No Double for Man U

It’s what they call the business end of the season and it’s down to a dog-fight between Man U and Chelsea for the major spoils – on two fronts, no less.

First, the Premiership comes to a potentially thrilling climax this weekend with the two clubs neck and neck at the top of the table. It’s been 9 years since the title chase went all the way to the wire – Man U pipping Arsenal at the tape in 1999 – and I think we’ll have the same winner again this year.

Man U’s vastly superior goal difference gives them the clear edge as they travel to the bumpy Wigan pitch on Sunday, and I just don’t see Alex Ferguson’s team slipping up here. Yet slip-ups are rife in the history of the beautiful game so I won’t be taking anything for granted. Luckily for Man U fans neither will Sir Alex. The wily Scot’s been here one too many times and surely his young wards will be well prepared to give everything on Sunday.

Chelsea entertain Bolton at the Bridge and they must win to have any chance of unseating Man U. That shouldn’t be a problem for Avram Grant’s in-form team, yet I don’t think it’ll be enough to bring the title back to London this year.

It’s Man U’s title to lose now and, on the whole, it would be a well deserved title for the Red Devils. They’ve won more games than any team in the top flight (26), while scoring the most goals (78) and conceding the fewest (22). They’ve been simply magic at Old Trafford too, winning 17 of 19 matches and dropping just 5 points of a possible 57.

Championship stuff indeed, but for all that, I don’t think Man U will be celebrating a double this year. That’s right, I think Chelsea will win the Moscow showdown on May 21 and claim its first Champions League Cup.

Don’t get me wrong, this will be no walk in the park for the Blues. It will be a hard fought final between two highly skilled and motivated teams, yet I think Chelsea will edge this one.

Why? Well, for one thing Chelsea seem to have found their form at the right time. As is their wont, this side has been grounding out results all season but it’s only in the last month or so that they have looked anything like the side Mourinho built. Key players have either returned from injury – as with John Terry and Frank Lampard – or to back to form – as with Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba – and Man U will be stretched to cope with the sheer physicality and never-say-die attitude of this team.

In addition, for all the skill and resilience of Man U, their opponents just seem to have winners all over the pitch. Not necessarily more skilled, just the kind of players that somehow grind out a result against all odds. Think Carvalho, Essien, Ballack, Makelele, Lampard and Drogba. While Man U’s style and players like Ferdinand, Scholes, Carrick, Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo are far easier on the eyes, I think Chelsea’s lot would be much more at home in a dog-fight, if you know what I mean.

So, here’s the thing. I think Moscow will be a dog-fight of a football match. When Man U are on top of their game, they’re very hard to beat. But I don’t think Chelsea will let them play to the best of their ability in Moscow. The difference is that Chelsea, on current form, don’t need to play well to win. I think they’ll make a scrap of it and something tells me that Chelsea’s fighters will find a way to win the battle and take the ‘Cup with the big ears’ to Stamford Bridge for the first time. History beckons.