Soccer’s European champion will be from England. Manchester United set up the first all-English final in the history of the Champions League,
beating Barcelona 1-0 Tuesday night behind Paul Scholes’ goal in the 14th minute.
After winning the home-and-home semifinal on 1-0 aggregate, Manchester will meet Chelsea or
Liverpool in the final on May 21 at Moscow. “It doesn’t matter who we play,” United manager Alex Ferguson said.
Chelsea hosts Liverpool on Wednesday after gaining a 1-1 tie at Anfield last week when
Liverpool’s John Arne Riise accidentally headed the ball into his own net during the fifth minute
of injury time.
Manchester United and Chelsea won their home games against each other in the Premier
League this season and tied 1-1 at Wembley in the Community Shield. United swept its two
league matches against Liverpool.
“Whoever is put in front of us we’re going to have to get past,” United midfielder Michael Carrick
said. “We’re happy with anything. We’re there, and we can enjoy it now.”
The final will be just the third involving clubs from the same nation in the 52-year history of the
competition. Real Madrid defeated Valencia in 2000’s all-Spanish matchup, and AC Milan beat
Juventus in 2003’s all-Italian final.
“I think that the level of the English teams is very high,” Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard said.
“It’s strange to see English teams defending, defending and defending with their lives and trying
to win with the counterattack.”
A 33-year-old midfielder easily visible because of his red hair, Scholes beat goalkeeper Victor
Valdes on a 25-yard shot after a giveaway by Gianluca Zambrotta. That put Manchester United
in its first Champions League final since 1999.
Scholes scored just his second goal of the season, his first since Aug. 15 in a Premier League
match against Portsmouth. He missed the 1999 final, a victory over Bayern Munich, because of a
suspension.
After the match, he exited through a side door and did not speak with reporters. “I don’t think we can expect Paul Scholes to score 10-15 goals a season like he used to do when
he was younger, but he certainly delivered one tonight for us,” Ferguson said. “It makes up for
the all the goals that he can’t score because of his age now.”
United, which also won the title in 1968, extended its home winning streak in Champions League
play to 12 games. Manchester United also is closing in on its second straight Premier League
title. With two matches left, it is tied with Chelsea at 81 points but ahead on goal difference.
Barcelona, struggling in recent weeks, has been held scoreless in four straight matches in all
competitions. “I have no intention of leaving,” Rijkaard said. “The players in the dressing room are very down,
sad and disappointed, but it’s easy to kick people when they are down. Instead they need help
and support and to lift them, so they can show their courage and perform well between now and
the end of the season.”
Wayne Rooney was missing from Man United’s lineup after aggravating a hip injury during
Saturday’s 2-1 league loss at Chelsea, leaving Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez up front.
In a physical game, Scholes knocked down Barcelona’s Lionel Messi just outside the penalty
area in the first minute. But Messi’s ensuing free kick was blocked.
Barcelona, in an effort to find an elusive tying goal, brought on Thierry Henry in the 60th minute
and 17-year-old Bojan Krkic in the 72nd. Henry had a good chance on a header off a corner kick,
but it went directly to goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.(source: yahoo/ap)
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