Nervous times

We now know that Barcelona will be at Wembley for the final of the Champions League after their 1-1 draw at the Nou Camp last night gave them a 3-1 aggregate win. The question is, “who will be their opponents?”.

Manchester United lead 2-0 from their match at Shalke and are therefore favourites. However, United need to maintain or improve upon that lead if they are to be the ones to face Barcelona for a repeat of the 2009 final in Rome. So tonight’s match at Old Trafford is vitally important to them.

That is not United’s only concern this week because they face Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday and really need to win that one as well to maintain their slender 3 point lead over the London club. If United loose the match on Sunday, Chelsea will top the league on goal difference with just two matches left to play.

United are scheduled to play Blackburn away on Sunday 14th May and then Blackpool at home on the 22nd. These two teams currently lingering at 16th and 17th in the league, just above the drop zone so they have everything to play for. We all remember that it was a drawn game against Blackburn last year that allowed Chelsea to finally steal the League title from United by one point. United will not want that to happen again this year.

On the other hand, Chelsea are due to face Newcastle on the 15th May and then Everton on the 22nd. In theory, these should be more difficult matches for the Londoners because Newcastle are currently 12th in the table and Everton 7th but that is not the way football works. We all recall that United lost to Wolves earlier in the season when the midlanders were bottom of the league. That was United’s first defeat of the season, not one that anyone would have predicted.

As I say, these are nervous times. This week could either make or break United’s campaign for this year.