‘The fact that three English teams should be in the semi-finals probably makes our league the best in Europe.’ So says Alex Ferguson and who are we to argue with him? He continues: ‘Six or seven years ago Spanish football was the best. But on the evidence of this season Barcelona and Real Madrid are [...]

‘This was the saddest night of my career…’ Francesco Totti, on the verge of tears after Roma crashed out. ‘It was a fantastic performance by every one of our players. The speed of our play and our penetration was absolutely superb… That’s absolutely the best night of European football we’ve had here.’ Alex Ferguson, a [...]

In a word, wow. Who really saw this coming? Not me, for one – I predicted a draw. Simply one of the most scintillating performances by an English club in Europe, ever. Roma were pretty poor, but that was down to United’s relentless waves of attack. When Premiership teams play at such a high tempo, [...]

1 Manchester United v Roma and Valencia v Chelsea: two excellent matches in very different ways. I decided to watch Manchester United first half and Chelsea second half – a good call I reckon! 2 United were absolutely unstoppable. The pace and verve of their attacking play was out of this world. Cristiano Ronaldo was [...]

A couple of bets for the Man Utd v Roma tie: 1 Man Utd half-time/draw full-time (12-1) I could see United scoring in the first half, but 1-0 is a dangerous score to sit on, and Roma have the talent to strike back an go through with a draw. 2 Cristiano Ronaldo to score first [...]

With the Premiership title race wide open after Saturday’s results, the Mind Games Tavern is open for business once again. The Sun reports today that Alex Ferguson is pondering which fine wine to share with Jose Mourinho after Chelsea meet Man Utd in the league at Stamford Bridge: ‘The last time Chelsea came to Old [...]

Rio Ferdinand found out the definition of the word karma on Saturday. A week after booting the ball into the face of a female fan, and this happens. Rio, son, you got merked! [Rob Parker]

Ginger prince bends like Bamboo in the summer wind. Can’t tackle for shit.

Man Utd have a job on to progress to the semi finals. They got the crucial away goal that Fergie demanded, so even though they lost I’d say they have a marginally better chance than Chelsea of making the last four. A 1-0 win at Old Trafford will be enough. After Paul Scholes was sent [...]

When trouble kicks off at an English side’s European away match, the one thing you can always be sure of is that an army of baton-wielding uniformed thugs looking like Star Wars Stormtroopers’ navy blue cousins will be around to crack a few heads open. Look how effectively this prostrate Manchester United fan is subdued [...]

Back in 1999 Manchester United were facing Italian opposition in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on their way to the Treble. Now it is Roma, then it was Juventus. Here is the first leg from Old Trafford. [Rob Parker]

She got merk’d! To be fair to Rio, he did apologise and then gave the woman his shirt after the game.

Fergie blasted Sky Sports’ reporter Geoff Shreeves after Man Utd’s 1-0 win against Boro in the FA Cup on Monday night. The Man Yoo boss reportedly called poor Geoff a ‘f***ing bastard’ and told him to ‘f**k off’ after the reporter questioned Cristiano Ronaldo over the incident that earned United the match-winning penalty. Upon learning [...]

As requested, here’s James Morrison’s cynical hack on Cronaldo, which rightly earned the Boro substitute a straight red card. And watch Ronaldo’s post-match interview below: ‘Of course it was a penalty…’ His English is coming on nicely.

Boro seem to think that Ronaldo dived to win Man Utd’s game-winning penalty, and no doubt Ronaldo-haters will think he went down to easily. Bollocks. It’s not a dive and the ref was right to award a penalty. Woodgate clearly caught him, end of story. I also think there’s an element of truth in Fergie’s [...]

Hard… to type… through… the tears… (sniff)… his hair is so lovely…

Commentator Martin Tyler doesn’t seem to realise that’s it’s gone in (either that or the audio is out of sync). A wonderful strike to light up a pretty pointless friendly.

Here’s a snap of Cristiano Ronaldo impressing Canadian supermodel Daria Werbowy with his ball control/sharp suit. She is laughing at how much gel he has in his hair, and probably saying to him, ‘Do that dive that you always do…’ It’s taken from a shoot in the latest issue of US Vogue, no less. Maybe [...]

1 Why is it Ballack & Shevchenko can do it against Europe’s finest, but not against the likes of Wigan and Charlton? Must be very frustrating for Chelski fans.2 It’s never a good idea to headbutt the pitch. Just ask poor Mikael Silvestre.3 Celtic have got some very talented kids who should be proud of [...]

Yawn. Do you even care that Fergie has told Jose to ‘button his lip’? The newspapers and main football sites seem to think it’s a big story, but to be honest, it bores the pants off me. Is there anything less interesting and more predictable than two football managers engaging in so-called mind games? The [...]

For the past two years, Bulgarian Man Yoo fan Marin Levidzhev (that’s not him) has been fighting in his country’s courts to have his name legally changed to ‘Manchester United’. Magistrates in Bulgaria have just ruled that he can call himself Manchester Levidzhev but not Manchester United. Which kind of defeats the object. Can he [...]

News reaches us that Premiership chairmen are going to be forced into cutting ‘obscene’ ticket prices because fans have just about had enough of being the victims of daylight robbery every weekend, and as a result, football has reached a tipping point. Two top-flight chairmen have expressed the same view, both of whom predict price [...]

Bad hair, big ankles, brilliant goalscorer – that just about sums up Sparky.

I’m sure we’re all agreed that Lille should be punished in some way for their part in last night’s Champions League tie with Man Utd. Neither their players, coaching staff, fans or the authorities at the ground (which was actually Len’s stadium, not Lille’s) covered themselves in glory. I don’t think Uefa will chuck them [...]

So the Quarter Final draw has been made for the FA Cup and the big guns have been kept apart once more. Middlesbrough or West Brom v Manchester United or Reading Arsenal or Blackburn v Manchester City Chelsea v Tottenham Plymouth v Watford The matches will take place on 10 and 11 March. Who do [...]