Alcohol is not going to be top of the agenda when Manchester United meet Barcelona in the Champions League final in Rome.

How refreshing. Perhaps football will take centre-stage rather than how many pints fans can get down their neck before kick-off.

Most people like a drink or two as part of their entertainment but alcohol has played too great a part in crowd trouble over the years and it would be a shame to spoil a potentially fantastic match.

Full marks therefore to the Mayor of Rome who has slapped a ban on the sale of alcohol from 11am on May 26 to 6am on May 28.

No doubt there will be some bottles getting through but Manchester United fans won’t want to tangle with the Spanish police whose numbers have been substantially swelled for the occasion.

More than 67,000 fans are expected in Rome to watch a match being billed as the decider between the best two teams in the world. Barcelona have already done the double this season and Manchester United are riding high after clinching their 11th Premiership title.



Fans are convinced the Red Devils can retain the Champions League cup won in Moscow last year. They believe the team is better than last year and are relying on either Rooney or Ronaldo to slot home a goal or two.

There’s certainly been cheering news on the fitness front. After facing what he described as the toughest fitness battle of his career, it looks as though Rio Ferdinand has recovered from a calf injury. It has ruled him out for the last three weeks, including the final match against Hull, but he has been out training with the squad and Sir Alex Ferguson is confident he will play.

Likewise, Wes Brown and Rafael, both of whom picked up an injury during the end of season match, have recovered and will be available for selection. For Barcelona, Thierry Henry and Andres Iniesta also appear to have conquered their fitness problems.

On paper, it should be a great match. Whatever the line-up, there will be 22 fantastic players on the pitch, both advocating attacking play. Will Barcelona’s defence prove the weak point? It remains to be seen but extra time and a penalty decider might well be the only way to split the sides.

The atmosphere in the stadium promises to be electric so Swiss referee Massimo Busacca will need to make his mark early on. He was the man in charge when Barcelona met Manchester United at the Nou Camp in the semi-final last season and also officiated at the 2007 UEFA Cup final.

Hopefully, there will be as much order on the pitch as off it and whatever the result, fans on both sides will remember a great day and a great battle for all the right reasons.

Manchester United won their record-tying, overall 18th championship today (May 16th) at Old Trafford after a 0-0 draw with Arsenal, killing any hopes of a Liverpool miracle comeback. That’s it, it’s all over for this year and it’s really pretty hard to say that it’s not deserved.

Yes, Man United may have dropped quite a few points to the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal during the course of this season, but they beat the teams they’re supposed to beat all season long instead of drawing with them, and this is basically how they earned enough points to take their 11th Premier League title. Liverpool only have themselves to blame after a series of uninspiring 0-0 draws earlier this season with some of the dregs of the league.

While United definitely didn’t look like world beaters today, they did enough against Arsenal to earn the draw and the right to celebrate. The Londoners had quite an edge in possession, but didn’t really create anything out of all the time they had the ball.

Andrei Arshavin came close for the Gunners, while Wayne Rooney almost put the home side in front with a header that just missed the post. Ronaldo saw a free kick curl just wide of the post and Cesc Fabregas slammed a shot off of the upright for Arsenal with a few minutes to go. Robin van Persie shot directly at United keeper Edwin van der Sar about a minute later and that was basically it as far as the offense went. It should also be noted that Arsenal received five yellow cards to none for United.

Though it came as no surprise really that the trophy stays at Old Trafford, it will be interesting to see who’s still around next season to defend it. Will Ronaldo still be there to lead the team in scoring, and will Carlos Tevez be hung on to as a source of energy from the bench? It appears Gary Neville may as well hang up his boots now as he’s fighting injury after injury and his recovery time is taking longer now because of his age. Wes Brown and Owen Hargreaves might as well be shipped out as well as they don’t seem to want to put in the effort to play, injured or not. They strike me as players who are perfectly satisfied in cashing their paycheques instead of working hard on their fitness, and are constantly injured because of it.

For United to improve, they need to cut the dead wood and give more playing time to youngsters such as Fabio, Rafael, Jonathan Evans, Rodrigo Possebon, Federico Macheda, goalkeeper Ben Foster, and perhaps striker Danny Welbeck. Of course, it’s hard to argue with Sir Alex Ferguson’s managerial record, but he can also show some improvement by taking every FA Cup and League Cup game seriously. He needs to at least dress his best players and have them ready on the bench just in case they’re needed, instead of leaving them at home.

With a combination of excellent depth, youth, and experience, there’s no reason United can’t hang onto the title again next year as well.