Defending champions Manchester United and Arsenal advanced to the next round of the Champions League competition with the results of the matches that took place last night. Manchester United played out a goalless draw against Villareal as Arsenal grabbed a winner in the dying minutes of the matches against Dynamo Kiev. Both the english teams were having the advantage of playing against a team of 10 players as a Villareal defender got a red card for his bad tackle on Ronaldo. Ronaldo seemed to be injured and needed to be replaced soon. It has to be noted that Ronaldo earlier had picked a similar injury in his leg in the match against Aston Villa that took place in the weekend and was cleared to play just in time for this match. Bendtner scored the lone goal for Arsenal. It was a controversial goal as Fabregas set Bendtner up with a air ball. Villareal too advanced to the next round with the draw. Bayern Munich, Lyon, Porto and Real Madrid too won in the matches that took place simultaneously last night.
Top teams in the Champions League competition attained a major setback as they were mostly held or lost the match in the fourth match day of the Champions League group stage competition. With already Chelsea and Barcelona getting a setback the previous day it was time for Manchester United, Arsenal and Real Madrid. Only Real Madrid and Chelsea would not have liked the result as they lost their matches while all the other top flight teams drew their respective matches. Real Madrid was stunned by Del Piero’s two goals although it was Real Madrid who was in the attack for most of the time. Manchester United must be very happy to have escaped with a draw that with the match against Arsenal in the weekend after having been trailing for most part of the game. It was Ryan Giggs who has played the most number of games for Manchester United who came to the rescue with a goal in the second half. Arsenal was held to a goalless draw while Liverpool grabbed a last minute penalty and escaped defeat. With four matches gone only Barcelona, Sporting and Juventus are through to the next round of the competition and the other teams are yet to qualify with two matches left in the qualification of the group stage.
Chelsea lost their first match in the Champions League competition and the gap at the top of the table in Group A was reduced to one point as Roma thrashed a 10-man Chelsea with a score of 3-1. Roma were in full control of the match right from the start and never looked like losing it as they were up by three goals to nil at the start of the second half. It was Roma’s home and the fans support guided the team’s spirit to exhibit a wonderful display and they won the match in stylish finish. Chelsea midfielder Deco received his first red card with his new club as he was shown two red cards in the game and after that it never looked like Chelsea winning the match. It was Panucci who scored the first goal for Roma which came from a beautiful pass from Cicinho. Vucinic netted a couple and Roma were three nil up by the 57th minute and there seemed to be no improvement in the game play of Chelsea and they were preventing further goals from being scored. After a few minutes Deco was handed red card the English captain John Terry scored the consolation goal for Chelsea and the gap at the top of the table was reduced to one point and Chelsea still remained at the top of the table. In the other Group A match Bordeaux boosted their qualifying hopes with a 2-1 victory at CFR Cluj.
Not many football fans here would have forgotten the most famous and the most dramatic Champions League final that has taken place ever. Yes you are right am speaking about the 1999 Champions League final and I am much more excited to say about this as it was my favorite team Manchester United that was a part of the match and had the final laugh. It was around 30 years since Manchester United had won the Champions league and the fans were hoping to see their team win the Champions League title and complete the treble as they have already won the Premier League and the F.A.Cup titles. The match did not go as expected as Bayern Munich who were the opponents took the lead and looked like winning the title. Manchester United were pushing hard and it was 90 minutes and the match went into injury time. Now it was time for David Beckham to deliver. Manchester United won a corner and their goalkeeper Schmiedel came up the pitch to provide extra attack and David Beckham delivered a perfect kick and Sheringam scored. Camp Nou was in shock and the grounds went on screaming as Manchester Untied fans were supporting their team more. In the next minute Manchester United won another corner and David Beckham delivered another superb kick and it was Solsjeaer who scored the goal this time and the players couldn’t believe they have done it. At 89 minutes they were down by a goal but at the end of the 90 minutes they have won the match. A couple of Bayern Munich players started crying on the field and were very much dejected. The most dramatic Champions League final ended in the right way and Manchester Untied completed the treble becoming the only English team till now to have accomplished it.
