Manchester United is one step away from returning to the Champions League Final, and the Red Devils will have to dispose of Arsenal today in order to get there.
The Gunners play host to Manchester United today in the second leg of their UEFA Champions semifinal series. United enters with a 1-0 advantage from the first leg, and will be most people's pick to progress.
Arsenal will have its hands full playing without the cup-tied Andrei Arshavin, but the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott and Emmanuel Adebayor should give the London club more than a fighting chance.
For United, it is the usual suspects. Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Edwin Van Der Sar will lead the way for the champions.
I will be providing commentary for today's match. If you will be watching the match, or can't watch and want to be kept informed, please feel free to follow along and, as always, feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the match:
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66th minute– Here's a question. Could Arsenal have won this series with Arshavin? Would have been much closer, but I think the Gunners still lose.
Okay all. I'm done. Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday. Here's hoping we get a better contest on Wednesday between Barcelona and Chelsea.
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61st minute- GOAL UNITED1!!!!!!!!!!!! and it's Ronaldo finishing off a pass from Rooney. It's 3-0 Man United, 4-0 on aggregate. This one is even more OVER.
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55th minute– Raise your hand if you're praying Barcelona beats Chelsea in the semifinal (And if you're not, let me know if you're a Chelsea fan because I can't imagine any non-Chelsea who doesn't want to see Man Utd-Barcelona)
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52nd minute– Great diving save off a hard Ronaldo shot by Almunia. You get the feeling that Ferguson told Rooney and Ronaldo that if they score they can come out.
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49th minute– Rooney and Ronaldo are still on the field. Not sure why.
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47th minute– And we get a David Beckham sighting. Must be nice to be on vacation. Oh wait, that's right, Milan is still in season. Good thing the Galaxy don't need him.
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46th minute– And we're back. And why am I still here? Not sure. If you're still here, let me know.
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HALFTIME- Manchester United 2, Arsenal 0. Arsenal needs FOUR goals to advance. Ladbrokes just laid odds of that happening at 1 BAZILLION to 1. I've got five bucks on it (not really).
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45th minute– Who does Almunia look more like, Bruce Willis in 5th Element or Jean Reno?
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42nd minute– This next four minutes is brought to you by No-Doze.
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33rd minute– Ronaldo fires a long free kick right to Almunia. Is anybody still following along? If not, I'd understand (and I'll bag it at halftime). I've got a roll call to compile.
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31st minute– I'd probably go with the same lineup as tonight, but either Scholes or Tevez for Fletcher.
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28th minute– So this one's over, but we've still got time to kill (assuming everyone hasn't left already). Here's a question. What's your starting lineup for the final if you're Alex Ferguson?
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27th minute– Tommy Smyth is going on about exorbitant salaries in soccer. Now you know it's garbage time.
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20th minute– At what point do you start pulling the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney or Ferdinand? Halftime?
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18th minute– Almunia with a nice save. United has all the momentum and Arsenal looks dazed. Is anybody still following this one?
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13th minute– Arsenal looks completely stunned. Could we see a total blowout here?
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12th minute– Ronaldo blasts a free kick from 35 and beats Almunia. United 2, Arsenal 0. And it's 3-0 on aggregate. Does Arsenal have four goals in them? No chance.
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11th minute- GoAL UNITED!!! Cristiano Ronaldo BLASTS one home. And this IS OVER.
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9th minute– Poor Kieran Gibbs. The kid slips at the absolute wrong time and leaves Park all alone on goal. Man U 1, Arsenal 0. And now Arsenal needs three goals to advance. Can it really be over after eight minutes?
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8th minute- GOAL MANCHESTER UNITED!!!!! And it's Park Ji Sung with the goal off an Arsenal blunder.
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5th minute– Is United's lineup TOO defensive? Not playing Tevez or Berbatov is interesting, but I think we'll see Anderson more involved in the attack.
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4th minute– Arsenal applying some early pressure as expected. Vidic has a bloody nose already. Nice.
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1st minute– and we're off. The Emirates is buzzing.
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PRE-GAME- The teams are taking the field. Here is Arsenal's lineup:
————-Adebayor———————
————————-Van Persie——-
Nasri———–Fabregas——-Walcott
——————-Song——————-
Gibbs—Djorou———-Toure—Sagna
—————–Almunia——————–
BENCH- Silvestre, Denilson, Vela, Eboue, Diaby, Bendtner, Fabianski
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PRE-GAME– Here is the United lineup:
—————–Rooney—————-
Park————Fletcher———Ronaldo
———-Carrick—-Anderson————
Evra—Ferdinand—-Vidic——O'Shea
—————-Van Der Sar————-
BENCH- Scholes, Tevez, Giggs, Kusczak, Berbatov, Evans, Rafael
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