on points with Chelsea and just two points off leaders Manchester United and the Frenchman seems unwilling to risk losing Fabregas for the long term in order to field him in tonight’s clash.

The Gunners trail Porto in this one due to a mixture of gross ineptitude and controversial refereeing decisions. Lukas Fabianski’s dire display in Portugal three weeks ago was directly accountable for both of Porto’s goals and in the same way that a cold is preferrable to a flu, Arsenal fans will be happy to have Manuel Almunia back minding the nets this time round. Arsenal should have a mental edge in this one, having won all of their home European ties by a minimum of two goals this season but the loss of Fabregas, added to the news that William Gallas is set to sit out the next month of action will mean they still have their work cut out for them. As does the amazing fact that Arsenal have not overcome a first leg deficit in Europe since coming from behing to beat Hadjuk Spilt in 1978.

Andrei Arshavin returned from injury last weekend and will likely start up front but the decision in terms of who will play up top with him will be foremost in the minds of many Arsenal supporters. Nicklas Bendtner (pictured), who will most likely get the nod over Eduardo, had a nightmare in front of goal last weekend, spurning several excellent opportunities that very nearly cost his team dearly, however his sustained enthusiasm and effort throughout were to be commended and did not go unnoticed by the Arsenal faithful who clapped him off the pitch when he was eventually put out of his misery. Don’t expect them to be quite so pleasant if the big Dane is as profligate in front of goal again tonight however. Bendtner will be hoping that he can match Theo Walcott’s performance off the back of a whirlwind of crtiticsm last week and a string of misses like those seen against Burnley way well be worth it if he can get his name on the scoresheet tonight.

The history of these club’s recent meetings would seem to favour Arsenal for the win: they have welcomed Porto to North London twice since their move to the Emirates, scoring six goals and conceding none in these encounters. Porto must look to overcome the fact that they have lost twelve from their last fourteen games played on English soil, however the knowledge that a draw will be good enough to see their name in the pot for the next round may assist in this.

Fiorentina vs Bayern Munich (agg 1:2)

Like Arsenal, Fiorentina must also seek to turn around a 2-1 deficit that owes a lot to questionable refereeing. Tom Henning Ovrebo, the official in charge of Chelsea’s controversial semi-final loss to Barcelona last year, took charge of the first leg and amost unbelievably allowed Miroslav Klose’s 89th minute effort stand despite the German striker clearly being offside. That goal denied the Italians a well deserved 1-1 draw and means they still have it all to do in order to progress. After the game, Fiorentina coach made known his anger with the officials as he proclaimed “We did everything right on the field. We only failed to double up our marking on the linesman”.

The Italians are currently a long way the off the pace in Serie A (sitting in tenth position) but look a completely different outfit in Europe, boasting a 100% home record and a position as joint top scorers along with Real Madrid in this season’s competition. “La Viola” have lost only one of their last twelve home European  clashes, with the single black mark coming in a 2-1 defeat to Lyon in last season’s competition.

Bayern have come away victorious in their last four trips to Italy but will be without two of their first choice defenders for this tie as centre half Martin Demichelis and left back Diego Contento are ruled out and Fiorentina hit-man Alberto Gilardino (pictured, left) will be looking to capitalize on their absence. Arjen Robben,  who was the key man for Bayern from the first leg -  missed their last league encounter with a virus  but is fit to rejoin the squad for tonight’s game. His presence may just be the difference in a very difficult game to call.

#16 Philippe Albert v Manchester United, 1996

Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United have rarely been on the receiving end of a real hammering during the Scot’s reign, however they were well and truly played off the park when they visited Newcastle United in a top of the table clash during the 1996/97 season.

United had just pipped Newcastle to the title in May after Kevin Keegan’s men had blown a 12 point lead at the top of the table, resulting in one of the most famous on-air rants of all time.

Belgian centre half Philippe Albert came to the attention of Keegan after some excellent performances during the 1994 World Cup, and the Magpies shelled out £2.6 million to secure his signing.

He became an integral part of a side dubbed ‘The Entertainers’ by broadcaster Sky thanks to their ‘gung ho’ attacking style and thrilling matches.

In front of a packed St. James’ Park, the hosts went ahead through Darren Peacock before Frenchman David Ginola scored one of the Goals of the Season.

Two became three in the second half as Alan Shearer crossed for strike partner Les Ferdinand to score, before getting on the scoresheet himself soon after.

The icing on the cake arrive late on when Albert burst forward and collected a pass from Rob Lee about 30 yards from goal.

He took one touch and shaped to unleash a left foot strike but instead dinked a beautiful chip over keeper Peter Schmeichel who had advanced off his line to narrow the angle.

The home fans erupted as a perfect goal capped a perfect day.

The defeat was United’s worst since 1984, though they would recover and go on to win the title that season while Newcastle again finished second.

Albert played 96 times in total for Newcastle between 1994 and 1999, and also spent time on loan at Fulham.

He returned to his native Belgium to rejoin Charleroi for the 1999/2000 season before retiring. He is now a succesful football pundit and also runs a fruit and vegetable business.

As a Manchester United fan it’s been difficult of late to read any kind of club news without encountering inevitable bumf about the Glazers, the Red Knights, green and gold scarves, potential boycotts, Wayne Rooney’s forehead, blah blah blah… the list goes on. (OK, I realise that last one isn’t that terrible, but it’s been the saving grace of late.)

When the Glazer family launched their formal takeover bid of Manchester United in the summer of 2005, I was probably in the small minority (or, if in the majority, the silent one – but then again, it’s always been difficult to publicly express one’s support for a status quo) who thought the takeover might not have been a terrible thing. As a Commerce student at the time, I was being heavily briefed on investment practices and, in my business-y frame of mind, and figured that although the transition would mean United (then debt-free) being loaded up with a roundabout £500m in debt – small change, you know yourself… – that nobody would put a business through such a financial mill if they didn’t think the business could adequately cope with the strain.

In hindsight I still stand by that logic. Nobody – not even an Irish banker intent on spending billions on a floundering Irish bank – puts money into an enterprise if they don’t think they’ll be able to get their investment back, with more. After all, that’s what profit is: the reward for taking a risk.

That’s not to say I didn’t understand and share the fears that MUST and the soon-to-be F.C. United brigade. The club was debt-free and had built its modern empire – a top-class stadium; an era of incomparable dominance in English football, the ability to confidently and consistently break transfer records to get the players we needed, and others we didn’t – upon the fact that its monetary situation was so resilient and dependable. Good investment and solid management breeds more money, which if managed correctly keeps the cycle going.

The problem with that logic was that I’d forgotten one pretty simple thing: in offloading all the debt the Glazers were getting themselves into onto the club, the Glazers were almost entirely nullifying the burden they were undertaking. Profit is the reward for risk, but the Glazer family weren’t taking much of a risk if they were making the club shoulder the risk for their actions. Still, I reasoned, they’re going to be looking at a long-term investment: the Glazers aren’t going to milk the club for everything they can. Milking the club would desperately impact on its ability to go about its affairs – or, at least, in the way the club had been used to.

Besides, in class we were being taught that when you’re looking to set up or run a business, you have two options on how to fund it: through debt – i.e. borrowing the money from a benefactor or bank – or equity, i.e. trying to get an investor to put money into the business in the hope that their money can turn a profit (the reward for risk – geddit?). Debt, we were taught, is cheaper. If you borrow money from the bank, you pay 5% or so in interest per year, and that’s it done. With equity, if you turn a profit, the shareholders deserve a payout, usually in the order of 10-12%. So if you’re looking for £500m, it’s cheaper to have to pay 4% interest – £20m a year – than £60m to the people who helped you get off the ground. Again, though, either way it’s dearer than paying nothing at all.

But on they came, and milk the club they did. It’s one thing to have a family-run business that’s been forged over time and works as the family breadbasket, but it’s another thing entirely to take over a business as a family consortium and bleed the thing try. And now, the club finds itself with a huge debt it’s struggling to handle.

Which leads me back to the recent news that a group of City investors – all United fans – are planning a buyout of the club with the ultimate intent of converting it into a fans’ trust ownership model, the likes of which are seen in most major Spanish clubs.

Like most fans, I won’t lie and pretend a fans’ ownership model wouldn’t be a fantastic thing to be able to put into practice. United have blazed the trail in many ways in footballing history and putting the most honourable of ownership models into practice would be the icing on the cake. And how better to run the clubs than with those who keep it going in mind at the helm?

Still, though, there are problems. Firstly: how’s this takeover going to be paid for? The Glazers are a profiteering bunch. They’ve put a shedload of money into the business and they’re going to want it back – even if it means having to pay them the money they don’t even themselves now owe. The Glazers borrowed about £600m to buy the club, and even though they’ve siphoned off millions and millions for themselves and owe nothing, they’re going to want a significant amount more than that in a payoff. Let’s say it’s £700m. Then, the investors will need to get rid of the club’s debt. Another £700m. Very quickly you’re looking at a bill of £1.4bn (billion! That’s the price of 18 Cristiano Ronaldos!) simply to take the club over, before you even encounter the costs of running the club itself. And in the current climate, you’re going to need £1.4bn in cold, hard, cash. With a club in United’s state there’s no room for a bond issue or a protracted house-of-cards approach to finding money.

Secondly, who’s going to actually run the club when it’s all done? Are we going to have the Joan Laportas or the Fiorentino Perezes of this world coming to Europe? Is the fat bloke in the Stretford End who leads the chants going to be elected Club President, promising to buy David Villa, Fernando Torres, Thierry Henry, Lionel Messi and Kaka the next time the transfer window opens? A supporter-run club of United’s size is inevitably going to lead to a race to the top just like it’s seen in Spain, but there’s nobody in the world who’s going to buy a club and get it out of debt just so a supporters’ trust can lead the club into hypercompetition with itself and grow itself another Real Madrid-sized financial tumour.

Spain has shown us that a fan-run club only has limited appeal. Perhaps the most successful model is Bayern Munich where the ownership is only partially held by the fans, but even this model wouldn’t work in a club of United’s financial scale. Let’s say the Red Knights own 50% of the club and the fans 50%. If the Knights propose something unpopular, and every single fan thinks it abhorrent (how likely?), all the Red Knights need to do is to get an ally to pretend they’re a fan, join the trust and force their way through. The fans’ say won’t be enough to stop the Knights doing what they want, and if they’re paying £1.4bn for that privilege they’re going to want to exert it.

The fan ownership model is a great one in theory – but show me a case where it’s worked effectively for a club of Manchester United’s size, and hasn’t gotten it into very, very tough financial times and I’ll show you a fan who might just about be convinced.

Either way, it’s certainly the lesser of two evils.

It really is an unusal round of fixtures for the league. Some teams play twice, some once and some not at all. Due to their presence in the sixth round of the world’s largest and often most over-hyped cup competition, Chelsea, Spurs, Aston Villa and Fulham must sit back and hope their respective rivals cannot capitalize on their absence. Portsmouth, Birmingham and Stoke face dual commitments this weeks when they run out in both league and cup action while Blackburn and Man City get a chance to put the feet up with no action  forthcoming  in the next seven days whatsoever. Check out how Backpagefootball’s own Neil Sherwin attempted to deal with such chaos as he continues to fight the good fight in fantasy football here.

As mentioned, many of the teams in action this weekend will have a chance to put points on the board and turn up the heat on those around them who are not in action. Arsenal and Manchester United both have a good opportunity to boost their title shots as they face Burnley and Wolves respectively.

The Gunners face their first run out since the loss of Aaron Ramsey and will be keen to keep their solid momentum on track. Victory over Burnley this weekend will see them go equal on points with Chelsea, whereas victoy by more than four goals (in no way outside the realms of possibility given Burnleys away record) will see them leapfrog their London rivals. For a club who have been definitively written off from title success on two clear occasions this season to be so conclusively back in the hunt for honours is testament to the unpredicatbility off the league. Furthermore it makes a mockery of the impulsiveness of many areas of the media which immediately look to condemn single results as season ending disasters and thus add fuel to campaigns for managers to lose their jobs. Further credit must go to Arsenal themselves of course.

Arsene Wenger, along with many of his players have spoken in midweek of how they will use the sickening injury to Aaron Ramsey to inspire them to success come May and the Arsenal may be able to welcome back Andrei Arshavin and Abou Diaby this weekend as they aim to prolong Burnley’s wait for a victory outside of Turf Moor this season.

For United – the newly crowned Carling Cup champions, anything but a defeat will put them back upon the summit of the league, but then again anything but a victory will be seen as a massive failure. Alex Ferguson will see the three points on offer here as essential as they face the team just one place outside the relegation zone. A win would put United two points clear of Chelsea following the Blues loss to Man City last weekend.

The international week did not bring much good news for Alex Ferguson. Star striker Wayne Rooney picked up a knock against Egypt on Wednesday, and the fiery Scottish manager has already made known his anger over Rooney being played for so long in the game despite all his recent exertions. This injury coupled with the news that Michael Owen is set to miss the rest of the season with hamstring trouble picked up in the Carling Cup final means United may be short in attacking options.

Dimitar Berbatov (pictured, right) will likely start up front with Mame Diouf an outsider for a place. Jonny Evans will also miss the game having picked up an injury playing for Northern Ireland however Rio Ferdinand is ft again following back troubles so he will partner Nemanja Vidic in defense. Nani is eligible again having served his suspension for his red card against Aston Villa. Ryan Giggs competes the injury list. In some good news for United, Owen Hargreaves is expected to begin his return to action in a reserve game this week.

The reverse fixture this year resulted in  one of the big talking points of the season as Mick McCarthy rested virtually all first team regulars in a bid to keep legs fresh for an impending six pointer with Burnley days later. At this stage of the season and with Wolves in such a precarious position, a repeat maneouvre is not an option and the Molineaux boys will be looking to battle hard for any hope of taking something from the game, especially since the Birmingham club have won just two of their last ten games. Wolve’s fans may well be buoyed by memories of the corresponding fixture in 2004 which saw Kenny Millers strike seal a famous victory for the club.

15th place West Ham face a showdown with a showdown 13th place Bolton this weekend with plenty on the line. Only one point separate these teams as both try to desparately scramble away from the drop zone. West Ham have not conceded in their last four home games and will be looking to continue that run this weekend. Gianfranco Zola does have injury concerns surrounding his defense, with Danny Gabbidon and Herita Ilunga set to miss out while good news comes in the fact that Carlton Cole is fit to continue his comback into the side. The Englishmans presence in the team s key to their survival hopes. Bolton, who overcame Wolves last week,  have won all of the last five meetings between these sides but are most definitely still a side struggling in form, despite Owen Coyle’s managerial appointment.

The final game of the weekend sees Everton face Hull. Everton have only the league to focus on in these times and will be seeking to continue their ascent up the table following their excellent overall form of late. Hull will be desparate for anything given their position and Phil Brown may be able to welcome back Jimmy Bullard into the team. The midfielders last run of games coincided with Hulls best performances of the season and all at the KC stadium will be hoping for a simliar situation this time round.

Monday sees Liverpool take on Wigan, both clubs will be looking to add to their points tally for very different reasons. Pool remain firmly in the hunt for fourth place while Wigan sit only one point above the relegation zone. Midweek action then involves more strugglers as Portsmouth, Sunderland, Bolton and Burnley all find themselves in action.

This weeks’s fixture list in full:

Saturday 6th March

Arsenal vs Burnley (15:00)

West Ham vs Bolton (15:00)

Wolverhampton vs Man Utd (17:30)

Sunday 7th March

Everton vs Hull (16:00)

Monday 8th March

Wigan vs Liverpool (20:00)

Tuesday 9th March

Portsmouth vs Birmingham (19:45)

Sunderland vs Bolton (19:45)

Wednesday 10th March

Burnley vs Stoke (19:45)

Saturday 6th March
Barclays Premier League
15:00	Arsenal vs Burnley
15:00	West Ham vs Bolton
17:30	Wolverhampton vs Man Utd
Sunday 7th March
Barclays Premier League
16:00	Everton vs Hull
Monday 8th March
Barclays Premier League
20:00	Wigan vs Liverpool
Tuesday 9th March
Barclays Premier League
19:45	Portsmouth vs Birmingham
19:45	Sunderland vs Bolton
Wednesday 10th March
Barclays Premier League
19:45	Burnley vs Stoke

The win at Dalymount Park wasn’t without controversy however with visitors Fingal feeling very hard done by over the decision to award the Gypsies a 76th minute penalty that was converted by Killian Brennan.

Bohs started with new signings Barry Murphy, Stephen Gray and Mark Quigley, while fellow new boys Raffaele Cretaro and Gareth McGlynn had to make do with a place on the bench.

Also on the sidelines, rather surprisingly, was former Dayler favourite Glen Crowe who joined Fingal in the off season.

Both sides had chances in the first half, with Paddy Madden seeing his header cleared off the line for the hosts and Conan Byrne forcing a good save out of Murphy at the far end.

Gary O’Neill had a great opportunity to give Fingal the lead early in the second half but he dragged his shot tamely wide of Murphy’s goal.

The deadlock was finally broken with a quarter of an hour remaining when a penalty was awarded after Keith Quinn was harshly adjudged to have fouled Anto Murphy in the area.

Killian Brennan stepped up and converted the kick, much to the delight of the majority of the 3,500 or so fans in attendance.

Crowe finally made his entrance shortly after the goal and almost conjured up an equaliser against his former club but his effort was off target.

Bohs held out for the three points, leaving Fingal empty handed in their first top flight game.

Bohemians: Murphy; Heary, Shelley, Gray, Powell;  Murphy (McGlynn 90), Keegan, Cronin, Brennan; Madden, Quigley (Cretaro 66)

Subs not used: Rossiter, Higgins, O’Connor

Sporting Fingal: Clarke; O’Brien, Maher, Browne, Fitzgerald; Finn, Williams, McFaul; Byrne (Paisley 85), O’Neill, Quinn (Crowe 78).

Subs not used: James, Kirby, Quigley.

Ref: D Tomney.

Other Results:

Premier Division

Drogheda United 0 – 3 UCD

Bray Wanderers 0 – 1 Dundalk

St. Patrick’s Athletic 2 – 0 Galway United

First Division

Shelbourne 1 – 1 Monaghan United

Mervue United 1 – 1Limerick

Waterford United 3 – 0 Wexford Youths

Derry City 1 – 1 Cork City FORAS Co-Op

Manchester City, Tottenham, Fulham, Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers all have the weekend off, again forcing managers to do more wheeling and dealing than Harry Redknapp during a transfer window.

Bolton and Burnley do place twice but that’s of no use to me seeing as there is a combined total of zero players from either club in the squad.

To make things worse, Wayne Rooney is now a major doubt for Manchester United’s trip to Wolves, while Matthew Etherington is touch and go.

If both of them make it then we will at least be fielding a full side, a luxury which is not very easy to come by this week.

Cesc Fabregas is the obvious choice to skipper the side with a game against Burnley at the Emirates which could turn into a bit of a rout.

Transfer wise, Branislav Ivanovic has been sold in favour of Everton’s Leighton Baines who is usually good for an assist or two from set pieces. I decided not to take a points hit this time after doing so far too much recently.

The toughest decision was deciding who to go for in goal but in the it came down to the fact that if Birmingham concede heavily and Hart, Johnson and Bowyer are all in the team then we’re fairly screwed. Clean sheets for both Stoke and Brum now please!

Last week’s total of 55 points was pretty good and resembled something like a return to form. Drogba as captain was an obvious let down, as was Ivanovic’s contribution of -1.

However, the decision to lump on Birmingham paid off massively with clean sheets all round and bonus points for Bowyer and Johnson.

Carlos Tevez and Fabregas both put in top drawer performances with goals, assists and bonus points all over the place, though Jamie O’Hara could have made things even better had he not missed a penalty for Portsmouth.

The team currently sits in 40,533rd place out of a total of 2,279,562 teams.

Team for Gameweek 29 -