Manchester United & Schalke 04 completed this season's edition of the UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals in what was a rather open match as Schalke was chasing a 2-0 deficit at Old Trafford. Were they able to accomplish the turnover or did Manchester United finish off the tie setting up a mouth-watering match-up against FC Barcelona.
Manchester United came into the tie knowing that a 0-0 finish would suffice to see them progress into the Final at the Wembley Stadium against FC Barcelona. Did they sit back? Sir Alex Ferguson wouldn't consider such an option as they came out with several alterations implementing Berbatov, Scholes, Gibson and Smalling into the starting XI. Schalke came out eager to score but were met by a United side just as keen to do so.
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| Rooney, Hernandez, Park & Giggs were all left out of the starting XI. |
United put a dent into the visitors hope after Gibson played a sublime through pass to Antonio Valencia who slotted the ball into Neuer's goal. A few Moments later, United seemingly settled the affair when Valencia returned Gibson's favor as Gibson powered a shot towards Neuer who mishandled the shot leading to United's second goal of the evening. The visitors would find some relief before the half as Spanish midfielder Jurado managed to pull one back via a cross after United's defense suffered a rare moment in lapse. However, for the most part, Manchester United dominated the match in the first half and were only 45 minutes away from a match some may call as redemption against FC Barcelona.
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| Jurado: Schalke's goal-scorer. |
The second half saw more of the same really as United controlled possession and Schalke began looking frustrated as nothing seemed to be working. United was a bit more conservative early in the 2nd half, but were terrorizing Schalke's defense via counters with Nani and Valencia dominating the flanks. Then came the dagger as Anderson put United's 3rd goal through after he converted his second attempt on a pass which came from Nani. It took only a few moments for United to grab their 4th goal and virtually put the tie completely out of reach for Schalke as Anderson was once again the man in position when he slid the ball into an empty net via Berbatov's cross.
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| Anderson scored a brace which sent United into the UEFA Champions League Final. |
Manchester United will take on FC Barcelona on May 28th at the Wembley Stadium after progressing 6-1 on agg. It should be an entertaining match as Barcelona look to seal their 2nd title in 3 years while Manchester United look to avenge their defeat to the Catalan's back on that warm night in Rome 2 years ago. Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola already expects to see a different United as some faces have changed and he was present at Old Trafford tonight to observe the match. United featured the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez against Barcelona in 2007, who have since then moved away to Real Madrid and Manchester City.
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| Pep Guardiola was a guest at Old Trafford this evening as he plans ahead for what could be his 2nd European title. |
FC Barcelona will go into the tie favored which comes as no surprise given their dominating play this season and United's inconsistencies throughout the season. However, I for one am hoping that the match will be an open affair with both sides giving it their all until the final whistle.
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| Manchester United look to add some more European Silverware and also improve on their European legacy. |
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