Manchester United inched closer to retaining their Premier League title as they cruised to a 3-0 win against a Liverpool side who had only ten men for half the game.

Reina Poor Performance

Wes Brown put the home side ahead on 34 minutes, when Reina failed to deal with a Wayne Rooney cross. The Spaniard only managed to punch the ball against the back of the advancing defender, which was to be the start of a bad day for the Liverpool keeper.

Bennett Steals The Show

Even with all of the talent on display and three goals in the match, the centre of attention was Referee Steve Bennett. After just eleven minutes he reached for his book and entered the name of Argentinean Javier Mascherano for unsporting conduct after a late challenge on Paul Scholes. Bennett created the talking point of the game just before half time, when he booked Fernando Torres for dissent after the Spaniard had been the victim of two suspect challenges. Having seen the injustice Mascherano approached Bennett and asked him ‘What’s happening?’ not foul language and was given a second yellow for his trouble. The scenes after Bennett issued the Red Card became farcical as the Argentine demonstrated his disbelief that he had been dismissed from the game for a simple question. Bennett’s heavy handedness came just a few days after Ashley Cole got away with a torrent of abuse at the 4-4 draw between Tottenham and Chelsea where Bennett was the fourth official. Bennett has a history of dishing out injustice to Mascherano, last season he let Jermain Defoe away with biting the Argentinean.

Ronaldo Ends Liverpool’s Hopes

Liverpool fought to get back in to the game but after 35 minutes in the second half United goalden boy Cristiano Ronaldo headed home a corner that Reina got nowhere near to put the game beyond the visitors. Just one minute later Ronaldo’s Portuguese compatriot Nani thundered home a shot from the edge of the area to put the home side three up.

Who Is The real Villain?

Mascherano will no doubt be villainised in the media as an example of what not to do for kids and pros alike. When the truth is it should be Bennett who is crucified in the press for ruining a crunch game for the billions of spectators around the world and for demonstrating the huge inconsistency of Premier League referees, who have been hounded and abused for years by players some of whom were not even given a talking to never mind a red card.

Liverpool suffered a slow start to this seasons Champions League campaign. They found themselves a goal down after just eight minutes, when Sektioui burst past a flat footed Hyypia only to be brought down by Reina. The Liverpool shot stopper has built a reputation for saving penalties in recent years, but he was no match for Gonzalez on this occasion, the striker had done his home work and drilled the ball down the middle knowing Reina would dive one way or the other.

Liverpool were back in the game less than ten minutes later, when on their first meaningful attack Finnan crossed deep to Hyypia who headed the ball toward goal for Kuyt to guide home.

Liverpool could have made more of the tie if Steven Gerrard had shown up on the night and been his usual inspirational self. The reds effectiveness was also hurt by the petulance of Jermaine Pennant who earned himself two yellow cards and a dismissal, which only served to pile the pressure on the Liverpool defence who worked hard to ensure they earned a point.

Home                             Away

Oct 3, Marseille (h)      Sep 18, Porto (a)
Nov 6, Besiktas (h)       Oct 24, Besiktas (a)
Nov 28, Porto (h)         Dec 11, Marseille (a)

Last years finalists have Marseille visit Anfield for this seasons first Champions League fixture as they try to go one better. To help them succeed Rafa Benitez has added to his squad Torres, Babel, Benayoun and Voronin. These additions should help Liverpool compete in both the Premier League and the Champions League, something they haven’t really done for a number of years.

The draw for the Champions league was populated with the usual suspects and some new fringe teams. There were no less than six British in the draw. The big four from England Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are joined in the draw by the old firm from north of the border. Glasgow Rangers will welcome the windfall from the group stage, the £10m should help ease their current financial situation. Celtic scraped through the last round beating Spartak Moscow in a penalty shoot out to earn a place in the draw for the group stage.

UEFA Champions League GROUP A

Liverpool FC (England)
FC Porto (Portugal)
Olympique Marseille (France)
Besiktas (Turkey)

Last years beaten finalists Liverpool will hope their newly strengthened squad can go the extra mile this year, but they may be distracted with their domestic campaign. They will have trips to Portuguese side Porto who have been successful in the competition in recent years. Marseille are back in the big time after recovering from the scandals of the last decade, they may do well enough to compete for the second spot although they might settle for for the UEFA Cup spot. Besiktas will enjoy their participation in the Champions League, they are familiar with the format having played in the UEFA cup last season.

UEFA Champions League GROUP B

Chelsea FC (England)
Valencia (Spain)
Schalke 04 (Germany)
Rosenborg (Norway)

Premier League runners-up Chelsea will be confident of their progression from Group B, their assembly of stars should cruise through the group as they try to secure the one trophy that has eluded Jose Mourinho in his tenure as Chelsea manager.

Chelsea’s toughest test will come against Spanish side Valencia, who they managed to beat in last years quarter final. Although it must be said that Schalke and Rosenborg will be no push overs as they fight for the second qualification or UEFA Cup place, Schalke finished second in the Bundesliga last year behind Stuttgart.

UEFA Champions League GROUP C

Real Madrid (Spain)
Werder Bremen (Germany)
Lazio (Italy)
Olympiakos (Greece)

Spanish League winners Real Madrid have Germany’s third placed team Werder Bremen in their group along with Italy’s third place side Lazio, which will suit Madrid’s new man in charge Bernd Schuster who has recently strengthened his squad, adding names like Robben, Sneijder and Heinze. The fourth team in the Group C is Olympiakos from Greece.

UEFA Champions League GROUP D

AC Milan (Italy)
Benfica (Portugal)
Celtic (Scotland)
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)

2007 Champions Milan will face Glasgow Celtic again this season after playing them last year.  Benfica, Celtic and Shaktar Donetsk will be competing for the second place and the UEFA Cup place, unless they manage to raise their game to upset the Champions.

UEFA Champions League GROUP E

FC Barcelona (Spain)
Olympique Lyon (France)
VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
Rangers (Scotland)

Instantly recognised as the ‘Group Of Death’ Glasgow Rangers will struggle to make even the UEFA Cup place. Winners from 2006 Barcelona who are fresh from a pre-season tour of Scotland will be favourites to top Group E. Barca & Celtic are joined in the group of death by winners of their respective leagues Lyon who won in France and Stuttgart who won the Bundesliga.

UEFA Champions League GROUP F

Manchester United (England)
AS Roma (Italy)
Sporting Lisbon (Portugal)
Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)

The English and Italian authorities will hope there is no rekindling of hostilities between Manchester United and Roma, after the violence that erupted in last seasons clash. The new and improved United squad will want to try and better the 7-1 result they managed last season. Ronaldo and Nani will face their old club Sporting Lisbon. The fixture that could cause the upset will be Dynamo Kiev, clubs that have a trip to Kiev in late October early November in the bitter cold may not perform well allowing the Ukrainians to exploit their familiar conditions.

UEFA Champions League GROUP G

Inter Milan (Italy)
PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
CSKA Moscow (Russia)
Fenerbahce (Turkey)

Another group where trips to a freezing cold Moscow could be a deciding factor in who is successful in the group. Italian Champions Inter Milan should finish top of the group, then it is a three way scramble between PSV, CSKA & Fenerbahce for the other two places.

UEFA Champions League GROUP H

Arsenal (England)
Sevilla (Spain) or AEK Athens (Greece)
Steaua Bucharest (Romania)
Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)

England’s fourth placed team face two eastern European sides in Steaua Bucharest and Slavia Prague, having dispatched the Czech Republic’s other entrant to the competition Sparta Prague in the qualifying round. The fourth club to be in the group has yet to be decided. The game between UEFA Cup holders for the last two seasons Sevilla from Spain, had their game against AEK Athens postponed following the death of Sevilla defender Antonio Puerta.

Welsh captain Craig Bellamy has joined East London club West Ham United as they prepare for life after Tevez. With the Argentinean poised to move to the North-West Hammers manager Alan Curbishley is trying to build a squad that he hopes will not struggle as much to remain in the Premiership.

West Ham United are Craig Bellamy’s fifth club in three-years and he has signed a five year deal and he has pledged his long term future to the Irons.

Bellamy has cited his lack of opportunity at the club he supported as a boy as his reason for moving on to West Ham where he believes he can play every week. The arrival or Fernando Torres on Merseyside would have further restricted Bellamy’s opportunities at Anfield. However he needs to remember that West Ham are not short of a striking talent either. West Ham fans will breathe a sigh of relief now that they have landed a seasoned premiership player who is an international captain with Champions League experience for a fraction of the price that they were prepared to spend on a comparatively inexperienced Darren Bent.

Spanish striker Fernando Torres will complete his £26.5 million transfer to Merseyside from the Spanish capital tomorrow. Athletico have confirmed that they are selling their club captain and most prized asset. The club website indicates there will be a ‘farewell press conference’ tomorrow.

The deal sees the Spaniard sign a six year deal worth about £90k a week. The arrival of ‘El Nino’ has sparked rumours about the future Liverpool’s current strikers Bellamy and Crouch.

The deal also sees Kop favourite Luis Garcia move in the other direction in a £4m deal. Garcia spent a year at Athletico when he moved from Real Valladolid before he joined Barcelona.

With a plane load of Liverpool fans with tickets stranded in John Lennon Airport, thousands of fans without tickets causing disruption at the ground in Athens it did not seem like a suitable environment for winning a sixth Champions League victory for Liverpool.

Unlike the game in 2005 it was Liverpool who made all the early running, to no avail. Indeed the Reds from Anfield found themselves behind at half time just like in Istanbul, this time the deficit was only one goal. The crushing blow came just before half time when Andrea Pirlo struck a free kick, which Reina had well covered until it took a wicked deflection off the head of Filippo Inzaghi in to the Liverpool goal.

There had been much debate about the tactics employed by Rafa Benitez and his team selection. He appeared to pick a team to stop Milan rather than one to attack and inflict their game on the Italians. The Spaniard also made his substitutions too late to have any real effect, bringing on Crouch with just over ten minutes left, and Arbeloa with just two minutes of normal time.

Inzaghi deepened the despair of the Liverpool faithful when he put AC two goals up with eight minutes left. With memories of the comback at the Ataturk Stadium fading fast, there was still hope of a comeback. When Dirk Kuyt directed Riise’s flick on in to Dida’s goal, it looked promising but with just a minute plus injury time there was little chance.

Milan captain Paolo Maldini lifted the cup aloft having received his fifth Champions League winners medal to crown his side as Champions of Europe for 2007 even though at the start of the season they were banned from competing following the corruption scandal last summer. Being a five time winner it begs the question will he get to keep a replica of the trophy like Liverpool did in 2005.

The player most Liverpool fans call ‘God’ will be leaving the club he calls home at the end of this season for the second and probably final time as a player.

Fowler will be hoping to finish on a high, helping the Reds of Anfield over come AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League final on the 23rd May.

The former Leeds United and Manchester City striker will take stock over the close season and decide what he will do with his future. He could move to America and join David Beckham and former team mate Claudio Reyna in the MLS. Alternatively he could retire and manage the vast property empire that he was clever enough to acquire during his time as a player.

Liverpool secured their place in the Champions League final in Athens later this month when they knocked out Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea side on penalties. The sudden death finish was needed after both sides had won one-nil in their home legs and neither side could break the deadlock in extra time.

The possibility of an all English final was scuppered when Manchester United let their slender one goal advantage from the first leg slip away as the were emphatically crushed by the Italians.

Goals from Kaka, Seedorf and Gilardino ensured that the Italians, will have the opportunity to exact revenge on Liverpool in a repeat of the final from two years ago. When Liverpool fought back from being three goals down at half time to winning on penalties after extra-time thanks to the heroics of Jerzy Dudek.

The Spanish striker has been touted for a move to south London from Valencia for some time. He has performed consistently again in La Liga and shone during Valencia’s UEFA Champions League campaign.

Villa is also on the wanted list of former Valencia coach Rafa Benitez but he has told the media that he has not plans to leave the Mestalla by saying “I am very happy in Valencia”.

He qualified his position when he continued with “I have no interest in the rumours about Chelsea or other clubs.”