MARCH 14 — It was an embarrassing sight last Wednesday night as we saw most of Real Madrid’s Galacticos “Part 2” walking off the pitch dejected immediately after the final whistle in their Champions League Last 16 second leg draw with Lyon (Lyon won 2-1 on aggregate). Truly, the image of a sulking Cristiano Ronaldo walking down the tunnel was a joy to behold.
He has been quite widely despised by most non-Manchester United fans since he put on the red shirt many years ago. But from what I have heard, many MU fans also took great joy in Real Madrid’s exit, particularly because Ronaldo’s move to the Spanish club seems to have failed where European fortunes are concerned.
After all, the Portuguese winker did play in two successive Champions League finals for the Red Devils — winning one (despite his penalty miss) and losing the other.
Add to that the magnitude of MU’s 4-0 win against AC Milan (for a 7-2 aggregate win), and the infamous diving cheat might be looking with some envy at his former teammates going through, while he was going out of the Champions League. It totally smacks of a case of “the grass is greener on the other side” which has backfired when it comes to European competition.
Although, to be fair, during the early part of the season and with the occasional blips so far this season (losing 6 matches), MU have sorely missed Ronaldo’s creativity, speed and goal-scoring prowess.
Fortunately for MU, Wayne Rooney has stepped up to the plate and has todate hit (and headed into) the back of the net 23 times in the league.
I don’t really need to add to the tributes currently being lavished on Rooney, but suffice to say the Englishman is amongst the best in the world on current form. It was a clearly different MU which played with Rooney against Milan, compared with the MU which barely scraped through 1-0 against relegation-threatened Wolves last weekend, when Rooney was out injured.
No news was good news on Friday morning when Alex Ferguson declared a clean bill of health for Rooney, and the rest of the team which conquered Milan so impressively on Wednesday.
With Chelsea and Arsenal winning against weaker opponents last night, the Red Devils start the day in third place one point behind the Londoners.
They face another London team, Fulham, at Old Trafford today in an early kickoff (9.30pm). A home win would avenge last December’s 3-0 defeat at Craven Cottage.
Fulham too had some European action in mid-week, losing 3-1 at Juventus on Thursday in the Europa League. It was a result which ended their 9-match unbeaten run in all competitions — their last two domestic games ended 0-0 — against Spurs (FA Cup) and at Sunderland.
I don’t think Fulham have to be embarrassed over their defeat to the Italian giants. After all, they still have the home tie to play to overcome the deficit.
Similarly, it would not be a surprise to see Fulham lose at Old Trafford tonight. However, Fulham are safe from any threat of relegation in the Premiership, while MU have a must-win game to keep pace with the current league leaders.
The pressure will only be on MU, but they are used to it, and will surely get the three points tonight.
The race for fourth place has heated up this weekend too with Tottenham Hotspur winning their home match against Blackburn 4-1to take a commanding lead for that elusive Champions League spot. Meanwhile, Aston Villa could only muster a scoreless draw at Stoke City.
Tonight, Manchester City travel to Sunderland and tomorrow night Liverpool take on troubled-side Portsmouth.
Despite their loss to Wigan Athletic last week, Liverpool supporters, though hurting, are still proudly saying they’ll achieve the coveted fourth spot in the Premiership this season.
But in my opinion, they might as well give up for the fourth spot. In the English Premier League, Liverpool will only be capable of pushing for 5th place to secure a spot in the Europa League.
Actually, I’d take it a step further. I believe that Liverpool might even be in danger of finishing below 6th, then coming from behind to win the Europa League final. This will result in Uefa having to rewrite the rules to allow them to participate in next season’s Europa League! It will be déjàvu, all over again.
* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.
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