Another round in the most formidable league in the world comes to an end with some strong performances from the sides that are among some of the best in Europe.

Manchester United are now within four points of yet another Premier League title after they won by two goals over their immediate rivals, Manchester City.

A freak goal from Essien's left foot that even had the neutrals out of their seats, 80 minutes of drudgery, 3 contentious calls that could have gone for Chelsea, one incorrect red card against Barcelona, incessant diving from Drogba and Anelka, and then a beauty off Iniesta's foot.

People will remember the end of the game - the drama, the joy, the despair, the anger at the referee - but most of this game was about Barcelona failing to adapt to Chelsea's tactical advantage and only a moment of brilliance by Iniesta (coupled with jangled nerves from Chelsea) gave Barcelona an advantage on away goals and nudged them through to a final against Manchester United.

Of course, he probably won't win the Golden Boot this year - but here's an interesting analysis from betting site Chicken Dinner - that has Arsenal's Adebayor the "last man standing" for the 2009-2010 Premier League scoring title.
My money is on one of Torres or Anelka - with Rooney as a dark horse, but at 28 to 1, Adebayor does offer tons of upside for desperate gamblers.

Oh god, do you remember the terribly over drawn Robinho transfer saga and his final day move to Man City off the back of their mega money takeover?

Have you ever wondered what life would be like with Robinho amongst our ranks? I have... and this is what I have come up with.

Just say on August 30 we sign him, beating Manchester City to the deal - they are still mega rich, they just didn't poach him.

I'm no expert on Spanish football, but the ubiquitous praise for Barcelona and the fact that I've got GolTV this season has led me to watch a substantial amount of that team. And that's why I'm not surprised Andres Iniesta was the one who won it at the death. If you asked me to pick one player – just one – to improve Liverpool, it'd be him.

You know it's not going to be a good day when the first thing you read after waking up is that Van Persie will be out for a long, long time! I find it difficult to take my mind of such news and it always makes me wonder if the players can focus on the game at hand when news of this sort is likely to affect the whole season.

I'm just kind of tired today and besides, there isn't much to say. Chelsea supporters are gloating, as they should, Arsenal supporters are feeling down, as they should, and Man U supporters are looking forward to winning the league against what must be seen as an easy Arsenal target.

Let's get the Dean Windass jokes out of the way and get right to some fantasy footie. I'm going to stray from our usual format this week and instead end the fantasy footie season in a stream of consciousness style...
I apologize but there is just too much on my professional/personal plate this evening to delve deeply into the top matches of the week and preview this week's results and tactics - so instead I'll stick with a longer version of our usual "Studs and Duds" section as the main body of work.

So said Roy Keane when asked if he could go back for one game in his career, and I think it's apt. There's no doubt we've fallen off a bit in the last couple of seasons, but Arsenal still has more wins against Manchester United since Alex Ferguson has taken the reins than any other club in the Premiership, and for me this rivalry hasn't lost any of its ferocity.

In January 2001, Gerrard Houllier signed one of Europe's most renowned and exciting creative players. Liverpool fans everywhere rejoiced at the prospect of having such a rare talent in the team, the ideal player to complement Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler. Joy quickly turned to frustration though as Houllier criminally underused the player and inexplicably wasted his considerable talent.

I'm having major computer problems this week, so I haven't been able to do much research into what will be going on today. (I will be here for the game, though, so please stop by and keep me company.)

What I've read is that pretty much the entire starting lineup has changed, with the exception of Benzema and Anelka.

Off a defender, off a post, in the net. Mr. Anelka took care of business away for France, making their trip to South Africa look pretty likely. As Jack posted earlier this week, Nico likes being the supporting striker, but that doesn't mean he doesn't like to let it rip on occasion.

Also in action today, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, and Paulo Ferreira all played as Portugal won 1-0 against Bosnia, as Hilario, who won his first callup for Portugal, didn't make the bench.

2:45pm on espn2. Chelsea lead 1-3 on aggregate.
Knockout Rounds:
Liverpool: 4-0 Real (h); 1-0 Real (a)
Chelsea: 2-2 Juve (a); 1-0 Juve (h)
Group Stage:
Liverpool: 3-1 PSV (a); 1-0 Marseille (h); 1-1 Atletico (h); 1-1 Atletico (a); 3-1 PSV (h); 2-1 Marseille (a)
Chelsea: 2-1 Cluj (h); 1-1 Bordeaux (a); 1-3 Roma (a); 1-0 Roma (h); 0-0 Cluj (a); 4-0 Bordeaux (h)
Last 3 matches:
Liverpool: 4-0 Blackburn (h); 1-3 Chelsea (h); 1-0 Fulham (a)
Chelsea: 4-3 Bolton (h); 3-1 Liverpool (a); 2-0 Newcastle (a)
Goalscorers (Europe):
Liverpool: Gerrard 7; Kuyt, Torres 2; Dossena, Babel, Benayoun, Ngog, Riera 1
Chelsea: Drogba 4; Anelka, Ivanovic, Terry 2; J Cole, Essien, Kalou, Lampard, Malouda 1
Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (SPA)
Guess at a squad
--------------Reina
----Skrtel Carragher Agger
Arbeloa------------------Aurelio
----Mascherano---Alonso
Kuyt-----------------------Babel
--------------Torres
All the news today, whether it's BBC or the official site, suggests Gerrard will be fit to start.

Chelsea v Barcelona Live Streaming & Match Preview
Watch Chelsea vs Barcelona Live Online - Click Here
Live UEFA Champions League Football
Wednesday 6th May 2009
Kick Off : 19:45 GMT
Venue : Stamford Bridge

Barcelona treated everyone to a 6-2 thriller with Real Madrid at the weekend and that result is sure to give them a massive confidence boost coming into this match (not that they needed it).

Sorry for the lack of posts this week; it has been an extremely hectic last five or so days. Anyway.

Chelsea netted twice in the final five minutes to salvage a 2-2 draw with Reading at the Madjeski on Saturday afternoon. Kalou bagged the first I know, shocking with an own goal, set up by the towering Alex, providing the late-game theatrics in added time.

It's turning into Burnley week here. The newly promoted EPL club made some nice acquisitions to their squad yesterday, bringing in Fletcher and Mears.
But the good PR stops there. When I found out that Burnley would be making the 6,000 mile trip to California next month for a pre-season tour of the US and a few friendlies right in my backyard, I got very excited.

Carlo Ancelotti has certainly stamped his mark on Chelsea early in the season so far. A Community Shield victory, coupled with 3 Premiership wins on the bounce has seen Chelsea rise to the top end of the table. So far, so what then? Nothing surprising in that in itself, would we expect the any of the big four to not already be putting markers down for the early running.

Here is a look at the new France shirt for the 2010 World Cup. Les Bleus ( the likes of Anelka, Henry, Gourcuff and co.) will wear this jersey at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. France finished runners up at the 2006 World Cup, and qualified for the 2010 event in somewhat [...] Related posts:

1. Republic of Ireland vs France highlights goals- World Cup 2010 playoff This is the post for the first leg.

He looks like a woman but plays like a half-man, half-beast
We've had some exciting midweek matches and a mouthwatering Carling Cup semifinal between Manchester City and Manchester United is soon to come, but all eyes are on the Premier League (and the World Cup draw) this weekend.

Previous posts: Formation | Keeper | Right Back | Centerback | Left Back | Central Midfield | Right Midfield | Left Midfield | Second Striker
Yes, I realize this poll and the previous one are mere formalities. I appreciate you indulging my idiosyncratic need for completion.
I could have included eight in this list and still left out players that were better than some in other polls.

Hace tan sólo unas semanas podíamos ver a Robinho, tan alegre como siempre, celebrando uno de sus tantos y besando el escudo de su actual equipo. La situación se veía un poco forzada, desde lejos se nos hacía difícil el creer que el brasileño estuviera tan a gusto en Manchester. Poco después, nuestras sospechas se convertían [.

(Arsenal-Chelsea 1-0. Walcott)
(Arsenal-Chelsea 1-1. Malouda)
(Arsenal-Chelsea 1-2. Drogba)
ARSENAL(4-4-2): Fabianski; Eboue, Toure, Silvestre, Gibbs; Walcott, Fabregas, Denilson (41' st Nasri), Diaby; Van Persie (31' st Arshavin), Adebayor (38' st Bendtner).

Drogba's eyes zone on the ground, his best friend all night

Drogba spent a lot of times flopping and at the end going ballistic at Tom Hennings Ovrebo, the Norwegian referee. He faces UEFA disciplinary action for that classy move as well as a invective filled tirade facing a camera.

Bit of a slow day, news wise, really, but there has been some board room news lately that I thought I'd take a crack at. Chelsea fans are still livid at the poor refereeing from yesterday, and I'm pretty sure someone from Chelsea just got another yellow card. There were some bad decisions made, and Chelsea were the better team.

The post Cristiano Ronaldo era ends. The Ancelotti reign begins. The Michael Owen experiment will get proof tested. Lots of little subtexts to the Community Shield match which takes place today at Wembley. Kick off at 1500 BST

Chelsea's attack will be without the services of Joe Cole and Yuri Zhirkov, out through injury.

Well the hope that Chelsea would beat Fulham by three goals so that the headline could be even more like "The taking of Pelham 1 2 3 " didn't materialise and I have to be content with the way it reads now. Goals by Drogba [the top part of his body was offside - how does a ref deal with that?

Time to be brutally honest.

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Last night David Ngog was picked to start up front against Lyon in a crucial, let me repeat crucial, Champions League tie. One we could ill afford to lose, hell a draw would have been something, but to lose puts us in a whole heap of trouble.

Joe Cole - breathing out of mouth and wearing short shorts, as usual
Joe Cole is fit again - which means that not only are his extra short shorts back on the playing field, but his brilliant creativity and Benayoun-like awareness in close spaces is on display as well in the Chelsea attack.

Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has made an agreement to join Real Madrid next summer with Los Merengues president Ramon Calderon, according to guillembalague.com. Although no deal has been made with United, who are adamant that Ronaldo will stay in the Premiership. It is claimed that Ronaldo and his agent Jorge Mendes have come to [.

2:45pm on espn2
Stupid Wednesday games. Another one for the DVR. Will probably have a review up by 8pm or so local time.
Knockout Rounds:
Liverpool: 4-0 Real (h); 1-0 Real (a)
Chelsea: 2-2 Juve (a); 1-0 Juve (h)
Group Stage:
Liverpool: 3-1 PSV (a); 1-0 Marseille (h); 1-1 Atletico (h); 1-1 Atletico (a); 3-1 PSV (h); 2-1 Marseille (a)
Chelsea: 2-1 Cluj (h); 1-1 Bordeaux (a); 1-3 Roma (a); 1-0 Roma (h); 0-0 Cluj (a); 4-0 Bordeaux (h)
Last 3 matches:
Liverpool: 1-0 Fulham (a); 5-0 Villa (h); 4-1 United (a)
Chelsea: 2-0 Newcastle (a); 0-1 Spurs (a); 1-0 City (h)
Goalscorers (Europe):
Liverpool: Gerrard 7; Kuyt 2; Dossena, Babel, Benayoun, Ngog, Riera, Torres 1
Chelsea: Drogba 3; Anelka, Terry 2; J Cole, Essien, Kalou, Lampard, Malouda 1
Referee: Claus Bo Larsen (DEN)
Guess at a squad
Reina
Arbeloa Carragher Skrtel Aurelio
Lucas Alonso
Kuyt Gerrard Riera
Torres
These two teams met in the semi-final in 2005, 2007, and 2008, as well as in the group stage in 2006.

By 1970's GoonerThere are two major reasons behind Chelsea's revival since Scholari was moved on. The first is the arrival of Hiddink who has managed to breathe a new found enthusiasm among the players. The second is the reinstatement of Drogba as the main attacking man (rather than the more delicate Anelka) in a familiar 4 3 3 formation.

Just a quick prematch blog before I depart for the game. Today's FA Cup final will finally answer the question of whether this young squad have finally matured enough to put in performances on the highest stage in Football. Wembley stadiums's pitch will not be the kind of billiard beize of old, and I predict that after a few crunching tackles in midfield, the interupption in the roll of the ball may prove disconcerting for the fine touch players.

In the wake of Ryan Giggs being crowned football of the year, we revisit our initial article on the subject - when Giggs was available at a juicy 8/1. We thought it would be a vote for sentiment rather than a true reflection of the season's form; but deserved for his incredible record. Most now seem to agree with us.

Pep Guardiola has named all the available players in the squad which will travel to London. Carles Puyol, who is suspended for the leg will also travel with the squad. The squad announced are Valdés, Jorquera, Pinto, Alves, Víctor Sánchez, Piqué, Cáceres, Abidal, Sylvinho, Touré Yaya, Keita, Busquets, Gudjohnsen, Xavi, Iniesta, Hleb, Bojan, Henry, Eto'o, Messi and Pedro.

With Manchester United already in the final, we will find out today whether the defending UEFA Champions League titleholders will face FC Barcelona in a dream final, or face Chelsea in a rematch of last year's final.

Chelsea and Barcelona square off today at Stamford Bridge in the second leg of their semifinal series.

Everton and Chelsea will face each other in the English FA Cup Final with both teams looking for their first trophy of the season. The match is set to take place at Wembley Stadium on Saturday May, 30, 2009.

Match Preview

This will be Guus Hiddink's last game as manager of Chelsea after taking over in the middle of the season.

Former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon, now an analyst for BBC Sport, does such an outstanding job in his tactical breakdown. Here is his account of identifying key areas for tomorrow's FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Everton.
"The difficulty that Everton face, though, is that when you have four defenders up against three attackers, it is easy to lose sight of the runners from midfield.

Chelsea fans probably are not even aware of what kind of player they got. Few months ago we talked about the well-kept secrets of Russian championship and noticed that Zhirkov might turn out to be better than Arshavin but he simply didn't have enough media attention.

This CSKA player has for years, been best player in the excellent Russian championship.

Get me to Baltimore.

I'll be in the mix at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium on Friday night as the Blues continue their preseason tour of the U.S. against old-a** AC Milan. The match marks the Blues' second game of the World Football Challenge, following a thorough dismantling of The Special One's rather normal looking no, less than normal Inter Milan.

How do you feel Chelsea have performed in the transfer market this summer?

I wouldn't call what we've done in the transfer market this summer ‘performing' exactly. We were supposed to have had a ‘marquee' signing but unless Buck was on about the circus surrounding our captain, I haven't seen anything resembling an erection around Stamford Bridge yet.