Football Media

MATCH PREVIEW
Stamford Bridge, London
Wednesday 30 April 2008 – 20.45CET
Semi-finals, second leg

Avram Grant spoke for everyone with the blue blood of Chelsea FC in their veins when he revealed his dream of leading the team to a first European Champion Clubs’ Cup final. It has become an obsession and they promise to do everything to remove Liverpool FC from their path on Wednesday.

Clear target
Even though Chelsea gave a jump-start to their bid to reclaim the Premier League crown with Saturday’s 2-1 defeat of Manchester United FC, the UEFA Champions League is the trophy they crave most. “The dream of everyone here is to win it,” said Grant. “It is the top competition. We have taken a long route to get here, especially me, but our target is clear. We want to be a big club and for that we need to be in the Champions League final. We want to create history for Chelsea.”

Home advantage
Their supporters will argue that Chelsea are further down the road to Moscow than are Liverpool, the side who have crushed their ambitions at this same stage in two of the last three campaigns. This time Chelsea have home advantage for the second leg, and they also have an away goal thanks to John Arne Riise’s miscued header in the 94th minute at Anfield.
‘Better team’
That has led to reported claims from opposite number Rafael Benítez that the London team had all the luck last week. Grant dismissed that, saying Chelsea could have had a penalty before Dirk Kuyt struck the opening goal: “At the end of the game we were the better team and we scored in the last minute. You can say whatever you want but the score says 1-1.” Grant is hopeful of having Frank Lampard back following the death of his mother – “he’s doing everything he can to be available,” said the Israeli – but can otherwise select from a fully-fit squad.

Open game?
Every recent contest between these English rivals has been notable for its competitiveness and intensity, and free-flowing football has become a casualty. However, Benítez thinks it may be different this time as he seeks a first win at Stamford Bridge having failed in eight previous attempts since taking charge in 2004. “Chelsea need to attack because their supporters will demand it,” he said. “You cannot defend at home and lose 1-0 because your supporters will not be happy. We also need to attack so it could be a very open game.”
Torres dream
The Merseysiders had cause to regret the failure of Fernando Torres – one of a number of players rested at the weekend as Liverpool came from 2-0 down to draw at Birmingham City FC – to take two inviting chances in the first leg but his manager believes he is ready to make amends and fire the Reds towards a third final in four seasons. “Fernando has a good mentality and is very focused,” Benítez added. “For him to be in the final would be a dream. Normally, in these kind of games, you get top-class players face to face. We know that Petr ?ech is a good goalkeeper and he made his saves last week, so maybe this time it will be Torres’s turn.”

?ech out to oust Liverpool
It is often said that Chelsea FC supporters want their team to play a more attacking style – but at home to Liverpool FC on Wednesday, 0-0 will suit them just fine. And if a clean sheet is the aim, who better than Petr ?ech, one of the world’s great goalkeepers, to see them safely through.

Party mood
A scoreless draw will take Chelsea to a first UEFA Champions League final and put Stamford Bridge in party mood. ?ech insists, though, that the Blues will not set out with a stalemate in mind and will look to build on the advantage given them by John Arne Riise’s 94th-minute own goal at Anfield which cancelled out Dirk Kuyt’s opener.
‘Nice challenge’
“It is always difficult playing a game trying to get a 0-0,” the Czech international said. “We will start out in a positive mood and try to score because that would make it more difficult for them. Of course, if it gets to 85 minutes and there’s no score then you can think about seeing out the game, but from the first minute we will try to score. Every clean sheet matters but this one would be even sweeter because it would mean we win the tie. It’s a nice challenge for me.”

No repeat
Like many of his team-mates, ?ech has suffered semi-final heartbreak in this competition at the hands of the Merseysiders twice in the past three seasons, and is hoping it is the London side’s turn to celebrate. “We remember those semi-finals and we don’t want to repeat that experience,” added the 25-year-old. “It could be one of the driving forces for us. We were ready to go to the final on the two previous occasions. We have the opportunity again and we don’t want to miss out on another one. We’ve shown many times in the league or in the cups that we have the mental strength to get through. We just need a bit of luck as well. We had that last week with the own goal and now we need to prove it was a big moment for us. If we concede a goal then that advantage will be lost.”
Titanic tussle

While Liverpool took the chance to rest the majority of their leading players at the weekend, Chelsea found themselves back on centre stage with a titanic tussle against Manchester United FC. Victory in that game, and the fact it put them level on points with United at the top of the Premier League, should, says ?ech, give Chelsea momentum on Wednesday. “We had a massive game [on Saturday] and we won it so that was good for us. Now we have another big game in front of us although this time we know a 0-0 draw will be enough.”

MATCH PREVIEW
Old Trafford, Manchester
Tuesday 29 April 2008 – 20.45CET
Semi-finals, first leg

Sir Alex Ferguson has called on his Manchester United FC side to seize a “marvellous chance” to reach the UEFA Champions League final in the deciding leg of their semi-final against FC Barcelona.

Test of nerve
After eight months and 990 minutes of on-field endeavour, it all boils down to who holds their nerve at Old Trafford. United fell at this stage to AC Milan last spring, a third loss in four previous semi-finals under Sir Alex, but the Scot believes they have what it takes to prevail following last Wednesday’s 0-0 draw in Spain. “We’ve got big-game players, we’ve got players who can win matches,” said Sir Alex, who has overseen eleven straight home wins in Europe. United’s manager rated the first-leg display of his men as “probably our poorest in Europe this season” but, after another cautious showing in Saturday’s 2-1 reverse at Chelsea FC, United will surely revert to attacking type. “I think it’ll be more open than it was at the Nou Camp and it could go either way, but I think we are going into the game with a marvellous chance. It will be tactical at times but there will be times when there will be the explosions of play that we expect from our team.”

Domestic strife
Defeat by Chelsea has given United their worst sequence since August – three matches without victory – but Sir Alex responded bullishly to suggestions their fortunes were waning. “We are sitting here right now with two [Premier League] games left, we’ve a semi-final, a home game on Saturday and a game against Wigan away – disaster,” he smiled. Certainly, his Barcelona counterpart Frank Rijkaard would gladly trade places. Saturday’s 2-0 loss at RC Deportivo La Coruña was Barcelona’s third goalless game and left them with just one win in eleven domestic outings. “I prefer to concentrate on the present – we have a very important game, we will be fighting our hardest to make sure things go well and we can draw a conclusion on the season later,” said the Dutchman.
Puyol returns
Rijkaard guided the Blaugrana to a 2006 final victory over Arsenal FC but his two other UEFA Champions League campaigns with Barcelona ended on English soil, against Chelsea FC (2005) and Liverpool FC (2007). Predicting a tight contest, he added: “We have to score at the very least and it is important to impose our own game – to be brave and get hold of the ball and not let them impose their game.” It waits to be seen whether Rijkaard, who welcomes back Carles Puyol in place of the suspended Rafael Márquez, will retain Andrés Iniesta on the left or give Thierry Henry the chance to renew his rivalry with United.

Opportunity knocks
If Europe presents Rijkaard and Barcelona with a path to redemption after a difficult season, Sir Alex will know that, at 66, opportunities like this may not knock too many more times for him. He is convinced his reign should have brought “more success in Europe” – specifically, the UEFA Champions League – than that solitary 1999 triumph. Twelve months ago United hit the wall in Milan. Twice before, meanwhile, they slipped up at home after first-leg stalemates – in quarter-finals against AS Monaco FC (1997) and Real Madrid CF (2000). Against this backdrop of past disappointments, he could have done without concerns over the fitness of Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidi?, who missed training on Monday with respective hip and mouth injuries sustained at Chelsea. “Both could make it but I can’t be certain about that,” he said.

Young guns firing Giggs’ belief
Ryan Giggs believes Manchester United FC’s winning blend of youth and experience can prove pivotal in their pursuit of European glory.

‘Enthusiasm and youth’
The long-serving Welshman paid credit to the young players in Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad for the “infectious” enthusiasm they bring to the Old Trafford dressing room as he looked ahead to the semi-final decider against FC Barcelona. United fielded four attacking players aged 24 or under during the 0-0 first-leg draw in Spain – Nani (21), Wayne Rooney (22), Cristiano Ronaldo (23) and Carlos Tévez (24) – and Giggs said: “They’ve been so successful this season because of the enthusiasm and the youth they’ve got. It has been infectious and has carried on right through the team.”
Good mix
The 34-year-old has appeared in all four of United’s previous UEFA Champions semi-final contests, and scored a crucial goal on the only occasion they won through to the final – the late equaliser at home to Juventus that preceded a 3-2 triumph in Turin in 1999. He added: “We’ve got a good mix of experience and youth. Experienced players use the experience that they’ve gained and we’ve got many players who’ve played in European Cup finals before, and players who nearly got there last season and who want to get there.”

Perspective
Giggs was one of four United players on show at the Camp Nou to have featured in a UEFA Champions League final, together with Patrice Evra, Owen Hargreaves and Edwin van der Sar. To put into context the winger’s longevity, when he played in his first European semi-final, in spring 1997, Rooney was in his first year at De La Salle secondary school in Liverpool.

‘Enjoy it’
With this degree of know-how comes a truer sense of perspective and Giggs could almost have been preaching to United’s young guns when he said: “First and foremost you just go out and enjoy it, it is a European Cup semi-final at Old Trafford. You have got to enjoy these games, that’s why you become a footballer. These games don’t come around too often, so you have to go out and make the most of it.”

Recipe for success
To reach the final, Giggs went on, United would have to produce an attacking display to match their defensive efforts last week. “We defended brilliantly against a very good team who’ve got quality players, although we could maybe have kept the ball a little bit better. At Old Trafford, with the crowd behind us, we are noted for our attacking play, scoring, making goals, creating chances, and that is what we hope we’ll be doing. Obviously we’ve not got to neglect what we did at the Nou Camp which was defend as a team, defend as individuals and stop them creating chances. We have to defend like we did but create a few more chances and I am sure we