A game of two halves

I couldn't write anything before the big game last night partly because I was in Rome but mainly because it was almost impossible to pick a winner - and so it proved. In the end, it was a slip by John Terry on a soaking pitch that decided the destiny of the European Cup this year, not the quality of football by either side. As Edwin van der Sar said after the game, "Football as in life, often can often change completely on small things." Alex Ferguson added that "fate" may have played a hand in Man Utd's victory 50 years on from the Munich plane tragedy which killed so many of their star players. And what an amazing moment for Ryan Giggs who took what turned out to be the winning penalty goal on his record breaking 758th game for the club in 22 years at Man Utd.

As against Barcelona, Man Utd didn't really shine but they still got the result. Although they had the better of the first half, Chelsea dominated the second half and having hit both the crossbar and the post, they were desperately unlucky not to score. And if a frustrated Drogba hadn't slapped Vidic in the face and got sent off, John Terry may not have needed to take penalty at all as Drogba would surely have been one of the main penalty takers.

So Chelsea end the season coming so close to a double and winning absolutely nothing at all while Man Utd perform an incredible Premier League and Champions League Double. Cristiano Ronaldo was very evasive after the game about committing his future to the club. He knows that unless Man Utd make him an extraordinary offer in the region of 120,000 a week like some of the Chelsea players get, Real Madrid will. Having recently admitted it's his ultimate dream to play in Spain, Man Utd's continued success next season depends on keeping him at the club since any player that scores 42 goals for you from midfield is simply priceless.

By the way, note that UEFA's stats show that Man Utd had the majority of the possession (which is dubious considering how much Chelsea had in the second half) and surely Chelsea had more than 3 shots on goal?!