It seems that year in year out Italian sides always get the wrong or the toughest draw imaginable as Roma draws Manchester United and Fiorentina draws PSV. Every time there is a tie of the round it almost always involves an Italian side. You have to wonder sometimes if this is by luck or prejudgment. In the second round of ties this season in the champions’ league, an Italian side came up against tough and quality opposition.

It was inevitable that there would be a backlash from the press as regards England’s ignominious exit from a relatively weak group and so it has begun. The usual scapegoat making has begun in earnest. The usual excuses would be flying left, right and centre. England did not qualify for the Euro 2008 for a variety of reasons and some of which may surprise you as a reader.

It is slapstick to think that this can happen as Cardiff has always played in the English league. If they did qualify for the premiership and finish ion the top 4, does that mean they would not be allowed to represent England? It makes you wonder why they have been trying hard to qualify for the premiership all this while and why different chairmen have been trying to invest in them to attain that aim.

I just happened to be watching Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports and Paul Merson was asked why England did not qualify from their group by losing to Croatia after been given a lifeline by Israel beating Russia. Some so-called experts have given their opinions as to why England did not qualify for the Euro2008 and some people have not learned any lessons from the exit.

It was with great sadness that I was greeted on Wednesday evening with the news that 1 of the greatest players of all time has severely injured his right knee. Ronaldo of AC Milan is undoubtedly 1 of the greatest players of all time and even after having 2 career-threatening knee injuries in the past, he still went on to score 8 goals in the world cup 2002 and that helped for him to be the top goal scorer in world cup history.

Juventus had the 1st clear cut opening of the match as Buffon punched out a corner kick and it was gathered by Del Piero, who turned his marker then played the ball to Nedved and he beat his marker and had Trezeguet screaming for a cut back but he chose to play the ball instead to Marchionni but he contrived to miss the best chance of the game by hitting the ball over the crossbar when it seemed easier to score from about 6 yards out.

Much was expected of Chelsea last season as they had added to their already impressive squad, the likes of Andrei Shevchenko, Michael Ballack and Ashley Cole, all, world class performers. They unfortunately let go of players like Damien Duff, Robert Huth and most especially William Gallas.

Chelsea were looking to take advantage of the fact that they played earlier than their rivals so they could heap pressure on them with a win against London rivals West Ham. This win temporarily puts Chelsea in 2nd place in the league and another win at home them.

Ajax were looking to emulate the great Real Madrid side of the 50s by winning multiple European cup finals. They were still marshalled amiably by the brilliant Johan Cruyff.

It was a magnificent game of football from start to end but the pace and power of Liverpool prevailed in the end. Arsenal were irresistible in the beginning and they rightly took the lead through Abou Diaby following some wonderful play involving Alex Hleb, Mathieu Flamini, Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor and Emmanuel Eboue as when Diaby finally got a pass from Hleb and hit a shot that beat Beppe Reina on his near side.

Real Madrid had won the final for the 5th time the previous season. Would they be able to win it for the 6th consecutive time? Find out.

he final of the champions League of 2002 pitted perennial finalists and winners Real Madrid against Bayer Leverkusen that were appearing in the final for the 1st time in their history. The final itself would always be remembered for that spectacular volley by Zinedine Zidane that turned out to be the winner but the area of interest is with that particular Bayer squad that got to the final.

The Villains had a pretty average season as far as I am concerned. Martin O’Neill, a manager, I do admire, was expected to come in and do a lot of good things. Doug Ellis was for the first time in ages, a thing of the past and it seemed the good times are back to Villa Park.

Real Madrid came into this game with a lot of injuries to key players like Ruud Van Nistlerooy, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and suspension to Sergio Ramos. They were however boosted by the return of Robinho and Pepe but ultimately paid for the lack of creativity in the middle of the park and for the lack of physical presence upfront. Roma on the other hand had a full complement to pick from and played a very smart game denying Real any space whatsoever and causing problems of their own with Alberto Aquilani being outstanding in the first half.

Sunderland striker Andy Cole has been questioned by police after an alleged assault on his wife. He was arrested in the early hours of Monday morning at his home in Cheshire. He was released on Monday night, pending further inquiries

Benfica having broken the monopoly of Real Madrid were the defending champions and in this year’s final, they locked horns with 5-time champions Real Madrid in another classic. A crowd of over 60,000 gathered in Amsterdam’s Olympic Stadium hoping to witness a memorable clash of the titans, and they were not to be disappointed.

Of the Valencia side that go to the Champions’ league final in 2001, very few are still at the club. Find out where the players are now and a brief biography of their playing careers. Some of them went off the rails and very few went on to bigger things after they left Valencia. This is Part 2 of their story.

AC Milan (0) vs Arsenal (0) If we were to go by the current league form of these 2 sides it would be very difficult to come up with a clear favourite as they both have had patchy performances recently. But this is the champions league and it a competition that AC Milan covet the most and it is difficult to see past them winning this game.

First chance for Arsenal as Adebayor plays a good ball to Flamini and his hooked shot was just over the crossbar in the 1st minute. Half chance for Arsenal in the 3rd minute with Fabregas taking a free kick and it came to Toure but he was under pressure and his attempt was weak.

They say nothing is impossible in life in general and specifically football but Roma’s task tonight against Manchester United ranks amongst 1 of those impossible missions. It has been documented that Roma’s players and manager are saying that they do not feel that the odds are insurmountable but let us be realistic and say they do not stand a chance.

Thierry Henry is probably the best ever foreigner to have plied his trade in the premiership and is definitely the most exciting. He scored a lot of great goals and even more crucial goals for Arsenal as went on to become the club’s highest ever goalscorer.

League leaders Arsenal travelled to Aston Villa hoping to get over the disappointment of losing for the 1st time this season at Sevilla but Villa are on a good run after thumping Blackburn 4-0 on Wednesday. Good win for Arsenal nonetheless as they extend their lead at the top to 5 points with games in hand.

Following the success of Celtic, Manchester United became the second British side and the 1st English side to qualify for the European Cup Final. You can find out if the side inspired by the brilliant George Best could get the better of a Benfica side inspired by the black peal, Eusebio

The final of the champions League of 2002 pitted perennial finalists and winners Real Madrid against Bayer Leverkusen that were appearing in the final for the 1st time in their history. The final itself would always be remembered for that spectacular volley by Zinedine Zidane that turned out to be the winner but the area of interest is with that particular Bayer squad that got to the final.

Of the Valencia side that go to the Champions’ league final in 2001, very few are still at the club. Find out where the players are now and a brief biography of their playing careers. Some of them went off the rails and very few went on to bigger things after they left Valencia. This is Part I of their story.

Arsenal have not had the best of times recently culminating in the dreadful injury suffered by their striker Eduardo Da Silva at Birmingham but I expect them to get back on track and win this game. Aston Villa by contrast are going through a purple patch but I just cannot see anything other than an Arsenal victory as they would want to put the last few weeks behind them.

This was a very entertaining match that could have gone either way but in the end, Roam just managed to nick it. Real Madrid went ahead when Arjen Robben found space down the left, crossed the ball to Guti, whose speculative shot was poked in by ace champions league marksman Raul to score his 60th champions league goal. Raul should have made it 2-0 just minutes later when…

One of the biggest reasons is the effect of the TV media. The Media should take its fair share of the blame in England’s failure.

AC Milan and Ajax reached their 1st European cup final and this was a very good game. Milan were meeting a young side that would dominate European football in years to come and 1 player in particular, Johann Cruyff was to become 1 of the greatest of all time.

Most football fans like to see their heroes as superheroes so it would be interesting to see what roles some of the footballers would play if they were cast. Barcelona could have their own brand of fantastic 4 with Samuel Etoo playing the role of Mr. Fantastic as he likes to act like the leader of the group.