Tony Becca
AFTER MANY, many months of action all across Europe, the Champions League football tournament has reached its showdown match - its championship match.
Probably not to the surprise of many but a little bit to me, on Wednesday, May 21, in Moscow, it will be Manchester United versus Chelsea.
After the quarter-finals, I believed, or rather, I had hoped that it would have been Barcelona of Spain versus Liverpool of England.
However, Manchester clipped Barcelona 1-0 at home at Old Trafford on Tuesday for a 1-0 aggregate win and Chelsea defeated Liverpool 3-2 at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday for a 4-3 triumph over the two legs.
Showdown to remember
Now, the stage is set for what should be a showdown to remember - a showdown which brings together, for the first time, not only two teams out of England but also, based on the standings, the two top teams in England.
On top of that, and apart from showcasing Carlos Tevez of United and Michael Essien of Chelsea, it will be Christiano Ronaldo of United versus Didier Drogba of Chelsea.
Magnificent shot
On Tuesday, in a hard-fought match, United got rid of Barcelona courtesy of a magnificent shot by Paul Scholes - a curving right-footer from about 30 yards out that swerved past goalkeeper Victor Valdes and ended up in the side netting.
On Wednesday, in probably a more exciting contest, Chelsea got the better of Liverpool with Drogba scoring for Chelsea, Torres then scoring for Liverpool and, in extra-time, it was Frank Lampard from the penalty spot for Chelsea and Drogba again with Liverpool's Ryan Babel making it 3-2 with a rocket of a shot from way out in the distance.
It was a lovely match, no question about that, and after losing twice to Liverpool at the semi-final stage in the previous three seasons, congratulations must go to Chelsea in reaching their first final.
The Liverpool players, however, would not be human if they did not feel a bit hard done by, due to a few mistakes by the referee and one of his assistants - the man who, in my younger days, used to be known as the linesman.
Throughout the history of sport, mistakes by officials have been par for the course. Sportsmen have had to live with them and because of the nature of some sports, regardless of the presence of technology, regardless of this age of professionalism, sportsmen and sportswomen will have to live with some of them forever.
Changing the game
On Wednesday, however, there were two which probably changed the course of the game.
One came at 0-0 when Chelsea's Salomon Kalou was offside when he shot to goal and when Drogba drove in the rebound from a diving goalkeeper Pepe Reina. Number two was when, with Chelsea leading 3-1 early in the second half of extra time, Dirk Kuyt of Liverpool was tripped by Drogba in the Chelsea box and referee Roberto Rosetti waved play on.
Such things happen in football day after day, however, Liverpool took them both in their stride, and hats off to them.
Simply great
In fact, based on defender Jamie Carragher's words at the end of the bruising contest on a saturated pitch, Liverpool were simply great.
"We are disappointed but we have got to accept it. We have been there ourselves. Chelsea have been in our position and now we know how it feels," Carragher said. "It's their time to enjoy it. We wish them well for the final. I'm sure Chelsea and Man U will be a great final."
Those words were like music to the ears. That's what sport should be all about, that is what makes sport so great.
Good luck to Manchester United and to Chelsea.
This is one of the showpieces of football, may the two teams rise to the occasion and, in selling the beautiful game, may they parade football fit for the gods.
