Ronaldo's Seaon 2007-2008

It would be an understatement if one said 2007-2008 season belonged to Cristiano Ronaldo. The dazzler from Portugal simply ruled the football world with his skill and most of all goals. He destroyed defences and ended the season with the tags "English Champion" and "European Champion". And apart from that he won several awards in England and is all set to be named the European and World Player of the year. He scored an astonishing 42 goals this season and also 3 more while playing for Portugal. So relive those magical moments of "Rocket" Ronaldo.

Stats:
Premier League - 31 goals
Champions League - 8 goals
FA cup - 3 goals
Euro qualifying - 3 goals

Click here for the goals:
Part1 , Part2 , Part3 , Part4 .
All in one - Link

Avram gets the sack

Chelsea on Saturday announced that they are parting company with their first team coach Avram Grant. This announcement was on the expected lines after Chelsea lost in the finals of Champions League and ending the season without any trophy. Avram Grant came in as an stop gap replacement for Jose Mourinho, who was sacked by Roman Abrahimovic after a poor start to the season. Grant's first match in charge was against Manchester United at Old Trafford and Chelsea lost that 2-0. And after that Chelsea went on a winning spree in both league and Champions League. Under Grant, Chelsea played more attractive football and scored lots of goals, something that they did not do under Jose. But in spite of the results going his way Grant was under severe pressure from the media that the players did not like him and he commanded no respect but Grant denied them all.

Chelsea, who were 10 points behind the leaders Arsenal at one point kept their focus and reduced the gap at the top of the table. They also reached the finals of the Carling cup. But Grant's tactical mistakes like the team selection and substitution cost them the match which they lost 1-2 in extra time against Tottenham. After this match Grant was under severe pressure. All these can be attributed to the fact that none seemed to like him because Chelsea were doing alright on the field and there were no reasons to complain. Chelsea crashed out of the FA cup against Barnsley. Now they had the league and Champions League to focus. Chelsea emerged as the sole competitor to Manutd after Arsenal lost to United at Old Trafford. Chelsea beat United at the bridge and pushed the title race all the way to the last week. The mood in Chelsea was optimistic as they were in with a chance of winning both the league and UCL. But United won against Wigan to retain the title. And in the finals of Champions League, Chelsea lost 6-5 on penalties. After this result his sacking was expected but the fact is he preserved the long unbeaten record at Stamford Bridge, reached the finals of the Champions League and missed the league title by a whisker. Grant's first and last match were against Manchester United, both of which Chelsea lost.

His style had more flow but his failure to land trophies(especially Champions League) might have been the reason for his sacking. Chelsea are now on the look out for a new manager who can win trophies and more players are expected to follow Grant out of Stamford Bridge.

Manchester United win Champions League 2007-08

When Manchester United took on Chelsea in the finals of the Champions League it was a Russian battle in more than one way, they were playing in Moscow and the owner of their opposite team, Roman Abrahimovic was an Russian and apart from supporters of both the teams, the neutrals were bound to be supporting Chelsea. Before the match all the talk was about the pitch but the managers of both teams made it clear that they are not going to give it as an excuse if they end up losing. It was the first ever All English final in Champions League and first for Chelsea. United were making their third appearance in the finals and were hoping to maintain their 100% record in finals.

It was not going to be a typical Champions League match as both the teams know each other very well and all expected a cagey affair, similar to the one in the last years FA cup finals. United started with Ronaldo on the left and Hargreaves on right while Malouda started for Chelsea whose starting 11 had never started together once this season. First 15min were evenly balanced and after that United took control of the midfield and Ronaldo gave Essien, who was at Left Back a torrid time. Scholes had a cut in his face when he fouled Makelele. Both of them were booked in that incident. Scholes came back after few minutes and was involved in the build up to the goal. A neat give and go with Brown let to the defender crossing the ball and Ronaldo rose up to head the ball past an unmoved Cech. United could have sealed the game had Tevez taken his chances but Cech made some brilliant saves and kept Chelsea in it. And towards the end of the first half Chelsea had some luck when Makelele's shot had several deflections and it fell to Lampard who dispatched it. Van Der Sar was never comfortable with the pitch and he slipped on that occasion too.

Buoyed by that goal Chelsea started the second half very well and started dominating midfield. The first half scenario was reversed, United were defending now while Chelsea pressed forward. Ferdinand had a cramp but was back on soon. Chelsea had lot of corners but were unable to score. Drogba who was not in the game for long time had a shot that hit the post. Time was running out and Gigss replaced Scholes to become the leading appearance maker for United getting past Sir Bobby Charlton's record. And with teams all square extra time was needed.

In the first half of ET there were no concrete chances for any of them but for Lampard's shot that hit the post. Drogba saw the Red card for a slap on Vidic when Chelsea players nee. Chelsea were a man down and only 5 min were left. United were unable to force anything in that time . Penalties were needed to decide the winner. Ronaldo missed his kick when the scores were 2-2 and Terry had the chance to win it on 4-4 but he slipped and shot wide. In the sudden death United were leading 6-5 and Anelka came on. His shot was saved by Van Der Sar and United were crowned the kings of Europe. A fitting reward for the only unbeaten team this season in Champions League. It would have been poetic for Roman to see his team win in his home country against one the teams which created the football interest in him but United deserved their crown and Ronaldo lead the Red Army in the finals. He was the leading scorer with 8 goals and it goes without saying he will be the "World player of the year" and "European Player of the year".

Click here for the action:

1-0 Ronaldo ,

1-1 Lampard,

Extra Time1 , Extra Time2 ,

Penalties/Celebrations - Link1 , Link2 , Link3

Trophy Presentation - Link

Player's Celebration - Link

Extras:

Drogba - Hits the bar

Lampard - Hits the bar

Gigss - Great save Terry

Torrents:

First Half

Second Half

Ronaldo Specials:

Link1 , Link2 , Link3 , Link4 , Link5 , Link6 , Link7 , Link8 , Link9

Manchester United Player Awards 2008

Manchester United had the players award function at Old Trafford. Ronaldo scooped most of the awards including Player's player of the season and Goal of season for his sublime freekick against Portsmouth at Old Trafford. Check out the videos of this glittering function.

Click here for the videos

Part1 , Part2 , Part3 , Part4 , Part5 , Part6 , Part7 , Part8 , Part9 , Part10

Real Madrid sign off in style

Real Madrid signed off an successful season in style as they beat relegated Levante 5-2. The match was in doubt as Levante players were threatening a strike as they had not been paid for few months and that amount is told be in the region of €13m. And Levante who had already been relegated ran the risk going down to third division if they didn't play at the Bernabeu. But the Champions had said the trophy presentation would take place irrespective of the match status. But Levante players finally said they will play at the Bernabeu.

Real started with Codina in goal, the highly rated B team keeper and Rudd started upfront with Robinho and Raul. Real had lots of possession and Levante who did not practice throughout the week were not sharp. And Robinho had some chances but Reina saved. And Real broke the deadlock when Rudd headed the ball from Ramos. And within minutes Ramos scored a header from an assist by Guti. Levante yet kept trying and Codina made some decent saves to deny them. And before the break Rudd got his second when he tapped home a miscued shot by Robinho.

In the second half Levante played better football and passed the ball well. They never looked liked a team that had been relegated. They fought bravely and were rewarded for that when Geijo slammed the ball past Codina. Real responded immediately when Sneijder curled a freekick past Reina for the 4th goal. But Levante still kept fighting and Geijo scored again with a great finish. Levante had done what many teams couldn't do, score twice at the Bernabeu. Geijo was on a hatrick. Ramos got his second when he headed home a Sneijder corner.

The Bernabeu was rocking as the final whistle approached. And when the whistle was blown Real Madrid had made history. Their points this season is the most by a team in La Liga since the 20 team format was introduced. And Real with 84 goals in the league edged past Manchester United who scored 80 as the leading scorers in European Leagues this season. And Raul was handed over the 31st La Liga title and the party continued at the Bernabeu.

Click here for the goals

1-0 Rudd
2-0 Ramos
3-0 Rudd
3-1 Geijo
4-1 Senijder
4-2 Geijo
5-2 Ramos

Trophy Presentation & Celebration

AC Milan end up in UEFA cup

This has been a disappointing season for AC Milan. They were knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16 and after that all they had left to play was a 4th place in the league that will make sure they would appear in the Champions League next season. But they did not even manage a 4th place finish and that means they will have to play UEFA cup next season. Things were under control for Milan after the 36th week when they edged past Fiorentina to take the fourth place. But their 3-1 loss to Napoli combined with Fiorentina's win over Parma meant that Milan were pushed back to the 5th place going into the last weekend. And also they were 2 points below Fiorentina which meant even if they win their last match, Champions League action could not be guaranteed. And both the teams fighting for the 4th spot won yesterday and it meant Milan will play in UEFA cup next season.

It would be a bitter pill to swallow for Milan who have won the Champions League 7 times, next only to Real Madrid. And with the influx of players like Pato and latest signing Flamini they would have hoped to put a better show in Champions League next season. Kaká, prior to this weekend said that it would not be a disaster for the club if they were in UEFA cup next season. It is all down to their teams poor domestic form and they did not have the best of starts this season and they even dropped out of the top 10 but they managed to comeback and were fighting for the 4th spot. It must be remembered that even last year Milan(started on -8 points in the league) failed to finish in top 4 but they won the Champions League which gave them a direct entry to this season's edition. Milan's primary focus has been the Champions League and they have been criticized at times for that. Some say Milan are the Liverpool of Italy and vice versa, these teams do well in Europe but not that well in the league. But teams get what they deserve, Milan showed no consistency in neither Champions League nor Serie A so its apt that they are in UEFA cup next year. But one can hope they will comeback strong as Bayern Munich. Whatever may be the case AC Milan will be missed in UCL next season.

Click here for the goals

AC Milan - Udinese Final score : 4-1

0-1 Mesto
1-1 Pato
2-1 Inzaghi
3-1 Cafu
4-1 Seedorf
Penalty Miss - Kaka

Ibrahimovic lands Inter The Scudetto

Zlatan Ibrahimovic got a brace and helped Inter secure their title. Inter had been pushed all the way till the last day of the Serie A but they had destiny in their own hands, if they win the match they win the title. With Roma leading in the other match against Catania, all the pressure was on Inter Milan to score a goal and they did it through Ibrahimovic who scored two goals in the space of 20 minutes. That dashed the hopes of a miracle for AS Roma who conceeded a late equaliser in Sicily.

Click here for the goals

0-1 Ibrahimovic

0-2 Ibrahimovic

Celebration