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MU in the final!
Scholes has led his team to the final. In the two-legged tie between MU and Barcelona, everything was decided by a goal from the English veteran Paul Scholes.
"Now it's the opponent's turn to think about goals," was the sentiment coming from the Catalan camp before the Champions League return semi-final against MU. The Catalans were hinting that their first goal against Van der Sar would force the English side to score twice. However, they seemingly failed to realize that things could go completely differently and they might concede right at the start.
Looking at the lineups - one substitution in each of the opposing teams. For Barca, Marques, who missed the match due to accumulated cards, was replaced by the Blaugrana captain Carles Puyol, while for the Red Devils, Rooney, injured in the league match against Chelsea, was unable to take the field - Nani, the Portuguese player, appeared in his place. Vidic, who had been announced by Ferguson, also did not play, leaving Brown in the center of defense and Hargreaves on the right flank.
Rijkaard intended to breach MU's goal with an opening onslaught - at the start of the match, the Catalans pinned the English side deep in their own half and for about 5 minutes showed no intention of letting them out. As early as the 50th second, Messi almost won a penalty in a struggle with Scholes, but he fell about a meter from the penalty area line closer to the right flank. The set-piece did not succeed - Leo hit the wall, and Xavi's cross was inaccurate.
The visitors combined frequently and for long periods near the Mancunians' goal, but it never quite came to a shot on target. The ball control, of course, was absolutely stunning - in one episode, the Barca players held it for about 2 minutes, and then Deco suddenly launched Messi into a breakthrough, but hit the ball far too hard.
And MU opened the scoring in what was essentially their second attack. The goal came from nowhere - Ronaldo was moving from the left flank toward the penalty area but lost the ball to Zambrotta, who for some reason decided to roll it into the center instead of to the flank or back. As a result - Scholes picked it up and unleashed a devastating strike from 25 meters into the far top corner! How many such goals has Scholesy scored in his career! But this one is one of the most important.
And what dangerous chances the teams exchanged 5 minutes later! First, Messi outran Scholes and Brown at immense speed and fired into the far corner - Van der Sar saved it! In the counter-attack, Ronaldo from the left edge of the area squared it for Park, and the Korean hit a precise low shot - centimeters from the post.
The Catalans began to surprise with childish mistakes in defense. As if following Zambrotta's example, Toure gave the ball to Nani, and with Park's involvement, the Portuguese player passed it to Scholes, but this time the defenders prevented Paul from shooting.
At this point, Manchester's momentum faded, and the Catalans regained the initiative. Deco, who had failed in the first meeting, was active - within two minutes, he shot twice at Van der Sar's goal, but missed slightly both times.
It must be noted that the Dutch goalkeeper almost suffered an injury from his own teammate. Wes Brown managed to hit Edwin in the head quite hard a couple of times, and after the second episode, Van der Sar even needed medical assistance. Fortunately for Ferguson, the team, and the Red Devils fans, everything turned out fine.
Towards the end of the half, Nani could have settled all questions, but while finishing Park's cross from the left flank, he sent the ball just wide of the post. Rijkaard was given 15 minutes to somehow influence his charges.
But the Barca players didn't start well - only a desperate tackle by Eric Abidal prevented Nani from putting the ball into Valdes' goal in the 53rd minute. Immediately after, Ronaldo and Tevez played a classic one-two, resulting in the Argentine breaking into an excellent position for a shot. He took advantage of it, but not very successfully - the ball went straight to the visitors' goalkeeper.
Just as Rijkaard's men managed to establish some sort of ball control - Deco even attempted a shot, but hit Brown - MU almost scored again. Ronaldo and Nani, the explosive compatriots, broke away toward Valdes' goal, but Luis stumbled and sent the ball high over the crossbar.
The Catalans' coach finally decided to throw Thierry Henry into the battle, but strangely enough, the former terror of Old Trafford only stood out in two moments - a curling shot into Van der Sar's arms and an inaccurate pass to Valdes, after which the ball went out for a corner.
Then all reserves were used - both Krkic and Gudjohnsen, but even this didn't help. Barcelona didn't even really mount a final assault! Just some awkward, mindless attempts that could barely be called attacks. MU, in turn, also forgetting about attacking, defended calmly until the final whistle. The only reason for disappointment was the injury to Evra, who collided with Ronaldo and Deco and left the field on a stretcher.
Tomorrow we will find out Ferguson's team's opponent for the English final, and today we can sympathize with Frank Rijkaard - a failure in La Liga and being knocked out one step before the deciding match of the Champions League could put a cross through his career as the manager of the Blaugranas.
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