Live Blog: Champions League Final

PK, 7th pair:  Giggs is next, on his record setting day…and coolly puts in the right corner.  Chelsea’s hopes are now with Anelka…and van der Sar saves.  United win the shootout, 6-5.  Unbelievable.  Shoot me now.  Terry is incosolable and that feeling is shared by all Chelsea fans…

PK, 6th pair:  Anderson makes no mistake and puts United ahead.  Kalou now must score…and makes no mistake!  Easily and confidently hit.  5-5.

PK, 5th pair:  Nani must score for ManU…Cech gets a hand to it…but the shot is too hard and it’s in.  Terry is next for Chelsea…the CAPTAIN himself…and he SLIPS!  van der Sar went the wrong way, but the ball goes wide.  4-4.

PK, 4th pair:  Hargreaves to level for United…and he does with some style.  Right into the top corner.  A.Cole next for Chelsea…van der Sar gets a hand to it, hearts stop, but then the ball is in!  3-4!!!!

PK, 3rd pair:  Ronaldo is next for United.  He kisses the ball, does his little hitch and then boots it right to Cech.  Take THAT Ronaldo!  Lampard makes it advantage Chelsea by slotting it in a la Belletti.  2-3!!!!

PK, 2nd pair:  Carrick goes left and easily hits.  New boy Belletti coolly slots it to the right.  2-2.

PK, 1st pair:  Tevez makes no mistake, low & to the right.  Ballack replies in kind.  1-1.

120(+5)min:  The referee blows for the end of Extra Time and on to penalty kicks we go.  Never a good way to decide the outcome.  Interestingly, the first game of the season played between these same teams (the Community Shield) also went to penalty kicks, where ManU easily prevailed.  Let’s hope it’ll be different this time.

120(+4)min:  One more attack from United, but Tevez’s header is wide.  Chelsea make their final change, with penalty kicks in mind, replacing Makelele with Belletti.  United do likewise, and bring on Anderson for Brown.

120(+1)min:  A clash of heads between A.Cole & Nani sees both players down on the turf.  Both seem ok to continue, Nani with a patch on his head.

120min:  Giggs looks to be in for a chance, but he’s whistled for off-side.

119min:  Kalou takes the ball to the corner flag and wastes some time.  His eventual cross is gathered easily by van der Sar.

118min:  Essien gets a yellow for a ‘tackle’ on Ronaldo.

115min:  Bit of a tussle involving Tevez, Vidic, and a bunch of Chelsea players.  Yellows to Ballack and Tevez.  And a RED to Drogba!!  WTF!?!?  Replays show a tiny slap/flick to Vidic’s face.  Chelsea down to 10 men with 5 minutes to go + potential penalty kicks.

114min:  Pressure from United, but Chelsea defends bravely.  Cech collects Hargreaves’ cross and puts it out, so that Carvalho can get some treatment.  He’s the latest to get a leg-cramp.

112min:  Drogba’s kick looks good for a second, but it was always going wide…

111min:  Anelka, with his fresh legs runs right at Vidic who takes him out and gets a yellow for his troubles.  Free kick to Chelsea in an intriguing position.

110min:  A bit of aimless passing in the midfield as both teams are playing cautiously, not wanting to make the fatal mistake…

106min:  2nd half begins.  Chelsea attacks and Ballack has time to shoot but his effort is blocked by Ferdinand.

105(+2)min:  1st half comes to close as Kalou’s run is snuffed out by Vidic.

105(+1)min:  The resulting corner is knocked down by Carvalho, but is just out of the reach of Kalou and the ball rolls out for a goal kick.

105min:  1st half of Extra Time nears its end with a Chelsea free kick that is cleared for a corner.

102min:  United make their 2nd change as well…Rooney off, Nani on.

101min:  Terry with an amazing clearance.  Evra bursts through the defense and delivers a perfect pass for Giggs.  But JT is there to save the day with his head.

99min:  Carvalho heads the corner wide.  Chelsea make their 2nd change…J.Cole off, Anelka on.  Cole had a decent game, but was missing for large parts of it.

98min:  Kalous & Essien combine for a nice attack.  United clear for a corner.

95min:  J.Cole has stayed down after the latest challenge on him.  Seems to have a cramp…

94min:  Lampard blows his glorious chance and hits the bar!  Some nifty Chelsea passing leaves Lampard wide open at the penalty spot but he fluffs his left-footed shot.

93min:  First Chelsea change, finally.  Malouda off for Kalou, who has been pretty good in the 2nd half of the season.

91min:  Here we go.  1st half of Extra Time.  No changes for either team.

90(+3)min:  The referee blows for the end of regulation.  Extra time upcoming, with the score tied 1-1.

90(+2)min:  A decent chance for United, but Ronaldo’s cross goes through harmlessly.  It’s been mostly J.Cole defending on Ronaldo this half, to slightly better effect than Essien.

90min:  J.Cole dallies on the ball and the chance is wasted.  I’m thinking that if he had gone down under Ferdinand’s initial challenge/high-boot, we would’ve had a penalty.

87min:  Good work from Essien & J.Cole to get the cross in.  Drogba, once again, shoots wide, however.  Meanwhile, the first change (!!) of the game is made…Giggs on, breaking Sir Bobby Charlton’s United appearance record.  Scholes off.

85min:  Vidic fouls Drogba near the sideline.  Malouda delivers the free kick to Drogba but his shot is wide.

83min:  Ballack spoons his shot well over.  Giggs seems ready to come on for United.

81min:  Shots are 17-7 Chelsea, who have had the better 2nd half.  Still no substitutions.  Tevez makes an appearance but his shot is well wide.

80min:  Ferdinand is the latest to slip allowing Malouda to cross…but Drogba puts it wide with Vidic right on his heels.

78min:  J.Cole is the latest man down after Evra seems to hit him in the face with his forearm.  From the throw-in, Drogba hits the post from 25 yards!  So close…

77min:  Chelsea shout for a penalty.  Not given!  Ferdinand did appear to foul Malouda on the replays…

74min:  Drogba slips in the area just as J.Cole delivers his cross.  Quality pitch, for sure.  On the other end, United get a corner when it should’ve been a goal kick.  The delivery is just over Ronaldo’s head.

71min:  A rare United foray results in a corner.  But first, Makelele seems to be injured after Tevez lands on his head.

70min:  Ferdinand is back on the field but he’s not 100%.  J.Cole bangs his shot into Drogba.

68min:  Ferdinand appears to be injured/cramping!  And he’s stretchered off…  Lampard is being treated during the ‘time-out’ for what seems to be a cramp as well…

67min:  Yet another corner after J.Cole’s pass is cleared.  Malouda delivers to the near post, but United clears one more time.  Chelsea’s pressure continues.

66min:  Another Chelsea corner after a shot by Lampard.  His corner is put over the top by Terry.

65min:  Drogba finally gets a call after dealing with Vidic all night hanging on his back.  Chelsea free kick in a promising position…  Malouda delivers, but United clear for a throw-in.

62min:  Every couple minutes there is a player slipping & sliding out there.  What was it they said about the pitch not being an issue?

61min:  Rooney is back to defend and to relieve the Chelsea pressure.

59min:  Hargreaves is the latest United player to get a bloody nose, courtesy of Makelele’s elbow.  On the other end, another Chelsea corner.  United clear.

57min:  Nice build-up from Chelsea results in an A.Cole cross which is put out for a corner.  Lampard delivers, but Drogba heads it over.  Shot of Giggs on the bench, looking flabbergasted that he is not on the pitch.  Meanwhile, Ballack delivers a thunderous strike but misses the frame.

55min:  Chelsea counter, but Essien puts his chance over the top.

54min:  Nice pass from Ronaldo frees up Evra but he delivers a terrible cross with 3 waiting in the box.

53min:  Drogba adds to his off-side statistic.  Game is fairly even right now.

50min:  J.Cole fouls Carrick.  I think that’s both of their first contributions to the game.  Also missing from the action, Rooney.

49min:  2nd half same as the 1st, so far.  ManU enjoying most of the possession.

46min:  2nd half kickoff.  No changes to either side.  Alex Ferguson running his mouth off to the referee in his usual style.

45(+3)min:  And there’s the half-time whistle.  I think we’re a bit fortunate to be even, ManU seemed to have the better of the posession & the chances.  But Lampard took his chance with the coolest of ease and so we’re even.

45(+2)min:  Carvalho gets a yellow for a fairly nasty challenge on fellow countryman Ronaldo.

45min:  Not sure how exactly, but Lampard equalizes!!!  Bad clearance by Ferdinand, Essien’s shot is blocked, and in the confusion nobody covers Lampard who coolly slots it in for his 20th of the season!  1-1!

44min:  Ballack & Drogba fight over it, Ballack takes it and puts it over the bar…

43min:  Lampard is fouled on the edge of the area by Ferdinand…

42min:  Another dangerous United counter.  3 players miss Rooney’s cross, including Cech & Tevez and the score stays 1-0.

39min:  Essien actually wins a header.  Chelsea gets some possesion in…

35min:  United counters from the resulting corner.  Cech with 2 amazing saves (from Tevez & Rooney) to keep the score 1-0.

34min:  Lampard gets involved, combining with Drogba.  Awful United defending leads to a Ballack header that van der Sar saves nicely.

32min:  Possesion is 65-35 to United.  Come on Chelsea!

31min:  Drogba’s down, favoring his back.  He seems ok to continue…

30min:  United pressure continues.  Essien is unfortunately no match for Ronaldo.  This is going to be a long night for us unless that changes.

27min:  Out of nowhere, a United goal.  Brown crosses beautifully, Essien watches, Ronaldo heads it in with ease.  1-0.  A.Cole gave Hargreaves way too much room.  Perhaps Chelsea will come to life now.

25min:  Anderson starts warming up.  Apparently United are concerned about Scholes.

24min:  Chelsea corner after Tevez gives the ball away.  Some more shoving & pushing inside the area.  Lampard’s corner barely misses Terry’s head but he’s whistled for a foul anyway…

22min:  Scholes is bleeding.  Makelele seems to have accidently caught him and gets a yellow (???).  That’s a terrible decision.  A.Cole gets another yellow for running his fucking mouth.  Rooney gets no yellow despite shoving & pushing anybody and everybody he can get his hands on.

21min:  Been mostly one-way traffic towards Chelsea’s goal that last 10 minutes.  Chelsea seem happy to sit back & defend.  But that is our usual style…

18min:  Terry has already won four of the most beautiful headers I’ve seen.  Makelele starting to stir the pot a bit, trying to egg-on Rooney.

17min:  Ronaldo with some nifty footwork gets a good cross in.  Hargreaves misses the header.  Essien had no clue, unfortunately, against Ronaldo.  Just take him out!

15min:  Neither side has made much progress in the first quarter of an hour.  A.Cole changes his shoes.  These will be his ‘I-can-make-a-good-pass’ shoes.

12min:  Confusion between Tevez & Ronaldo and the United attack fizzles out.

10min:  Malouda v. Brown down the left flank will be key for Chelsea.  He’s gotten a couple nice crosses in already.

09min:  United enjoying a spell of pressure.  Terry clears nicely a couple times.

07min:  The honor of the first offside goes to Drogba.  It’s gonna be a huge matchup between Vidic & Drogba tonight.

06min:  And the first shot for ManU comes from Hargreaves after a bad Chelsea clearance.  Cech saves easily.

05min:  Chelsea make a couple forays into the area, but nothing too threatening yet.  Clarence Seedorf is not much of a ‘color analyst’, sorry to say.

01min:  The first minute sees a couple aimless balls from both teams.  ESPN2’s HD feed is amazingly clear.

00min:  And we’re off.  Chelsea in their awesome new shirts, going right-to-left.

(T-5min):  Teams are taking the field!  The Champions League Anthem is playing the background.  There were Comcast trucks just outside the house, but fortunately the cable is unaffected…

(T-45min):  Starting lineups:

• ManU (4-4-2): van der Sar – Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra – Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Hargreaves – Rooney, Tevez.  Subs: Kuszczak, Anderson, Giggs, Nani, Fletcher, O’Shea, Silvestre
• Chelsea (4-3-2-1): Cech – Essien, Terry, Carvalho, A.Cole – Ballack, Makelele, Lampard – J.Cole, Malouda – Drogba

 (T-1.5 hours):  Going to attempt to do a ‘live blog’ for this grand event.  Here are some pre-match tidbits from Chelsea historian Rick Glanvill:

• The two teams have 11 players total who have won the competition before:
  • Chelsea:  Anelka (Real Madrid ’00), Makelele (Real Madrid ’02), Shevchenko (AC Milan ’03), Carvalho & Ferreira (Porto ’04), Belletti (Barcelona ’06)
  • ManU:  van der Sar (Ajax ’95), Brown & Giggs & Neville (ManU ’99), Hargreaves (Bayern ’01)
• ManU has not beaten Chelsea away from Old Trafford in the ‘Abramovich era’.  In 14 attempts, United have won 2, Chelsea have won 7.
• United’s European Record:  played 192, won 108, drawn 44, lost 40.  They have won the Cup twice, in ’68 & ’99.
• Chelsea’s European Record:  played 142, won 76, drawn 37, lost 29.
• Chelsea have lost just once in their last 15 in all competitions.  United just once in their last 14 (that ‘one’ was the loss to Chelsea!).
• United top scorers in Europe:  Ronaldo 7, Rooney 4 & Tevez 4
• Ronaldo is United’s top scorer in all competitions with 41.
• Chelsea top scorers in Europe:  Drogba 6, Lampard 3, Ballack & J.Cole 2
• Lampard is Chelsea’s top scorer in all competitions with 19.  He has one last chance to score 20 for the 3rd straight season.  Chelsea have not lost when Lampard has scored this season.
• Drogba has scored in every cup final he’s ever played with Chelsea (’05, ’07, ’08 Carling Cups & ’07 FA Cup).

In other news, enjoying a nice day in the stock market, up 2% for the day, thanks to [[JBLU]], [[MER]], [[MGM]] puts and [[DVN]], [[TRLG]] calls.

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