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Champions League Final – Football Purists Should Support Man U

May 7, 2008

(This article has been submitted by a regular reader who is a big football fan.) Moscow’s most prestigious sports venue, the Luzhniky Stadium, home of Spartak Moscow, is about to provide the stage for European club football’s most anticipated match – the Champions League final. The 60,000 all-seater looks impressive enough and now that the ground staff have finally sorted out their biggest problem – having an artificial surface, which sits somewhere between astro-turf and concrete, replaced by real grass – football fans await the clash of two of the best football teams in Europe with great anticipation.

But wait a minute. Is there something wrong with that last statement? I mean about the two best clubs in Europe battling it out for the European trophy? Well, yes actually, a lot is wrong with it.

First and foremost, the Champions League is a cup competition; two games played over two legs once the mostly pointless group stage is over. Luck plays its fair share in all of this, especially in the way the teams are drawn against each other. And then there are the referees and their controversial decisions. In the last few years Liverpool, for example, have certainly had their share of ‘support’ from officials on the pitch beating Chelsea three years ago by scoring a goal without the ball actually crossing the goal line. This year the Reds have avoided two clear penalties being awarded against in the quarter-final against Arsenal.

The second problem with the Champions League is that it isn’t exclusively for champions. England, Spain and Italy can have up to four teams playing in a competition supposedly intended for winners of domestic leagues. And how about Liverpool finishing outside the top three in the Premiership but still winning the Champions League? Maybe UEFA should consider changing the name from Champions League to Champions, Second Place Runners-Up and Others League. It would be more appropriate and have an unusual ring to it. And may the team, which isn’t actually the best in Europe, win.

But seriously, putting all that aside, it should be a cracking match in Moscow coming up… Or maybe not. The thing is that Manchester United are the one team in the final which is there on real merit. The club plays an attacking style of football, only bettered by Arsenal domestically. And then there’s the breathtaking footwork of the Portuguese magician, Christiano Ronaldo. Love him or loath him, you can’t avoid being mesmerised by his talent. Not to mention the fact that he has scored 40 goals playing in midfield in a single season. In the modern era it is a truly unbelievable feat and one that few will match any time soon, if ever. Chelsea, on the other hand, are the ‘bulldozers’ of football. Contrary to Manchester United’s creativity on the pitch, which dominates over sole physical strength, Chelsea are all muscle with a bit of creativity thrown in, often by accident. Didier Drogba, Chelsea’s attacking spearhead and most effective player, is the sort of athlete who would be at home with any sport because of his physique and pace. His footwork, if analysed closely, is often substandard. Same can be said for Michael Essien, Chelsea’s powerhouse midfielder and the main cog in the middle of the pitch. Then there is Claude Makalele, the defensive shield who protects the back line and tries to break down the play. And lastly, John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho, both of whom never hesitate to put a foot in, so to speak. None of them are what you would call classy.

It’s for this reason that every football ‘purist’ in the land, with no particular allegiance to either of the two teams, should be supporting Manchester United. Especially if they consider that Chelsea are funded by a Russian oligarch, Roman Abramovich, who has already poured more than £528 million into the club and put the whole of English football under an enormous financial strain.

But the real issue here is whether you support the idea of power football being allowed to prevail over genuine skill and talent. I sincerely hope, for the sake of the beautiful game, that Manchester United would prove to everyone that exciting football can win trophies. Not to mention that I would love to see the expression on Abramovich’s face when Man United lift the Champions League trophy in Moscow. That’ll be – how does that MasterCard ad run? – oh yes, priceless.

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