The 4thegame.com regular feature that brings you the best of the coverage from the UK press. It's not a mere news round-up, but instead gives you all the top headlines, outrageous puns and crazy stories...
Headline of the day...
HEADCASE
The Daily Mirror report on last night's Champions League semi-final first leg, with HEADCASE referring to either John Arne Riise for his crazy 95th minute own goal or Rafa Benitez for his rant about the referee. Take your pick...
Hold the back page...
RAGING RAFA
In the Daily Mail, Benitez complains: "It's very difficult to understand because there were 94 or 95 minutes on the clock and I was surprised. Of course I am disappointed with the officials' performance. It's not the first time this has happened to us and we are really disappointed."
RIISE 'N FALL
John Arne Riise's surname is certainly proving to be helpful for the headline-writers this morning, with the Daily Star summing up Liverpool's late collapse.
YOU RIISE PUDDING
The Sun also ignore the way his name is pronounced to make fun of the poor lad.
GRANT: WE'RE ON THE RIISE
Meanwhile, the luckiest man in the country last night, Avram Grant, is in the Daily Express saying that: "We made a big step today and we can use this."
RIISE'S CALAMITY GIVES CHELSEA THE UPPER HAND
He's certainly right that the Blues are in the driving seat of this tie now, though The Guardian point out that they barely deserve to be.
VIDIC RUSHED TO HOSPITAL
Meanwhile, the last thing Man United needed the night before taking on Barcelona at the Nou Camp was to have Nemanja Vidic rushed to hospital with a stomach bug, but that's what's happened, says the Daily Mirror.
ROONEY VOW TO BE 'BEST EVER'
That's not denting Wayne Rooney's desire though, and in the Daily Express he says: "I hope we can become the best United team ever. When you play, you are always looking at former teams; you look how good they were."
Other top stories...
NORWEGIAN GIFT POINTS POOR CHELSEA TO MOSCOW
Henry Winter in the Daily Telegraph writes: "Norwegians are used to handing out presents to Londoners, but is is traditionally a Christmas tree for Trafalgar Square. Not even the finest pine from the most famous forest outside Oslo could match the size of John Arne Riise's gift to Chelsea last night."
LIVERPOOL PUSH THE PANIC BUTTON TO LET CHELSEA GRAB THE UPPER HAND
In The Times Martin Samuel sums up the pain of a last minute villain: "John Arne Riise stood doubled over in his tiny corner of football hell. Agony engulfed him. One by one, team-mates offered a pat on the back, a handshake, or just a touch, some form of human contact to show they cared. None of of it did any good."
HICKS MAKES HIS PRESENCE FELT BUT IS CONFINED TO MARGINS
Riise even gets a look-in as The Guardian report on Tom Hicks' trip to Anfield: "A smooth procession ruined by an inexplicable decision to stick one's neck out: the parallels between Tom Hicks' Liverpool reign and John Arne Riise's own goal were unavoidable at Anfield."
RESOLUTE LIVERPOOL FIND THEIR STRENGTH SAPPED BY LATE TWIST OF FORTUNE
In The Independent, James Lawton manages to fit more commas than is probably legal in this opening sentence: "There is always, it seemed again last night, one certainty about schizophrenic, misdirected, and in some ways, let's face it, betrayed Liverpool and their quirky, indecipherable but, at least at the top of the European game, tactically brilliant manager, Rafael Benitez." Indecipherable indeed.
GO AND MAKE YOUR OWN HISTORY
Sir Alex Ferguson tells his players in the Daily Express that they can shrug off the memories of 1999 and make their own history. They could be the new David May...
DON'T BLOW IT AGAIN
In The Sun he says: "We don't want to come here and not perform - if we don't, we will not go through. You can't win a semi-final without showing your true mettle. They deserve to be here. Their performances have been good, no question about that."
SIR ALEX PRAYING IT WON'T GET MESSI
In the Daily Mirror they write: "Sir Alex Ferguson cracked a broad smile yesterday when he was asked how Manchester United planned to stop Barcelona's star player Lionel Messi tonight. 'You can answer that one,' said Fergie to United defender Nemanja Vidic, sitting alongside him. Vidic was smiling too, but there was no laughing in theUnited camp hours later when the big centre-half was struck down by a stomach virus."
MESSIE'S A BIG NOISE - BUT TURN THE DIAL UP TO 11 FOR RONALDO
Paul Hayward in the Daily Mail says: "Admid the opera of squabbling that Barcelona have become, gilded youth will shame the Nou Camp into awe tonight when Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi stage their duel."
