Champions League - Team of week: United heavy

Eurosport - Thu, 07 May 19:50:00 2009

Barcelona's hero Andres Iniesta is in our Champions League team of the week but the side is dominated by Manchester United players.

FOOTBALL Andres Iniesta Barcelona v Chelsea Champions League semi-final 2009 - 0

GK - Victor Valdes (Barcelona)

Valdes is sometimes cited as Barcelona's weak link but he made some key saves over the course of the two legs. The save he made with his feet to deny Didier Drogba from close range just after half-time was particularly key.

RB - John O'Shea (Manchester United)

Another solid display from Manchester United's Mr Versatile. His flexibility allowed him to shift over to left-back in place of the at risk of suspension Patrice Evra in the second-half.

CB - Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United)

Made light of a sore rib to put in a commanding defensive display as United soaked up Arsenal's attacking pressure with ease.

CB - John Terry (Chelsea)

Chelsea's defence deserves credit for suffocating Barcelona until the very final moments of the tie and Terry was the key reason why the Catalans went without a single shot on target until Iniesta's strike.

LB - Patrice Evra (Manchester United)

Neutralised Theo Walcott so effectively there were times when you wondered whether the England winger was even on the pitch.

MF - Ji-Sung Park (Manchester United)

The Korean's energy and industry suffocated Arsenal's creative midfielders, and his deft eighth-minute finish set United on their way.

MF - Michael Essien (Chelsea)

A simply stunning goal from Essien was the highlight of another all-action display form the Ghanaian midfielder. Chelsea's revival in the second-half of the season is as much down to his return as to the arrival of Guus Hiddink.

MF - Darren Fletcher (Manchester United)

Desperately unlucky not to be playing the final, following his bogus red card. Did plenty to ensure United made it to Rome, however.

MF - Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

Sir Alex Ferguson got it spot on playing Ronaldo through the middle with Rooney on the left, the way they combined for the third goal oozed class.

FW - Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)

Pushed further up the field due to the injury to Thierry Henry, the diminutive Spanish international came up big when it mattered most with a fine goal to win the tie.

FW - Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

Back to his best with a two-goal display. The free-kick was good, but United's counter-attack, which he started and finished, was simply sensational.

Eurosport

Comment 15 - 34 of 34

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  1. If ManU wins then all praises to them. However, even­ in the absence of key defenders, Barca has still has­ its key producers intact and a number of good­ replacements for its missing defenders. Plus there is­ Henry who if healthy could turn in a few moments of­ brilliance. Remember his record with Arsenal against­ English teams. ManU will not, thankfully for­ football, defend like Chelsea because they are an­ attack-minded team and this will open up the field for­ Barca. My money is on Iniesta and Xavi to exploit­ these gaps. I hope we get treated to a clinic of­ attacking football. Europe and the rest of the world­ cant wait for this game.

    From soriano.bart, on Fri 8 May 11:11AM
  2. gloreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! manutd b the­ first team to ever retain the champions league title

    From Mujtaba, on Fri 8 May 7:35AM
  3. iniesta... win european cup
    xavi .... win european­ cup(best player @the tournament)
    henry... win world­ cup, european cup 1998
    eto.... 3 time best of africa­ player
    puyol... win european cup

    they all best player­ of the world...

    YOU ARE LEGENDS

    From Muhd, on Fri 8 May 7:25AM
  4. well i'm certainly not suprised by these list, not­ that i say most of them not deserve to be on the list­ but afterall, this is a yahoo uk-ireland eurosport..­

    n i'm also agree that Pique should be on the­ list. despite his lucky handball, he is bossing the­ Barca defence n his passing.. sharp! low ball, high­ ball always reached his teamate..! such a good­ signing..! maybe man u can have some credit on him, i­ dont mind..

    From carlamms, on Fri 8 May 3:12AM
  5. How can't Yaya Toure not be there, he is a­ midfielder and played great in defense. Also Pique­ should have been in there, he played great and was all­ over the pitch even playing attacking.

    From barca_nr_1, on Fri 8 May 1:02AM
  6. you chelsea and english fagsssss, get the facts­ straight. If chelsea was such a better team, and palyed­ better than barca, why didn't they scored more­ goals? Barca was missing Henry, they were missing 3 of­ their best defenders, Puyol, Milito, and Marques, and­ still chelse could not score more than one goal, and­ that goal was lucky from eissen. Plus the fact that­ Barca was a man down and they still managed to score.­ Also, did you forget the match at Camp Nou, when­ ballack got away with the red card, and a penalty was­ not given to Henry, and Barca had 23 shots to 3 shots­ for chelsea, and when Barca fans were complaining, you­ chelsea fans were laughing. Guess what? It's pay­ back. Face it, Barca deserved to win, they played­ better in both legs, they had more possesion and more­ shots and played real football, and not antifootball­ like chelsea did.

    From barca_nr_1, on Fri 8 May 1:00AM
  7. When you sit back and look at the tie Chelsea/Barca,­ Chelsea thought they should be given a right of pasaage­ thru to the final, how wrong, nothings free in this­ life, you play football, score goals, win games simple­ but true, as for Drogba he's a poor spoilt,­ overpaid, thoughtless, foul mouthed,talentless­ individual, who needs to be banned from European­ football immediatly, saying sorry is to little to late,­ he is however very good at being a conman, if he did­ what he was paid for it may have been a very different­ outcome, lets see this weekends game, Arsenal to win.

    From Roughie Toughie Northerner, on Thu 7 May 10:33PM
  8. Chelsea's behaviour was indefensible. Did you see­ Cardiff Blues go down to Leicester Tigers- Martin­ williams had plenty of reason to be wild with the ref,­ but it was a handshake at the end. If you'd put­ your chances away, you wouldn't need penalties.­ Live with it and move on with good grace!

    From mat268, on Thu 7 May 5:42PM
  9. Word is, Chelsea did themselves in. Crying foul over­ penalties not given would not have been if pompous­ Drogba had been more committed to the course of­ Chelsea's qualification to the final. I think of­ Chelsea as a pack of desperate sportsmen who­ disrespect and dishonour the sport because they always­ desire victory at all cost not minding how the game­ feels about it.
    Sure, your money cannot buy you class.­ Follow the straight and narrow like other European­ Greats (Liverpool, Real Madrid, and even Barcelona!)

    From Stephen, on Thu 7 May 5:00PM
  10. There is no two ronaldo's... Accept it or leave it

    From agudosi_cyprian, on Thu 7 May 3:08PM
  11. good comment number 24

    From JON, on Thu 7 May 2:45PM
  12. Your probably a liverpool or Chelsea fan then. Most of­ them do hate Man U because they can't handle being­ 2nd best the majority of the time when Man U win the­ cups and leave them in the shadows!

    From Shelly, on Thu 7 May 1:12PM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    hate man u with a passion what are they going to do­ when whiskey nose fergie calls it a day ye are scum

    From wmccarthy80, on Thu 7 May 1:01PM
  14. Scott S your so annoying i read your stupid biased­ comments about Chelsea every day its pathetic! How many­ wet dreams will you have over Drogba tonight?

    From Frosty, on Thu 7 May 1:00PM
  15. no yaya toure? he was exceptional given he was playing­ out of position and had a dodgy back line with him

    From John, on Thu 7 May 12:59PM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Yes i know Sir Alex got his tactics perfect, he­ normally does, but lets be honest there is no natural­ football in Fletcher, he just runs round the pitch­ spoiling the game, because if you watch United close­ you will see how often he gives the ball away unless he­ has 10 seconds in space.

    From topadaleague, on Thu 7 May 12:59PM
  17. MAN UTD THE ONLY TEAM IN THE FINAL WHO WON HANDS DOWN .

    From ALAN, on Thu 7 May 12:54PM
  18. For all of the money that Chelsea have - they cannot­ buy class.

    From , on Thu 7 May 12:49PM
  19. would have picked Vidic ahead of Rio.

    From Tony H, on Thu 7 May 12:45PM
  20. all of you saying fletcher got a sympathy vote. go and­ watch the game. Anderson, Park and Darren killed the­ arsenal midfield. no other way of describing it.­ Tactically perfect from SAF.
    Amazing how much that­ game ended in class and good spirits.

    From irshad_0, on Thu 7 May 12:43PM
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