Lets have a brief roundup of this week's Champions' League action.

Sir Alex Ferguson must be thankful that Manchester United came away with a draw from Lyon. As usual when United are away from home, Sir Alex started with a defensive 4-5-1 formation, with Hargreaves, Scholes, Anderson, Ronaldo and Giggs manning the midfield and Rooney playing a lone strikers role. Consequently United posed little threat going forward and it was Lyon who got the bulk of chances. But they were unable to take the lead until Benzema scored out of nowhere However, Ferguson did realise his mistake, sending on Tevez and Nani on for Scholes and Giggs on the 65 minutes mark. Instantly, United team showed much more desire and urgency. And they deservedly equalised when Nani's cross caused mayhem in Lyon's penalty area and Tevez stuck the into the back of the net to United a definite advantage ahead of the return leg.

Now, Sir Alex must accept the fact that Giggs and Scholes are no longer good enough to be automatic first-choice players. Moreover, the players are not comfortable in a defensive system. Even away from Old Trafford, Sir Alex should play our usual attacking game. Benzema's goal was exceptional, and Sir Alex especially congratulated the talented striker after the game. It now looks as if Ferguson has made up his mind to go after Benzema in the summer.

Rafael Benitez's job was on the line against Inter Milan, and he got the referee to thank who controversially dismissed Marco Materazzi early on in the game. But even then, Liverpool failed to convert their dominance into goals. The real turning-point of the game came when Ivan Cordoba was stretchered off 15 minutes from time. Without both of their first choice central defenders, the Inter Milan defence looked shaky and Kuyt and Gerrard took full advantage to score 2 goals in the last 5 minutes to make Liverpool the favourites to go through.

Another team that needed to fight back from a poor result at the weekend was Arsenal, but they failed to do so against a resilient AC Milan side. After a poor performance in the first half, the Gunners picked up a gear in the second to launch numerous attacks on the Milan goal but to no avail. Arsenal's best chance fell to Adebayor right at the end, but he failed to score from a header, with the goal gaping at his mercy. Now, Wenger must conjure up something extraordinary from his side to have any chance of going through to the quarter-finals as AC Milan have an impeccable record at the San Siro.

Chelsea were away at Olympiakos and the Blues manger labelled his side's performance as the worst since he took over. He was quite correct as Chelsea looked far from threatening and seemed content so soak-up pressure. In the end, they manged to escape with 0-0 draw and they were must fancy their chances against the Greeks at Stamford Bridge.

Celtic are proud owners of a very good European home record, but this time they were undone by Barcelona's brilliant attacking game. Credit must be given to Celtic for grabbing the lead twice, but two goals from Messi (how fabulous is he?) and an amazing curing strike by Henry (reminiscent of his Arsenal days) set up a great result for the Catalan giants to virtually seal their passage into the quarter-finals.

Elsewhere, all the home sides were in ascendancy. Fenerbahce performed well again to beat Sevilla 3-2, Roma overcame Real Madrid despite going a goal down Kuranyi handed his side Schalke a narrow, but crucial advantage against FC Porto.

Results:

Schalke - Porto 1-0

Roma - Real Madrid 2-1

Olympiacos - Chelsea 0-0

Liverpool - Internazionale 2-0

Celtic - Barcelona 2-3

Lyon - Man. United 1-1

Fenerbache - Sevilla 3-2

Arsenal - Milan 0-0

After months of waiting the World's best club competition, UEFA Champions' League, is back with so many mouth-watering ties, you just cannot to afford to miss all the action. This is what I think will happen in each of the first leg matches taking place.

Liverpool v Inter Milan 1-1

Olympiakos v Chelsea 1-1

AS Roma v Real madrid 2-1

Schalke v Porto 1-0

Arsenal v AC Milan 2-1

Manchester United v Lyon 1-1

Celtic v Barcelona 1-1

Fenerbahce v Sevilla 2-0

This seasons FA Cup is fast becoming one of the best ever. The 5th round of the FA cup had it all; thumping wins, narrow defeats and a huge upset. Only 3 Premiership sides are definitely through to the next round (quarter finals). Therefore, there is a big opportunity for lower league teams to reach Wembley.

The most anticipated match turned out to be a very one-sided affair. Manchester United thrashed Arsenal 4-0, outclassing the gunners in every department. Both Ferguson and Wenger fielded under-strength teams, but no one could have expected that the match would be such a no-contest. In the first half, United produced one of their best displays of the season as Rooney, Fletcher and Nani all scored to make the game safe. Anderson, Nani, Carrick and Fletcher had a memorable match, probably their best performance in United colours. In contrast, many Arsenal players were completely anonymous. Fletcher rounded off the rout ( in the second-half), but it was more about Arsenal displaying their trait of being a bad loser. First Eboue was sent off for a horrific challenge on Evra. Then Gallas took out his frustration by kicking Nani, an action which also deserved a red card. Lastly, Adebayor received a booking for an outrageous and badly-executed dive.

Undoubtedly, the most surprising result of the weekend was Liverpool's home defeat to Barnsley. Nobody was giving the Tykes a chance, but they had obviously not read the script. As expected, Kuyt gave Liverpool the lead. But they failed to put the game to bed despite having numerous opportunities to do so. Barnsley did not give up, and they were rewarded for their efforts when 2 goals in the last 20 minutes from Foster and captain Howard sealed a historic win at Anfield and secured their place in the quarter-finals.But Barnsley's real hero was Luke Steele. The goalie, making his debut,made several world-class saves to keep Liverpool at bay. This loss has put even more pressure on Benitez with many people calling for his head. Many feel he would have to land another Champions' League crown in order to secure his job.

Chelsea also made it through to the quarter-finals, courtesy of an easy win over Huddersfield. The League One side did equalise once to give Chelsea a scare, but Lampard and Kalou scored to restore normality at Stamford Bridge to ensure another victory for Avram Grant's men.

In other ties, Sheffield United continued their good cup run to earn a replay against Middlesborough. Bristol Rovers became the only League One side to advance as they overcame Southampton at home. Portsmouth performed another smash and grab, this time at Preston. Cardiff ere too good for Wolves at Ninian Park and West Brom ruthlessly demolished managerless Coventry City.

These are the complete 5th round results:

Manchester United 4-0 Arsenal
Liverpool 1-2 Barnsley
Chelsea 3-1 Huddersfield
Coventry 0-5 West Brom
Bristol Rovers 1-0 Southampton
Sheffield United 0-0 Middlesborough
Preston 0-1 Portsmouth
Cardiff 2-0 Wolves

And here is the quarter-final draw:

Sheffield United or Middlesbrough v Cardiff City
Manchester United v Portsmouth
Bristol Rovers v West Brom
Barnsley v Chelsea

As you can see, Manchester United and Chelsea have been kept apart in the draw.Manchester United will again meet Premiership opposition in Porsmouth whereas Chelsea face the prospect of a tricky trip to Barnsley. So a Man Utd v Chelsea final is on the cards again. If this would be the case, I do hope it would be very different from last year, when the two teams put Wembley to sleep.

Business advisory firm Deliotte has recently released the list of world's richest clubs. Real Madrid remain on top increasing their revenue by 20% to 236 million pounds. But Manchester United enjoyed a greater insrease in revenue to climb to second spot on the list. Barcelona, Arsenal and Chelsea respectively made up the rest of the top 5. A Deliotte official stated that due the Premier League's new multi-million TV deal, Manchester United are expected to regain their position as world's richest club in the next to years. Furthermore, 10 Premier League clubs are expected to feature in tyhe top 20 from next year.



But this rich list should be taken with a pinch of salt. Deliotte only considers the club revenue and not its costs and debts for this list, which is by no means an accurate criteria to assess a club's financial position. A more suitable indicator of a club's wealth would be the profits. For example, Manchester United still have huge debts. So how can they be the second-richest club in the world? Moreover, most fans care about their club's on-field success, not the position of their financial statements.

Anyway, for those of you who would like to know, here is the full list


1 Real Madrid £236.2m
2 Man Utd £212.1m
3 Barcelona £195.3m
4 Chelsea £190.5m
5 Arsenal £177.6m
6 AC Milan £153m
7 Bayern Munich £150.3m
8 Liverpool £133.9m
9 Internazionale £131.3m
10 AS Roma £106.1m
11 Tottenham £103.1m
12 Juventus £97.7m
13 Lyons £94.6m
14 Newcastle £87.1m
15 Hamburg SV £81.0m
16 Schalke 04 £76.9m
17 Celtic £75.2m
18 Valencia £72.4m
19 Marseille £66.6m
20 Werder Bremen £65.5m

Last week The Sun reported that Manchester United are chasing Lyon stars Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa . It went on to say that Sir Alex is considering a 40 million pounds bid for the highly-rated duo. Lyon's president has rebuffed United's initial advances, stating that he transfer will only be possible if United agree to give Christiano Ronaldo in return (nice joke, Mr. Aulas). But Sir Alex is not discouraged, and he may make a bid in summer. He was also present in lyon's recent Ligue 1 match with bordeaux, adding fuel to the speculation that Old Trafford might be the next destination for the talented pair.



How good the signings of Benzema and Ben Arfa be for Manchester United? Benzema, a product of Lyon's academy, is a striker whose game is all about pace, power and finishing ability. United's recent form has showed that they need a striker who can finish off chances with a high conversion rate, and Benzema can prove to be the final piece in United's jigsaw. Benzema can play with a partner or all alone up-front and I feel that he will integrate well into United's system of play. And with 16 goals in 24 games, there is no doubt that Benzema is one of the hottest players in European football now.

Hatem Ben Arfa, also from the youth set-up, is a pacy left winger wuth loads of trickery and a natural left foot.Although he struggled to get chances early on his career, he is now a fixture in Lyon's first-team. If he arrives at United, he has all the ability to challenge Nani's position as the long-term replacement for Giggs. The best thing about both of these players is that they are only 20 years old. Therefore, they are nowhere near their peak and have lots of time to improve.

So, will Lyon sell their prized assets? They can deciode to keep them in hope of more on-field success in the future and a team around.
On the other hand, they can also decide to cash in, just like they have done in the recent past ( selling the likes of Diarra, Essien, Abidal and Malouda). In the end it will be down to the players themselves. If Benzema and Ben Arfa decide to seek a new challenge, I don't think that Lyon will be able to stop them.

While it may just be a ploy to unsettle Lyon ahead of United's Champions' League match with them, this story has a greater chance of being true. We will just have to wait till summer to find out. And if Sir Alex manages to lure the Lyon pair to manchester, it will surely be a great coup.

The FA cup 5th round ties are going to be played this weekend, and most of the attention will be focused on Old Trafford, where Manchester United and Arsenal face-off for a place in the quarter-finals. Its always great when the two teams fighting it out for the league crown get to meet each other in the cup as well, because then there is much more at stake than just a spot in the next round.



Everyone knows that United are not top of thier game at the moment. They only managed to earn a point against Tottenham at White hart Lane. But the result that really hurt was the home defeat at the hands of fierce rivals Manchester City. The common thing between United's defeats this season has been Wayne Rooney's absence. The return of Rooney and Evra from suspension forthis matcha much-needed boost. Even when Rooney does not play well, he creates space for Ronaldo, Tevez and others to exploit. Saha might also return,but you can never be sure aboput this piece of news.

And everyone knows that Arsenal are on a roll. Top of the Pemier with a 5 point cushion, they have good chance of doing well n the Champions' league too.Adebayor has been their key man this season. The lanky striker has added another dimension to the Gunners' play; they can now play long-balls when their normal passing game does not work.

For United to have a decent chance of winning, it is imperative that Sir Alex gets his team selection right. Its a no-brainer that Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra will make up the defense, Rooney and tevez will play up-top and Ronaldo will marshall the right-wing. But the rest of the 3 midfield positions are centre of much debate. Sir Alex should go with Anderson and Hargreaves In the mid-field as I think that they are our best pairing. Giggs should take his customary position at the left-wing. He is no longer the Wing Wizard he once was, but United need his experience in this match.

Matches between te big-fours are not always classic, But games between Arsenal and Manchester are a general exception to this statement. I think the first-half is going to be a bit cagey, but the secnd is going to be more open and exciting. And if there is an early goal, we will be in for a real treat.

To put it simply, United need to win this match more than Arsenal to restore pride and momentum. And with Rooney, United are simply a different team. I feel the Red Devils will be too strong on tyhe day and will beat Arsenal by a narrow margin.

Prediction: 2-1

Let's not forget the other 5th round ties. These are my predictions for them.

Cardiff v Wolves 2-1
Chelsea v Huddersfield 4-0
Coventry v West Brom 1-1
Liverpool v Barnsley 4-0
Sheffield United v Middlesborough 1-1
Preston v Portsmouth 0-1

With the huge FA cup weekend coming up, you would have thought that the tabloid headlines would revolve around the Manchester United-Arsenal match. But instead it has been the Premier Laegue greatest act that has been the centre of attention lately ; for those of you who don't know yet, Premier League's all 20 clubs have agreed to explore the possibility of playing mathes abroad by extending the season to 39 games. The extra 10 matches will be played in 5 venues over a weekend, with cities bidding to host 2 matches each. the matches will be decided by a draw, with the top 5 sides seeded so that they will not play each other. Most importantly, the points from these matches will count towards the final Premier League table. This proposal has faced criticism from all quarters and many "no to game 39" petitions have been set up.

I feel the clubs are considering playing games overseas only for the money. Each club will earn around 5 million pounds by playing just one game abroad. The Premier League claims the extra-income will be invested in the grass-roots thus benefiting the English football in general. In addition, overseas fans will be able to see their footballing idols in some 'real'action and clubs will have the oppurtunity to increase their fan-base. However' the proposal has so many drawbacks that I don't see it being implemented any time soon.

Firstly, player burn-out and fixture congestion has always been an issue with the managers. The lack of success of English clubs at European level and the English national team has been attributed to the fact that the Premier League has no winter break to allow players to rest. A mid-season trip round the world will only increase the players' chances of getting fatigued and being off the pace for the rest of the season.

Secondly, many countries will not welcome Premier Laegue's matches. Why would they want to lose their advertisers and sponsors to their foreign rivals? They will want to protect their own clubs and leagues. The football cheifs of Japan and America nhave already stated that they will not be interested in hosting any Premier League matches. With the AFC president also saying that Asia should give protection to its own Leagues.

The biggest flaw in the proposal is the draw that will determine all 10 of the extra matches. Consider this scenario; two teams are fighting to avoid relegation. One team gets relegated because it draws Manchester United in the 39th game but the other survives because it draws Derby. This should be totally unacceptable. If this happens, the League will lose its current position as a fair competition.

Majority of the fans have been criticising the proposal from day one. The "No To Game 39" petitions have received enormous suppport. Many feel that the English football will lose its football and culture, if the games are played overseas, others fear that more and more matches will be staged outside England with time. The League managers have had a mix response to the proposal. Many think its a farce, on the other hand some think that change is not always bad.

Here is what some of the managers had to say.

"What disappoints me is (United chief executive) David Gill phoned me and said 'keep this quiet, we are going to discuss it' and then it's all over the papers this morning. They can't keep their mouth shut down there.

"I think if they are going to do these things, they should have been enquiring and having discussions with managers and players before they come out with all this stuff and make an issue of it."
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson

"I'm not against an innovative attitude if it respects the competitive side of our league, if it respects the fans and promotes the quality of our Premier League."
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger

"I don't necessarily think it is a bad thing. From what I understand, it has been well thought out. The trouble with a lot of people is when something new comes into the arena, they want to find reasons to knock it. I am not against change."
Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan

"Clubs could become like the Harlem Globetrotters. It will start with one game and then next year or the year after until eventually I can see us playing quite a few games in different parts of the world."
Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp

"It's bad enough with international friendlies, let alone going overseas. I read the other day that games are going out to 22 or 23 countries. It's quite unbelievable, it gets everywhere, so I wouldn't be surprised, although there will be a few irate people. Can you imagine going to Fergie (Sir Alex Ferguson) and telling him 'by the way, you're not playing at home this week, you are playing in Japan'? I'd like to see it!"
Wigan manager Steve Bruce

"Is it April 1? I find it highly unlikely it would happen. I wouldn't think it would be a realistic proposition."
Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate

In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with playing matches overseas. But either they should be friendlies or cup games. The proposal to play Premier League matches abroad should be dropped immediately, simply because of the criticism it has received. If the proposal is implemented, I fear Premier League will turn into a joke and many fans will not bother with it anymore.

Derby curse struck Manchester United again as Manchester City beat them 2-1, completing a historic double over their more prestigious rivals. Before the match, their was speculation that City fans might ruin the day for the Red Devils by not observing silence to the Munich Air Disaster, but it was the City players who turned out to be the spoilers-in-chief. United played poorly from the start, and City duly punished them when Darius Vassell scored from a slick counter-attack. Benjani then compounded United's misery, as he diverted Petrov's great cross into the net. United improved in the second-half, but City defence stood strong until Carrick managed to score at the depth, but the goal proved to be mere consolation.

This match showed that United are a man short up-front and Sir Alex Ferguson's decision of not signing another striker in January might continue to haunt him for the rest of the season. Moreover, Giggs and Scholes are no longer fit to be first-team regulars. Against tough opposition, Sir Alex must play Anderson and Hargreaves in midfield.

In the second high-profile match, Liverpool managed to hold Chelsea to a draw at Stamford Bridge. It was a fairly tight game as both teams looked fairly matched. Cropuch did get three oppurtunities to score, but failed to make anything of them. Chelsea's best chance went to Ballack, but his volley missed the post by inches. At the end of the day, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was quite happy with a point, with Chelsea manager left to rue the fact they failed to close the gap on Manchester United.

This weekend's big winners were Arsenal, who beat Blackburn rovers 2-0 in the Monday night encounter to increase their lead at the top of the table to an impressive 5 points. Senderos opened the scoring for the Gunners with a well-placed header from an Eduardo corner. Arsenal were far from their best, and Blackburn threatened to equalise for most of the game but they wrer unable to breach Arsenal's solid back-line. Finally, Adebayor scored in injury-time to make the game safe.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa underlined the fact that they are serious about snatching the fourth-spot away from Liverpool as they thrashed sorry Newcastle 4-1. Th Magpies were quite good in the first-half and deservedly took the lead when Owen scored from a Milner cross. But Villa turned on the style after rthe break as Bouma and Carew scored to put them in the driving seat. Carew went on to score two more to heap more pressure on Kevin Keegan and send most of Villa Park into jubilation.

In other matches, portsmouth performed a smash-and-grab at the Reebok to beat Bolton, Tottenham continued thier revival to earn only their second away win of the season at Pride Park, Aliadiere scored for Middlesborough to hand them all 3 points against Fulham at the Riverside to push them further away from the relegation zone, Sunderland won yet again on their home soil against Wigan, Birmingham gained a valuable point at Upton Park in a match they were unlucky not to win and Reading's woes increased as they went down at Goodison Park

Here are all the results from the weekend:


Manchester United 0-2 Manchester City
Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool
Arsenal 2-0 Blackburn
Aston Villa 4-1 Newcastle United
Bolton 0-1 Portsmouth
Derby 0-3 Tottenham
Middlesborough 1-0 Fulham
Sunderland 2-0 Wigan
West Ham 1-1 Birmingham
Everton 1-0 Reading

Although Arsenal are 5 points ahead of their rivals, the season is far from over with 12 games and 36 points left to play for. Many people are suggesting it's Arsenal's title to lose now, but they have to still visit Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge and you can never write off Manchester United and Chelsea. Whatever happens, this season's title race promises to be one of the best ever.

Derby County has become the latest club to be taken over by American Investors. Sports Investment Company GSE is the club's new owner, buying the club for around 50 million pounds. Andy Appleby, being the head of GSE, is the main man behind the takeover, taking over a place on the Derby board. Adam Pearson retains his position of the club Chairman while Tom Glick, an ex-chief marketing officer for the New Jersey Nets NBA team, takes over the role of President and Chief Executive.

The deal has good value for both sides involved. As the GSE has not incurred any debts taking over Derby and any previous debts have been wiped off, the club's financial future has been secured. The club will also have money to bring in new players , in infrastructure facilities and upgrade the stadium. As for GSE, they have bought a premiership club at the lowest possible price. Although Derby will go down this season, they have got every chance of bouncing straight back-up and stay in the premiership for a long time. If this happens, it will ensure profits and huge returns on investment for the GSE.

However,many fans are apprehensive of American ownership of Football clubs. They think that the Americans don't understand the game and they are getting involved in the game only for the money. It is true that investors want profit in return of their investment, but most Americans so have the best interests of their respective clubs at heart. You have to only look as far as Aston Villa and Manchester United to comprehend the benefits that come with American ownership. Every investor is not like Messrs Hicks and Gillet (who have destablished Liverpool to a great degree). Therefore, all fans should give American owners a chance and not slate them without any reason whatsoever.

In contrast, other fans get over-excited when their clubs get new owners, thinking their club will now be successful for sure. This has happened to a great proportion of Derby fans too. Many are already dreaming of becoming a established Premier League club, with some even going as far as to hope for a top-ten finish.Even Paul Jewell,the manager,has said "The people who have come in have the same ambition and excitement as I have to build Derby into a top 10 Premier League team." This is a very unrealistic aim, and it would be better for Derby officials and players to focus on more reasonable,short-term goals.

The fact is, with so many clubs getting new rich owners, spending lots of money will not guarantee success. So, Derby fans must lower their expectations. However, whatever happens at the club now, interesting times lie for Derby County ahead.

Today, Manchester United meet Manchester City for the second Manchester derby of the season. Being the first match that Manchester United will play since the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, it is going to be highly emotional affair. There will be a minute's silence before the match, and all United fans will be hoping that no City fool will disturb the mark of respect.

United are not firing all cylinders at the moment. They slipped up against Spurs last time around at White Hart Lane, managing only a draw. But Sir Alex has argued that the lost can be seen as a point gained rather than two lost. From Ronaldo and Tevez, nobody seems to score and the return of Scholes has given Sir Alex a midfield selection dilemma.

Manchester City have also experienced a drastic drop in their fortunes. their away form has never been great and now they have started to struggle at home too. Their defence has started to leak goals and their strikers don't seem to score enough goals. Now Benjani has cmpleted his move to City he will surely help them in the scoring department.

Rooney and Evra are suspended for today's game, which is quite a blow for United.. This puts an extra responsibility on Ronaldo and Tevez to score today. There is speculation that teenage-striker might be included in the starting line-up, but think he will be on the bench. motivated by the Munich disaster anniversary and the legend of Busby Babes,I expect United to go out all guns blazing. Given City's recent poor form and pathetic away record,able to cope with United's attack. Derbies are always close affairs,bu I expect United to be just too strong for City today.

Prediction: 3-1

Today's second match is a 'Big-Four' clash between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. No one can deny that Chelsea are on a run of real good form. prior to thier draw against Portsmouth, they had chalked up nine straight victories in all competitions,even without thir African stars,JT and Lampard. Signing Anelka has been a huge plus for them and strangely, the injuries have helped their cause, allowing Grant to pick a settled side on a consistent basis.

In contrast, no one can deny that Liverpool are in a sort of a mini-crisis. Board-room problems have coincided with poor on-the-field results. Already out of the title race, now they face a tough battle to for the fouth-place and Benitez seems on the bring of the sack.

The return of Mikel and Lampard will further boost Chelsea. on the other hand Torres is out for Liverpool which makes thier chances of getting a win at Stamford Bridge almost non-existent. I expect Chelsea to have lots of possessin and play thier usual brand of football. Like their recent matches, they will convert their possession into goals,making it very difficult for Liverpool. In the end, I expect the Blues to run out quite comfortable winners tonight.

Pediction: 2-0