Round two to Chelsea

So it's the big one. The season finale. The moment we find out who has earned the right to be crowned the best team in Europe.

And, just like this season's Premier League, it once again boils down to a straight fight between Manchester United and Chelsea, although this time they have to fly all the way to Moscow to do battle.

Round one went to Sir Alex and his boys but I get the distinct impression it is going to be a different story in the Russian capital.

Before last Sunday's decisive games a United fan asked me who would win what and I told him whoever won the league would end up disappointed in Europe. And, stubbornly, possibly even stupidly, I stand by that prediction.

Domestically, I think it would have been criminal if Chelsea had edged out United. With their effective but dull brand of football they simply didn't deserve it.

But the Champions League final is a one-off match and we have already seen in recent weeks that Chelsea are more than capable of raising their game to almost unrecognisable levels when they need to. When they beat United a few weeks ago they did so by abandoning their sleep-inducing approach and playing attacking football that was entertaining and exciting.

And I very much see a repeat of that performance at the Luzhniki Stadium.

Don't get me wrong. I am not writing off United. Only a fool would ever dream of dismissing a team as full of ability and confidence as the boys from Old Trafford. In Ronaldo alone they have a man who is quite capable of winning any game single-handedly although his Real Madrid comments won't have helped preparations.

But Chelsea are hurting from their last-day-of-the-season failure and will be further driven by the fact they have never won the Champions League. And, if they really want to be considered one of Europe's elite, they know that's something they need to rectify.

Another decisive factor is the venue. Being so many miles from England, neither team has a geographical advantage. But Chelsea have a certain chap called Roman on their side and I am sure he will be pulling one or two strings to make sure his team are that little bit more comfortable in their surroundings. Either pulling the strings or buying them.

As a neutral though, I would suggest that the single most important thing to come out of the game should be the football itself. It is the first time in history that the European Cup final has been contested by two English teams and, as such, it has the potential to be a magnificent advert for the English game.

So, what will the final score be? Well, I am always reluctant to gaze that far into my crystal ball. Get it wrong and you look like a muppet, get it right and you kick yourself for not betting your house on it.

But, if you insist, I will go for a 2-1 to Chelsea. Ronaldo to score first but Chelsea to hit back with two late goals to clinch the trophy.

The odds against that happening are currently 100 to 1 so don't all rush out to place your bets. I won't be.

Having said that, if it does pan out that way and I haven't had the courage of my convictions, it won't be hard to spot me.

I will be the one sitting in the corner sobbing quietly...

Sven the going gets tough

When Sven Goran Eriksson was England manager I hated every second of it.

Actually, that's not entirely true. The 5-1 win over Germany was a beautiful occasion that will stay with me forever. But, that brief moment of joy aside, his reign was otherwise a perfect example of how being unable to motivate your players creates dire, tedious and mediocre football. In fact I think it is fair to say the only genuinely exciting part about Sven's time in charge was discovering which luckless beauty was the latest to fall for his very well hidden sex appeal. How so many women failed to notice they were sleeping with Mr Burns from the Simpsons is beyond me.

When he finally left the job it was like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. And he probably felt the same. When he took the England position he was widely seen as one of the greatest club managers in the world. By the time he left his reputation was in tatters.

But then came Manchester City. A fresh start and chance for him to show the world his time with England was only a career blip.

Fair enough, despite a flying start, it wasn't the greatest of first seasons. But he did enough to show that his previous club successes had not been purely down to luck.

And given time I got the distinct impression he could turn City into a force to be reckoned with in the Premier League. Essentially, in just one season at Eastlands he did much to repair his reputation and I, like many others, am genuinely starting to warm to his pseudo-intellectual approach to football.

Yet, to use Glen Hoddle's theory, it looks like the negative karma from his England days is coming back to haunt him.

City's Thai owner Thaksin Shinawatra is a man who is used to instant success. His immense fortune allows him to buy just about anything he wants from multi-national corporations to elections.

And, in City's case, he seems to think the millions he has spent should have bought him a title. Now that has failed to materialise he is set to dismiss Sven and replace him Felipe Scolari.

What Shinawatra has failed to realise is that ninth place in the Premier League, by City's recent standards at least, is success. And a very decent building block for next season. Of course, managers being treated shabbily by billionaire owners is nothing new. Yet somehow, when Thaksin with his questionable background and flipant attitude is involved, it feels that much more repulsive. As it stands, Sven is hanging on to his job like a drunk at a rodeo, refusing to let go despite the obvious attempts to throw him off. He has even agreed to take the team on their post-season tour of Thailand. I can only imagine he is doing this for financial reasons - waiting for the big payout that will come if he is fired rather than walk away and get peanuts.

As we learned from his time with England, Sven is a shrewd businessman who is not afraid of earning vast sums of money for doing very little.

And while that was a particularly irritating trait when England were involved, considering his current paymaster it is an absolutely fantastic one. Just to make the whole situation all the more bizarre, Thaksin has apparently written to every member of the squad informing them they are all for sale. It was a move that prompted City chairman John Wardle to apologise to the players for selling the club to Shinawatra in the first place.

I had a bad feeling about Thaksin when he first bought the club and said at the time anybody with his reputation shouldn't be allowed anywhere near English football.

The man is a danger to the very fabric of the game and, if the Football Association has any pride left, they should start looking at ways of getting him out.

Your say

"I found your comments about Chelsea this week highly offensive. Saying that watching them play this season has been like watching paint dry is both unfair and very wide of the mark.

"Despite what you may think, Chelsea have put in some excellent performances and scored some magnificent goals in the process. I have watched every one of their league and European games this season and I don't recall being bored once.

"Maybe you should look closer to home if you want boring teams. Sheffield United have hardly been setting the Championship alight with their brand of electric, passing, free-flowing football."
Mike Mills, e-mail.

"As a neutral (Spurs) fan I have to agree with you that Manchester United deserved the title this season. Even though they finished a close second, Chelsea's style of football was never anything even close to United's.

"I just hope that next season one or two of the teams from outside the big four can also mount a title challenge. Obviously I would like it to be Spurs but I can't see that happening even if we do keep Berbatov.

"My next choice would be Aston Villa and I think that is a possibility if their owner decides to give O'Neil some decent money to spend on some decent players."
G. Debono, e-mail.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com