Manchester United return to Barcelona’s Nou Camp stadium on Wednesday, the scene of one of their greatest victories, with the Champions League final again in their sights. The reigning English champions and Premiership leaders face the Catalan club, who won the 2006 Champions League, on Wednesday in the first leg of a semifinal tie.
When David Beckham came off the field after 65 minutes on Sunday, he looked doomed to leave Real Madrid empty-handed. But his teammates provided the send-off he dearly wanted with a 3-1 win over Mallorca which gave Real Madrid a record 30th Spanish league title.
It was 17 or 18 seconds depending on your watch but the Spanish title dramatically fell into Real Madrid’s grasp on Saturday, in roughly the amount of time it takes to run the length of a football pitch. In that short space of time, Ruud van Nistelrooy gave Madrid a last gasp equaliser in their 2-2 draw at Real Zaragoza barely a minute before the whistle.
Sevilla can continue to dream about becoming only the second team to retain the UEFA Cup despite a narrow 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the quarterfinal first leg in Seville on Thursday. However, the Spaniards were dealt a very early blow when Robbie Keane got one of the quickest goals seen in European competition this season.
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/ 22 February 2007
Only a few days ago, Liverpool’s Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise were battling each other in a training-camp fracas, but the pair joined forces to give Liverpool a memorable 2-1 win at Barcelona on Wednesday. One goal from each man made Liverpool the overwhelming favourites to progress to the Champions League quarterfinals.
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/ 21 February 2007
Three-time African Player of the Year Samuel Eto’o has been left out of the Barcelona squad to play Liverpool in their Champions League last 16 first-leg match on Wednesday. The Catalan club said on Tuesday that last season’s Spanish First Division top scorer would miss the clash between the last two Champions League winners because he was still not 100% fit.
John Oosterhuizen carried on South Africa’s javelin tradition at the IAAF World Junior Championships, becoming the third man from his country to get a gold medal in the event in Beijing on Saturday. Oosterhuizen sent the javelin out to a championship record 83,07m in the second round to kill the competition as a contest.
Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane scored on his final appearence at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium but visitors Villarreal soured his goodbye party by holding the Spanish giants to 3-3 draw on Sunday. It was a bittersweet finale for the French legend and three-time World Player of the Year, who did not have one of the better games of his career despite his crucial goal which brought Real level to 2-2 just after the hour.
Real Madrid’s three-time World Player of the Year Ronaldo couldn’t hide his relief after finally finding the net following 36 barren days in which the Spanish giants have gone into a downward spiral. Ronaldo’s injury-time goal salvaged a point in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Real Zaragoza, the team which humiliated Real 6-1 in the Spanish Cup last month.
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/ 20 February 2006
England skipper David Beckham said here on Sunday he was about to start talks about new contract with Real Madrid. ”I haven’t talked to the president [Florentino Perez] but I hope to in about two weeks,” said the world’s richest football player at a press conference.