Chelsea and Manchester United
Rivals Compete for Premiership, FA Cup and European Champions League
Chelsea and Manchester United could meet in three competitions over the final weeks of the season - Premiership, FA Cup and possibly the Champions League Final.
Chelseaand Manchester United are battling it out in three competitions and could meet in three vital contests during the final weeks of the English Premiership season.
Premiership:
The two teams have been competing all season for the Premiership title and following the results over the Easter weekend, Chelsea, the reigning Champions, have reduced United's lead to three points. Chelsea gained an important 1-0 win win over London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, while United surprisingly lost their game at Portsmouth. Both clubs have six games remaining and the penultimate game of the season is when the two clubs clash at Stamford Bridge. This match could be the defining game of the season to determine the Premiership winners.
FA Cup Final:
Last weekend both clubs won their FA Cup semi-final games and now they will meet at Wembley on Saturday, 18th May. Manchester United defeated Watford 4-1 at Villa Park with goals from Wayne Rooney (2), Cristiano Ronaldo and Keiran Richardson. Chelsea found their opponents, Blackburn Rovers, slightly more difficult with the game going into extra time. Chelsea had taken a first half lead through Frank Lampard but Blackburn Rovers equalised midway through the second half. It took a late save from the Chelsea goalkeeper, Petr Cech, to take the game into extra time, when the German international, Michael Ballack scored the winner. The FA and the media have the FA Cup Final that they had been wanting for the first Final at the new Wembley Stadium.
Champions League Final:
A third possible meeting between these two clubs is the Champions League Final in Athens, Greece on the Wednesday evening following the FA Cup Final. LiverpoolandAC Milan may have other views on this matter as they stand in the way of the two clubs' progress as their semi-final opponents. Following their comprehensive win over Roma, Manchester United will return to Italy to play AC Milan while Chelsea will meet Premiership rivals, Liverpool in the other semi-final. Chelsea and Liverpool met at the same stage of the competition two years ago when Liverpool were successful and went on to win the Final in a penalty shoot-out.
There is much to play for in the final six weeks of the season and Chelsea who have already won the Carling Cup are hoping to make it a clean sweep by winning all four trophies while Manchester United's manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, is convinced that United can win the 'treble' and emulate the success of his 1999 team.
