Champions League Final: Manchester United Vs Chelsea

As I write this on the eve of the Champions League final, I must say I am a tad disappointed. I had hoped that I would instead be looking ahead to a Champions league final between Liverpool and Manchester United in Moscow but instead I have to look ahead to a final between the two enemies. It is not like I will not watch the game. I certainly will as I am an avid football fan and nothing gets better than watching a final of Europe’s major club competition.

Personally, I will be ‘supporting’ Chelsea tomorrow. I put the word supporting in inverted commas because it is not like I am a Chelsea fan, my blood is blue and I live and breathe Chelsea. But if there is a team I would like to see win the game tomorrow it is Chelsea. Why you may ask? Firstly, I hate Manchester United. You are not a true Liverpool fan if you do not hate United. The fact that they now have won 17 league titles does not sit well with me as they are now so close to overtaking our 18 titles. We have used the fact that we have 18 titles for so long now against United supporters and that trump card of ours may be running out now. With the way things are going, United are going to win a few more titles over the next couple of years and that pisses me off.

We will know have the trump card of that we have 5 European titles and they only have 2. But now after tomorrow they may have 3 so that is why they can not win tomorrow and they remain having their measly 2 European cups. But come what may, I will always support Liverpool and will always hate Manchester United!

But looking ahead to the game as a football fan I think it is going to be good game. There will not be a lot of goals but there certainly will be a lot of opportunities. There will be some great players on display tomorrow and should surely make for a great spectacle. It is not easy to call who will win. My biggest concern with Manchester United is that they have a liability in their team in the form of Wes Brown. I do not think he is a great player at all and if Chelsea can target him, he will make a mistake and it could be a costly mistake. Rio Ferdinand and Vidic form a great partnership but at times they have a laps in concentration and Van de Saar himself is also prone to mistakes in goal. But I guess to counter all that, United look dangerous on the attack with Christiano Ronaldo and Rooney. United will always threaten to score and it is up to Chelsea to defend well.

Another reason I will be ‘supporting’ Chelsea tomorrow is because they have an African presence in their team and being African myself I have a soft spot for them. I may not be a Chelsea fan but I have a lot of respect for players such as Essien and Drogba. They are very good players who can single handily change the outcome of a game. Drogba showed against Liverpool how great a player he is and I hope he can put in a similar, if not better performance tomorrow than he did against Liverpool. Ballack has finally started playing well and will be a threat. Lampard has not had the best of seasons for Chelsea but we know on any given day he can pop up in the box with a vital goal.

I think Manchester United’s starting line-up virtually picks itself with: Van der Saar, Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Brown, Carrick, Scholes, Park, Tevez, Ronaldo and Rooney. The only questions maybe if Park will start ahead of Giggs. Maybe Sir Alex may opt not to start with Tevez and pick Nani or Anderson. Sir Alex has a lot of options and I guess he has to get it right otherwise it may cost him the European cup. But he is a veteran so I am sure he knows who he will start with.

As for Chelsea they have a number of options to pick especially upfront. For certain Cech will be in goal, Ashley Cole at left back, Terry and Carvhalio in centre back, now at right back he may go with Essien. I never like seeing Essein at right back as he is much more effective in central midfield but Chelsea don’t seem to have faith with Belleti or Ferreria at right back. Makelela should get the nod to play in the holding midfield role. Lampard and Ballack will be in midfield. Now the options upfront are endless. One certainty is that Drogba will be upfront, then maybe Joe Cole down the left with Kalou down the right. Anelka could also be in that team so to Malouda. Not forgetting Sean Wright-Philips. Avram Grant has more headaches than Sir Alex when it comes to picking the starting line-up and I think Avram could get it wrong and be blamed for the loss if they loose.

Enough talk now, let us wait and see who will be crowned European Champions. My prediction; Chelsea to win 1 – 0 thanks to a Ballack goal.