Champions League Final: Live Blogging

Random thoughts while watching today's Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea, the first between two English teams.

• Man, is the United back four shaky or what? They haven't had a solid clearance yet
• Lampard's corners are always pinpoint and potentially scores.
• Unfortunate touch from Carrick for a corner at 67 minutes.
  
• Ferdinand is hurt, cramping certainly. Can we blame the pitch for this one?
• O'Shea or Silvestre in the ready?
• Tevez with an impressing wrestling takedown on Makelele.
• Rooney finally involved in a play that ends in a United corner. Where's he been?
• Pretty dreadful second half so far.
• Hmmm, touch and go on Malouda in the box. Good no-call
• United's strikers are so wide. First it was Ronaldo, now Tevez
• Drogba rings the post, amazing effort to free himself and the shot beat Van der Sar. 78 minutes
• Tevez needs to come off. He's just out of sync, taking the body first on all occasions.
  
• Ferdinand fell and Malouda got some space, Drogba's shot is high. Was it the pitch, his injury? More Rio woes.
• Good luck and shot from Tevez, 81 minutes
• Giggs getting warm. 759 appearances if he does come on, one more than Sir Bobby Charlton
• Cole and Drogba nearly put Chelsea atop.
• Giggs is indeed coming in. Scholes out.
• Looks like extra time. Bummer.
  

Champions League Final: Live Blogging

Random thoughts while watching today's Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea, the first between two English teams.

• Second half kicks off
  
• Ballack really doesn't like Ronaldo. Shoved him, Ronaldo "dove", Ballack got called
• Joey Cole getting more involved -- should have won a corner. Bad call.
  
• Ronaldo and Evra just combined on a great give and go, Evra's cross is too far for Hargreaves, but another golden opportunity. Tevez can't finish. Passes are a shade off. Could this bode well for Chelsea?
• Essien makes a wonderful run, but his shot is too high.
• We're back to the ugly style of play that dominated the first 15. The game needs a goal to open things up again. The final 20 of the first half were quality.
• It's midnight in Moscow.
  
• Vidic with a saving, yet shaky header to safety in front of Drogba. Corner Chelsea and Drogba heads it over the bar.
• Ballack hits a quality drive wide; too much room, too much time to think
  
• Wonder if Scholes can breathe?
• Makelele takes down Hargreaves, hits him in the nose. With a yellow, that's chancy for the Chelsea M
• Man. U., 1 goal, 2 broken noses. This is Grant's strategy?
• Chelsea is in Hargreaves' head.
• Chelsea is being very physical, especially in the Man. U. end
• Ballack is either a douche, or immensely intense
• Man of the match? Hmmm, I may elevate Cech to No. 1 right now the way this is going. Hargreaves 2, Vidic and Ronaldo tied for 3?
• 65 minutes, 1-1

Champions League Final: Live Blogging -- Chelsea Ties It, 1-1

Random thoughts while watching today's Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea, the first between two English teams.

• Tevez again had the second United goal on his foot and missed it. This time a great Rooney roller that made it little Carlos. Incredulous miss.
• Man of the Match? Hargreaves and Ronaldo definitely 1-2, Cech 3
• GOAL CHELSEA, Frank Lampard. Incredible gaffe by Ferdinand turning his back on the play twice. The ball deflects to Lampard who finds an open net to tie the game at the half.

Champions League Final: Live Blogging

Random thoughts while watching today's Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea, the first between two English teams.

• Paul Scholes looks awful. Stuffed with cotton, he looks like an old pug who doesn't know better to stay in his corner and toss in the towel.
• The goal is Ronaldo's first against Chelsea, 42nd of the year.
  
• This may get ugly. Essien is either tired or shell-shocked as Ronaldo is starting to have his way in terms of freedom down the left side. Manchester United is imposing its will on the game and Chelsea is doing little to adjust. It's here where United has a big advantage; Sir Alex will outcoach Avram Grant. Now Drogba is cramping, adding to Grant's conundrum. How does he respond?
• How solid is Rio Ferdinand and Vidic!
  
• Not much imagination from Chelsea; dumping long balls from the back somewhat in Drogba's direction. Where's the imagination from the midfield.
• Easy on my praise for United's defense. Ferdinand just cocked up an easy Drogba cross to the short box that Ballack couldn't put away with a header. Nice punch out from Van der sar.
• Petr Cech! First on Tevez from Ronaldo then the rebound off Carrick. Wow.
• Tremendous sequence for both keepers, especially Cech. Every venture downfield for United is a threat on goal. Ronaldo has solved Essien, no question. Calling Mr. Grant. This is why you get paid!
• Can Chelsea survive to halftime down only one goal?
• 40 minutes, Manchester United 1, Chelsea 0
  

Champions League Final: Live Blogging -- Manchester United 1, Chelsea 0

Random thoughts while watching today's Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea, the first between two English teams.

• How long does Ferguson keep Ronaldo out so wide. He's playing right on the touch line. Drawing him to the middle of the pitch could open a lane for Evra. Or switching fields puts Tevez on that seemingly vulnerable side of the Chelsea defense.
• GOAL -- MANCHESTER UNITED Ronaldo bashes in a header on a Wes Brown cross. Brown got a lot of room at the top of the box for the cross and Essien forgot where Ronaldo was. Ronaldo skied way high for the header, 26 minutes.
  
• Manchester United 1, Chelsea 0
  

Champions League Final: Live Blogging

Random thoughts while watching today's Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea, the first between two English teams.

• Too bad this isn't being played at Wembley.
• Ashley Cole does indeed start; Makelele on the take trying to put Cole out of action in training?
• Lots of chippy fouls early, hopefully this isn't a trend for the whole afternoon.
  
• United defense doing a poor job clearing the ball from trouble in the first 5 minutes.
• My God, Clarence Seedorf is the third man in the booth with Derek Rae and Tommy Onion Bags on the ESPN telecast. Why? 5 minutes in, and he's forgetting names and repeating himself that it's significant Ronaldo is playing on the left side. We get it already.
• Two quality crosses from Owen Hargreaves already.
  
• Surprised really that so much of Chelsea's game is going through Malouda.
• Park Ji-Sung? Calling Park Ji-Sung!
• Early analysis: Cole changes his boots--is the pitch as bad as they said? And, Ronaldo relatively quiet--Essien early man of the match candidate?
• Hmm, check that, Ronaldo just leaves Essien behind and gets off a great cross that Hargreaves missed.
• If it's not Ronaldo, it's Evra down the left side. What does United see there? Whatever it is, it's working
• First corner for Man U: Nada
• First blood: Paul Scholes split open in a collision with Makelele. Looks like the bridge of the nose. Ouch. Yellow for Makelele. And Scholes???? Why either? It was during the run of play, nothing malicious. Wow.
  
• Vidic clears to corner on Lampard center. Wes Brown gave it away to Frank. Corner. Thing is, Van der Sar had it. Nothing from the corner.
  
• 23 minutes, 0-0
  

Champions League Preview: Chelsea Starting Eleven

Chelsea's Starting Eleven for today's Champions League final against Manchester United (2 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

GK Petr Cech
D Ashley Cole
D John Terry
D Ricardo Carvalho
M Joe Cole
M Frank Lampard
M Michael Essien
M Florent Malouda
M Claude Makelele
M Michael Ballack
F Didier Drogba

Substitutes

Juliano Belletti
Carlo Cudicini
Andriy Shevchenko
Salomon Kalou
Alex
John Obi Mikel
Nicolas Anekla

Champions League Preview: Manchester United Starting Eleven

Manchester United's Starting Eleven for today's Champions League final against Chelsea (2 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

GK Edwin Van der Sar
D Rio Ferdinand
D Wes Brown
D Patrice Evra
D Nemanja Vidic
M Paul Scholes
M Owen Hargreaves
M Cristiano Ronaldo
M Michael Carrick
F Wayne Rooney
F Carlos Tevez

Substitutes

John O'Shea
Ryan Giggs
Mikael Silvestre
Darren Fletcher
Tomasz Kuszczak
Nani
Anderson