FOOTBALL CLUB WORLD

Arsenal could not defeat Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium and got a useless 1-1 draw. Robin van Persie scored the opener for the Gunners and Dirk Kuyt netted the equalizer in the very last second of the game.

As dramatic as it sounds, Wenger's men were victorius until minut 101, but a penalty shoot converted by Kuyt crashed Arsenal's hopes. The real winner of this game was Manchester United, absolute leader of the Premier League.

We must mention that Liverpool captain Jamie Carragher left the pitch unconscious after recieving a hard hit in the head. Fortunately, doctors say his condition is stable.

Arsenal dominated the actions more than 90 minutes and Robin Van Persie scored the opener for the locals two minutes before the end. But the crowd at the Emirates Stadium did not expect Liverpool's equalizer in the last minute.

Referee Andre Marriner pointed at the penalty spot in the last moments of the match, only two minutes after the Gunners' opener, and veteran Dirk Kuyt blasted the equalizer for Liverpool.

Captain Carragher was hit in the head, which forced him to leave the game, but remains stable under medical supervision.

Liverpool remains in the 6th position of the Premier League table with 49 points.

Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger said that the second place in the Premier League is a success, and according to him, the team did a great effort to win as many games as they could this season.

This comes after being target of criticism, especially for not winning a title since 2005. The current season was promising, but losses to Birmingham in the FA Cup and to Barcelona in the Champions League were just too much for the fans.

Chelsea's 1-0 win over Wigan was not a good game for Carlo Ancelotti's squad and the coach is aware of the lack of good football in his team. The next rival, Manchester United, will not be as easy as Wigan, and Ancelotti already warned his players: "We must improve to advance".

Manchester United's number in Champions League are far superior compared with Chelsea, but Ancelotti is convinced that among his players there is enough talent to make history at the Old Trafford.

"We are not converting goals. That's why we suffered so much against Wigan. But that's normal in football. If we are at our 100%, we can beat United" said the coach.

Liverpool FC confirmed that their captain Steven Gerrard underwent surgery on his groin, and the recovery time will not be short.

This medical procedure will keep Gerrard from playing for the rest of the Premier League season 2010/2011.

Kenny Dalglish, manager of the club, said that the talented footballer is not having a regular recovery. "Doctors don't know definitively what the problem is... we must wait to get result of some more test. But we know that Gerrard won't be involved again this season" said Dalglish.

The argentinian defender of Barcelona has not been starting the games with Guardiola, and Wenger believes he could be really useful in Arsenal.

Gabriel Milito, who is already 30 years old, is only the second option in Barcelona, where Puyol and Piqué are the lords of the defensive line. And that could be a great opportunity for Arsenal, where they need a leader in that zone of the field.

Neymar proved to be the newest sensation in South American football. The Brazilian striker had an excellent performance this season with Santos as well as with the Brazilian National Team. That's why many powerful european clubs are after him.

The 19-year-old footballer is the objective of Carlo Ancelotti, but Chelsea must make a bigger offer, since Barcelona and Juventus are willing to pay even 34 million euros for him.

However, some newspapers in Brazil suggest that Santos has no intention of selling Neymar, since they want him to be the best player in the world while playing at that club. But we all know that money can change many things.

Chelsea defeated Wigan 1-0 in the Premier League with a late goal scored by Florent Malouda, but the sensation is that the blue team cannot achieve victories easy enough to chase Manchester United in the tournament.

In fact, Wigan was the dominating side in the first half. Only Drogba and Torres managed to create some dangerous strikes for Chelsea.

The goal was result of a confuse move in Wigan's area, but it was enough for Chelsea to keep three points in their bag. As for Fernando Torres, he completed a good game but he could not score yet.

The victory over Barcelona was just two days ago and Arsenal coach Wenger is already thinking in the FA Cup - they play against Leyton on Sunday -, and right after that game, the Premier League will require a new effort, this time against Stoke City.

And in the top of everything, they will face Birmingham in the Carling Cup final.

Despite the tough schedule, Arsenal is advancing in every competition with great success. Something that had not happened in a long time ago.

"My team is eager to win titles" said the French coach. "I gol for every single tournament to the end".

Didier Drogba was designated by Carlo Ancelotti to be part of the starting team against Everton, in the FA Cup.

Coach Ancelotti was eager to give Fernando Torres as many minutes as possible, but he is not eligible for this match.

Even though Drogba is 33 now and the board is probably thinking about Torres becoming their most important strikers for the next years, the African star will prove that he is still a goal-scoring machine.

Russian star Andrey Arshavin came from the bench to score the winner over Barcelona for the Champions League Round of 16. Lionel Messi could not lead his team to victory, and they are now forced to win in the second leg.

Spanish striker David Villa score the opener but Arsenal achieved an amazing comeback: Robin van Persie netted the equalizer and Arshavin sealed the 2-1.

Wenger is confident to beat the catalan team and advance to the quarterfinals.

French coach Arsène Wenger has appointed spanihs star Cesc Fábregas as his permanent Arsenal captain but will welcome the deposed leader, William Gallas, back to his line-up against Dynamo Kiev tonight, confident that the centre-half remains fully committed to the club and will become "stronger as a player" now that he is back among the ranks.

Indeed, Gallas trained with his team-mates, whose spirit and bravery he had questioned publicly last week both in an interview conducted in France and in his autobiography, at London Colney yesterday ahead of a recall for the Champions League group game against the Ukrainians.

We must say that his recall comes after he was dropped from the squad on disciplinary grounds for the weekend defeat at Manchester City. Wenger insisted this was "a new start" for the 31-year-old, but will also hope that Fábregas' appointment will help deflect longstanding interest from Barcelona in re-signing the Spanish midfielder at the end of the season.

The Arsenal boss has attempted to draw a line under a demoralising week at the club, with successive Premier League defeats having left them 10 points adrift of the leaders and Gallas' outburst adding to the sense of chaos. Asked whether he regretted retaining his compatriot as captain in the summer, particularly after his infamous show of petulance at Birmingham City in February, Wenger replied: "I really don't know. I feel the media was out for Gallas and it became increasingly difficult. This season, at the moment, the results are not as good as we expected and the pressure on him was always bigger.

"I must say that William is a player I rate and a man I rate as well. I have a big respect for him and I like him personally. He was working as a captain under big pressure and, at some stage, you do not want this high pressure to affect him or the team.

"He is a player who is committed to the club. He can be stronger as a player. In fact, he took to heart all the problems of the team, so this can be a new start for him and he can be stronger as a player. I believe his team-mates are behind him. He's a fantastic player and I just felt the pressure on him was big and not justified."

Fábregas will relish that pressure, claiming his appointment was "a great honour", with Wenger insistent the 21-year-old boasts "all the qualities of a leader". Yet, while the Spain international attempts to revive Arsenal's season, Gallas must seek to regain the faith of his team-mates.

The Frenchman has not formally apologised to the team for his criticisms - particularly of Robin van Persie - but is understood to regret the disruption his outburst caused. The centre-back jogged with his club-mates in their warm-up yesterday, exchanging the occasional word with Alex Song. "We all respect him," said Gaël Clichy. "He's been sensational for us in the last few years." Yet it remains to be seen how the crowd at the Emirates Stadium receive the centre-half this evening.

Indeed, a victory against Dynamo Kiev, against whom Gallas scored a late equaliser in Ukraine in the opening fixture in Group G, would secure passage into the knockout phase and go some way towards replenishing confidence ahead of Sunday's daunting trip to Chelsea. The manager, who has lost Samir Nasri and Abou Diaby to swell his ranks of walking wounded to nine first-choice players, described the past week as having been "interesting, not more than that" but insisted his squad's spirit had not been wrecked by cliques or the disaffection exposed by their former captain.

"The frustration kicks in when the team don't win and, frankly, I'm not happy when we don't win games," said Wenger. "We are very frustrated and very disappointed, but I don't feel morale is a basic problem in our team. You have to consider the big picture. This team has pushed into the 21st century with a training ground, a stadium and a very young, promising team. We are in a very healthy financial situation contrary to many teams we fight against every week. We are in a global situation which is very, very positive.

"We know, that in terms of points, the situation is not ideal. The most important thing is to win against Kiev, but we go towards a world where our healthy financial situation, a new team and our new stadium will be much more important than anything else. People don't realise that at the moment. They still live in dreamland and are spending more money, but you don't know what kind of world we'll be facing in the next 12 or 16 months. These days you go from catastrophe to fantastic, but real life is in between. It is not all doom and gloom" he concluded.

Chelsea Portuguese boss Luis Felipe Scolari underlined the importance of beating Bordeaux on Wednesday to seal their seventh straight appearance in the Champions League knockout stages with a game to spare.

The charismatic Brazilian proffesor knows last season's beaten finalists came unstuck in their last away game at italian AS Roma when they were thumped 3-1 and is not taking the French outsiders lightly.

"We really need to qualify either tomorrow or against Cluj and reach the second round," he told a press conference here Tuesday.

"As we know, we had a chance against Roma and now we have a second chance. Myself and the players cannot wait for more chances and tomorrow (Wednesday) is the day."

The 60-year-old played down the defeat in Italy and says the group is still wide open with just a one point lead on Roma and Bordeaux with Cluj still in the hunt three points adrift.

"The clash against Roma was a time when they were in crisis and it was a game that if they lost they were out of the competition. They played better than us 100 per cent.

"Look, what I know about French Bordeaux is that they have very good players and the result in the first match was not a normal result.

"I know they are in fifth or sixth in France and they didn't start the competition very well but they have played well since and we respect this team and more. They have six points and we have only seven so there is no difference."

In fact, the Girondins have been hit by the late withdrawal of first choice goalkeeper Ulrich Rame who failed to recover from a hamstring injury which means the gloves will be handed to 25-year-old Matthieu Valverde.

We must mention that Bordeaux are coming off back to back victories over Romanian newcomers CFR Cluj which has lifted them back into contention for a spot in the final 16 but have never beaten English opposition at home in European play.

They were beaten by powerful Manchester United 2-1 in the 1999-2000 Champions League group phase and also lost 1-0 to Liverpool in the 2006-07 pool stage as well.

Their only point at home in European action came way back in the first round of the 1997-98 UEFA Cup first round when they battled Aston Villa to a 1-1 stalemate.

Scolari also made it clear his squad are not thinking about Sunday's showdown with Arsenal in a top of the table Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge and says qualification is crucial and not especially winning the group.

"Myself and the players will not think about Arsenal FC until after the game tomorrow. If we start thinking about Arsenal, we might lose tomorrow.

"In fact, if we have the second leg in the Champions League at home in the next round that it's great but there are two things.

"In the past teams have won the second leg away from home and other times the home team has won but there is not a big difference. The most important thing is to qualify."

In-form French forward Nicolas Anelka hopes to carry his hot touch in the Premier League onto the European stage where he has been misfiring so far in the competition.

"I may be need a bit of luck but the important thing is that we get the win and that the team pick up the three points or at least a draw," said the French forward.

"I know that the match tomorrow will be a lot different from the first match at Stamford Bridge (Chelsea won 4-0) and we are expecting a very tough encounter."

According to the press, some top strikers are voting for the African award, but none are without their baggage. The popular Samuel Eto'o has been frequently linked with a Camp Nou exit, Chelsea hitman Didier Drogba has become all-too-familiar with the Stamford Bridge treatment room and Emmanuel Adebayor has fought tooth-and-nail with the Fédération Togolaise de Football over unpaid bonus monies.

However, Eto'o believes that Ade has done enough - emerging from the shadow of the departed Thierry Henry for the Gunners - to deserve the continent's top individual honour.

Eto'o expressed: "I would have loved to win this award again, but this year has been Adebayor's year. His performances for Arsenal FC and Togo throughout the year have been outstanding. He should win ahead of Drogba and I."

"Honestly, Drogba and I have been afflicted with injuries for some part of the season and it was Adebayor who was flying the African flag."

We must say that Eto'o's backing will be music to Ade's ears as he recovers from an ankle injury.

Explosive forward Didier Drogba's Chelsea future has become surrounded in doubt, with the Blues striker understood to have held discussions with officials at Serie A club Inter Milan, according to a news website.

The popular Drogba is understood to have met with Nerazzurri coach Jose Mourinho’s agent Jorge Mendes and Marco Branca the technical director at the San Siro along with his powerful agent Pierre Frelot at a restaurant in West London.

As we know, former Stamford Bridge manager Mourinho was a huge influence on Drogba, while at Chelsea and had been heavily linked with a move to bring the former Marseille striker to Inter in the summer. However, Drogba, who is currently serving a three-match ban for throwing a coin in the Carling Cup defeat to Burnley, remained at the Premier League side.

Jose Mourinho has an abundance of striker’s at the San Siro, with Hernan Crespo, Adriano, Mario Balotelli, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Julio Cruz and Victor Obinna all fighting for a starting berth upfront for Inter. Despite this Mourinho is expected to offload brazilian Adriano in January, with Balotelli a reported target for Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, while Crespo never made the grade under Mourinho at the Blues.

We must notice that young striker Obinna had been heavily linked with a loan move to Everton in the summer, but this didn’t materialise due to work permit problems and this deal could be resurrected in January, which if as Mourinho has stated recently that some forward’s will leave Inter in January then the path would be clear for Inter to sign Didier Drogba, who would be keen on a reunion with his former boss.

Under-fire French defender William Gallas is not looking to leave Arsenal, the player's agent confirmed on Tuesday.

Indeed, Gallas has been stripped of the Arsenal captaincy after publicly making critical remarks about the team and questioning their fighting spirit and has since been linked with a move away from north London, with Paris St Germain one possible destination.

"I can say that William doesn't express himself and the English media take advantage of that," his agent Etienne Mendy told French paper Aujourd'hui Sport. "They haven't missed a chance to do that ever since his bad-mood gesture last year at Birmingham, and they envisage him leaving Arsenal. That is wrong."

As we know, Gallas was dropped from Arsenal's first team for last Saturday's 3-0 defeat to Manchester City but will be recalled to the starting XI for Tuesday night's Champions League match against Dynamo Kiev.

And Mendy predicted Gallas will come back better then ever: "He has taken the criticism and has already moved on," he added. "Anyway, William is never better than when he has his back to the wall."

We have some information about Arsenal selling Emmanuel Adebayor for €31.5m, but the striker has told the club he only wants a move to AC Milan, and will not join Barcelona.

Milan have stated on numerous occasions that they would like to sign a top class centre forward ahead of next season, and it was widely accepted that Adebayor, Samuel Eto’o and Didier Drogba were the three main targets.

The African striker has been the player that they have been pursuing the most, and it has even been claimed that the Togolese hitman has already agreed personal terms with the San Siro outfit.

Barcelona have also been heavily linked with a move for the 24-year-old, and there have been reports in some papers this week that he was on the verge of signing for them.

But Adebayor has notified the Gunners that he has no intention of joining Barca, and will only accept a move to Milan.

Adebayor’s €100,00-a-week wage demands have left the GunnersArsenal with no other choice but to sell the striker, and the North London outfit will let him go if their asking price of €31.5m is met.

Barcelona director Marc Ingla flew into London on Friday to make a €28m bid, and although this falls just short of what Arsenal are asking for, they would prefer to sell to the Spaniards rather than Milan, who angered them when snapping up Mathieu Flamini on a free transfer.

However, Adebayor is said to have sent an email to Arsene Wenger demanding a face-to-face meeting with his manager, and forwarded a copy of this to Arsenal managing director Ken Friar and Ac Milan general manager Adriano Galliani, but not to any one from spanish FC Barcelona.

Historical night for every blue fan, player, board member and supporters around the world. After many years of struggling, Chelsea reached the Champions League Final for the first time in history.

What's more, it will be the first European Cup final between two English clubs, and beating Manchester United to win the title will make it even more special.

Owner Roman Abramovich wasn't at Stamford Bridge to see his expensively assembled team beat Liverpool 3-2 in extra time to advance to the final on May 21, but United manager Alex Ferguson was.

Manchester United and Chelsea are also neck-and-neck in the Premier League. The Blues beat the Red Devils 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday to draw level on points with United, which leads on goal difference with two encounters to go.

"An all-English final. I think everyone's looking forward to it," Chelsea leader John Terry said. "They have been very good in the league. Also we matched them the other week and managed to defeat them here. All in all, they're playing very well. I think we're at the top of our game so in three weeks time it's going to be a very tough game."

It's important to notice that even though it's the first time two English teams have made it to the final, there are no English coaches.

The last Englishman to lead a team to a European Cup triumph was Liverpool's Joe Fagan in 1984. That was at a time when English coaches did well in the competition with seven triumphs in eight seasons, including victories from Liverpool's Bob Paisley (three), Nottingham Forest's Brian Clough (two), Aston Villa's Tony Barton and Fagan between 1977 and '84.

Manchester United has had the veteran Ferguson in charge for 22 years, and the Scot has led the Red Devils to nine Premier League triumphs and five FA Cups and is now chasing his second Champions League title to go with the one he won in 1999.

As for Avram Grant, he is the former coach of Israel who has led Chelsea to its first Champions League final after the man he replaced, Jose Mourinho, failed three times. Mourinho moved to Stamford Bridge in June 2004, a month after leading FC Porto to a triumph in the competition.

And although he won two league titles in a row, Chelsea's first in half a century, portuguese Mourinho couldn't capture a European success and the club replaced him in September. Now, the fact that two English teams are playing each other thousands of miles away in Moscow for a major prize is good timing.

Now talking about the semifinal match, we can say it was one of the most exciting games of the year. Didier Drogba scored the first goal that seemed to assure their ticket to the final. But Fernando Torres kept the emotion alive up to the 90th minute.

In the extra time, the referee downed a goal scored by Kalou, but just two minutes later a penalty shot was converted by Frank Lampard. His celebration is now inprinted in the memory of every blue fan.

Drogba appeared again to score the third one, to unleash the emotion of every Chelsea supporter. Babel scored a goal for Liverpool, but that was not enough to save his team.

Now Chelsea will face Manchester United knowing all about Cristiano Ronaldo's dribbling and shooting skills and how to stop him from adding to his 38 league and cup goals this season. It also has to break open the solid defensive partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

Because it played Chelsea on Saturday, Manchester United is aware of the dangers posed by Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Michael Ballack and the defensive strengths of Terry and Ricardo Carvalho.

Ferguson's team has a 65-41 record against Chelsea with 44 draws. But the last time they met in a final, Chelsea edged Man. United 1-0 in last season's FA Cup at Wembley.

Manuel Almunia is the first goalkeeper at Arsenal, but now he is a major doubt for the home game with Reading. That could mean the experienced Lehmann might have a chance to return to the first team.

In fact, further complications to the Spaniard’s wrist complaint, which kept him out of the defeat at Manchester United last weekend, could open the door for Lehmann’s farewell match at the Emirates Stadium since his departure in the summer is almost a fore-gone conclusion after being benched for most of the season.

"Maybe Manuel Almunia will be available, I just don't know," Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger stated. "I will make a decision on Friday morning. He got injured in training on the Friday before Manchester United. It's important to say that we sent him for a scan and there was an inflammation so he could not take part of the game."

Talented defender Ricardo Carvalho has issued a defiant message to Liverpool and Manchester United before a decisive week for the London club by declaring that belief remains strong at Stamford Bridge that they can earn the Premier League and Champions League titles.

In fact, Chelsea's 1-0 win over Everton on Thursday closed the gap on Premier League leaders United to two points. It ensures that Sir Alex Ferguson's team will travel to Blackburn for their game in hand today aware that anything but three will allow the Blues to claim a share of top spot by defeating them at Stamford Bridge Stadium on April 26.

Before that, Chelsea play the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against the poweful Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday, and Portuguese defender Carvalho insists that Avram Grant's squad are fully capable of ending the week with two victories.

As we said, Carvalho expressed: "It was a very important win at Everton, especially after the draw against Wigan. We knew we couldn't make a mistake, that we had to win.

"I'm sure that the title is still possible. Blackburn away is always a difficult game, so hopefully United can drop points. It's going to be difficult and it depends on United, but let's see. We have to win all our encounters, but we will never give up. We hope they can lose points and we can keep winning."

The memory of two defeats in three seasons against the terrible Liverpool at the same stage of the Champions League has galvanised the Chelsea footballers. Carvalho added: "We lost on penalties the last time and in the previous semi-final to a goal that nobody saw cross the line. It was really hard to take" Carvalho admitted.