>Here we are folks!

Today is the day...

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On my PREVIOUS POST I promise I would be here reporting my impressions on the match as it happens... So here I am...

Just waiting for the Kick Off...

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FORMATIONS

CHELSEA FC (4-5-1)	MANCHESTER UNITED (4-3-3)
1- Cech	1- Van der Sar
5- Essien	6- Brown
6- Ricardo Carvalho	15- Vidic
26- Terry	5- Ferdinand
3- A. Cole	3- Evra
10- J. Cole	16- Carrick
8- Lampard	18- Scholes
4- Makelele	4- Hargreaves
13- Ballack	7- C. Ronaldo
15- Malouda	10- Rooney
11- Drogba	32- Tevez
SUBS.: 23 Cudiccini, 20 Paulo Ferreira, 18 Bridge, 12 Mikel, 21 Kalou, 7 Shevchenko, 39 Anelka	SUBS.: 29 Kuszczak, 22 ÒShea, 27 Silvestre, 8 Anderson, ..Nani , 11 Giggs, 9 Saha

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FIRST HALF:

7min - Drogba offside: Chelsea marking firmly and blocking all the spaces. ManU tried a cross that was cleared by Chelsea's defense

15min - Ronaldo moves: The portuguese star leaves Essien in the dust and crosses in the box. The ball goes too high and Chelsea's defense clears it. ManU looking more confortable on the pitch now.

19min - Corner for ManU: nobody heads it in and the ball goes all the way to the left. ManU still attacking

21min - Bad Ref: In a ball dispute in the air Scholes and Makelele bump and the referee gives the french a yellow card for apparently no reason.

23min - Corner for Chelsea: after Vidic heads the ball out of bounds Lampard takes the corner. The ref calls an offensive foul. Nothing else.

26min - GOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLL: Manchester has been dominating possession and after a perfect crossing from Brown, Cristiano Ronaldo heads the ball also perfectly away from Cech. Great goal for the man who can make all the difference in this match. ManU 1-0 Chelsea!

Chelsea will have to play a little bit more aggressive if they want to get back in this game. ManU scored the goal and still controls the match. Drogba is playing too isolated up front. Chelsea midfielders are playing too far behind. Ballack and Lampard need to get into the game.

33-35min: Almost - twice: It all happened while I was typing Chelsea moves up a little more and Van der Sar saves a almost certain goal them ManU instantly pays back. A great move by Rooney ends with a header and a shot that forced Cech to save the Blues twice.

40min: Chelsea moves their players up a little trying to balance the game. Ashley Cole falls near the box but the referee doesn't give him the foul.

44min: Great opportunity: Ballack takes a free kick near the box but the ball flies over the crossbar.

45min: GGGGOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL: Chelsea ties things up. After moving their player up Chelsea finally get what they've been looking for. Lampard picks up a ball in the box and kicks it in after Van de Sar slips. ManU 1-1 Chelsea

END OF FIRST HALF:

Manchester United dominated the first 30 minutes of the game. They got their goal and seemed much more aggressive. But something finally clicked inside Chelsea's players and the Blues responded little by little by occupying more space in midfield and even Essien came up.

The Blues got their equalizer in the very last minute of the with the captain Frank Lampard. Exactly in the first real moment Essien participated in the attack.

I'm hoping for a great second half.

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SECOND HALF

Teams back on the pitch. Chelsea's goal in the very end may have given the Blues a good psychological advantage.

None of the teams are very happy with the referee's performance. Neither is this reporter. The man in black made some really bogus calls

52min: More bad Ref - The referee Lubos Michel doesn't give Chelsea a clear corner kick. The match is much more balanced in second half.

55min: Essien moving up - The Ghanese is dangerous in long range shots. He forces Ronaldo to step back following him, wins in the physical contact and shoots with the left. The ball flies over the bar.

57min: Chelsea time - The Blues are playing better the the Red Devils now. With more control of the midfield and a closer marking.

59min: Too much contact - Makelele elbows Hargreaves under the eyes of the linesman. Foul given but no yellow card. (it would have been his second)

65min: Chelsea being much more aggressive now. No clear chances to score but the Blues are looking more and more dangerous.

67min: Oh cramp! - Ferninand goes down in his own box feeling cramps. Lampard is also down on the sideline receiving treatment for cramps...

76min: Referee oh referee - Malouda falls inside ManU's box. He had his right foot touched by Ferdinand. Not too obvious but certainly a foul. And fouls inside the box means what? PENALTY. The referee didn't think so

78min: Drogba is alive - Isolated for most part of the striker finally has a moment. A beautiful blaster hits Van der Sar's left post

80min: Where's Tevez - The Argentine is not having a good game. Sir Alex Ferguson should consider replacing him if he wants his offense to put pressure on Chelsea's defense.

86min: 759 for Giggs - The record of Sir Bobby Charlton is broken as Ryan Giggs replaces Scholes to make his 759th appearance for Manchester United. A landmark, a moment to remember. Can he also become a hero for his team now?

Chelsea completely shut ManU's offense down in the second half. Rooney, Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo disappeared but after a good suffocating first 20 minutes the match became quite controlled by both teams' defenses. Chelsea could not break through even tough I believe the referee should have awarded the Blues a penalty in the 76th minute.

Now we go to extra-time and stamina will be fundamental. Lampard and Ferdinand already felt cramps in the second half.

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EXTRA TIME - 1st HALF

After 5 minutes to rest and some players from Chelsea having received muscle massages Manchester United and Chelsea kicks off in extra time.

92min: Rooney is alive: Rooney attempts a one-two play with Tevez that is intercepted by J. terry inside Chelsea's penalty area.

94min: Saved by the crossbar - Oh my Goodness!!! What a great passing play for Chelsea. Ends up with a great lefty by Lampard that hits Van der Sar left top corner crossbar. So close!!! I bet ManU fans almost held their breath on this one

97min: A rarity in this match. Chelsea created a fast counter-attack butr Essien took too long too and the ball was knocked out of bounds

98min: Sub for Chelsea: Anelka replaces Joe Cole. Chelsea is going forward.

100min: Almost glory for Giggs: Terry heads out a shot from Giggs, after a great play from Evra on the left side, that had a certain address.

101min: Sub for ManU: Nani comes in for Rooney who didn't really play well. Actually who didn't even seen to be on the pitch at all

Manchester United re-balanced the action in the match. Anelka still didn't have a chance to touch the ball for Chelsea and Nani is playin open on the right side of the attack. The first half of extra time ends with both teams still fighting to find the winning goal and the rain making the pitch heavier, the ball harder to control and the players legs more and more tired.

EXTRA TIME - 2nd HALF

110min: Anelka's on the run - On his first good opportunity the French striker is stopped by Vidic with a hard slide tackle. Yellow card for the defender and a good chance for Chelsea.

111min: Drogba canon - Didier Drogba takes the free kick. A powerful shot but off the left post.

113min: ManU pressure - After almost ten minutes of inactivity, Tevez runs back to misfield to recover the ball and pull the Red Devils forward. Good play to remind Chelsea that ManU is still alive.

114min: Losing their heads - Lubos Michel shows a red card to Drogba after he slapped Vidic in the face. The match gets tense. Ballack also got a yellow.

117min: Yellow card for Essien

119min: Giggs receives a pass behind Chelsea's defense but the flag is up. He was offside.

120min + 4min:Subs for Chelsea and ManU- Belleti comes in to replace Makelele and Anderson takes Brown's place.

120min +5min: The referee blows the whistle.

A very good match. A true title deserving performance for both sides. Chances for both sides and an amazing defensive work from both sides and what I have to admire and admit: no slide tackles, no violent plays, just clean and efficient defense.

But it's all comes to the penalty shootout. Some say it all depends on luck. I say it's state of mind and competence maybe with a 5% of luck . And it's about to start... here are the shooters for each team:

Manchester United

* TEVEZ - GOOOOAAAALLLL

* CARRICK - GOOOOAAAALLL

* C. RONALDO - SAVED BY CECH!!! AWFUL PENALTY!!! Why does he do all that fancy stuff? to take a penalty??

* HARGREAVES - GOOOOAAAALLL

* NANI - GOOOOOAAAALLL

* ANDERSON - GOOOOAAAALLLL

* GIGGS - GOOOOAAAALLLL

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Chelsea

* BALLACK - GOOOOAAAALLL

* BELETTI - GOOOOOAAALLL

* LAMPARD - GOOOOAAALLL

* A. COLEY - GOOOOOAAALLL

* TERRY - MISSED. He slipped and the ball hits the post and went out...

* KALOU - GOOOOAAALLLL

* ANELKA - SAVED BY VAN DER SAR!!! Amazing save by Van der Sar...

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MANCHESTER UNITED CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!!!

GLORY GLORY GLORY FOR THE RED DEVILS!!!!!

Post your comments...

Celebrate, discuss!!!

Congratulations to the RED DEVILS!!!!

The stage in Moscow is ready to host the Champions League final match and by now so are the main attractions - Chelsea and Manchester United.

The first two British teams meet in the final. The same two teams that fought for the Premier League title this season and definitely two of the most "international"squads in the world today.

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Chelsea's squad brings together players from 14 different nationalities and with a Russian owner The Blues might as well add a 15^th fan nation to support them. The ruski.

On their list of main foreign players Chelsea has:

• Peter Cech (Czech Republic)
• Makelele, Malouda and Anelka (France)
• Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal)
• Drogba and Kalou (Ivory Coast)
• Essien (Ghana)
• Ballack (Germany)
• Beletti and Alex (Brazil)
• Schevchenko (Ukraine)

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Manchester United's list of "internationals" is not too far behind. The Red Devils have 13 different nationalities on their squad and with the success in this season's EPL, ManU arrives in Moscow with the "favourites" badge.

Besides that the team has probably the most popular European footballer at this moment. Cristiano Ronaldo is at the top of his game and filled with desire to crown his amazing season with the most important club title of the continent.

Ryan Giggs is another player on the ManU squad that has an extra reason to celebrate in case his team wins the Champions League. It will be his 759^th appearance wearing the red shirt of United. He will then beat Sir Bobby Charlton record.

Along with the Portuguese star, Ronaldo, and the Wales born Ryan Giggs, other international players are crucial for ManU's title ambitions.

• Van der Saar (Holland)
• Saha and Silvestre (France)
• Anderson (Brazil)
• Fletcher (Scotland)
• Tevez (Argentina)
• Park (South Korea)

It's a Champions League Final with World Cup level players.

Who will be the ultimate star of the match in your opinion?

On Wednesday I'll be following and reporting my impressions live here on Samba Soccer Club.

Stay tuned!!!