Manchester United had the players award function at Old Trafford. Ronaldo scooped most of the awards including Player's player of the season and Goal of season for his sublime freekick against Portsmouth at Old Trafford. Check out the videos of this glittering function.
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Part1 , Part2 , Part3 , Part4 , Part5 , Part6 , Part7 , Part8 , Part9 , Part10
Real Madrid signed off an successful season in style as they beat relegated Levante 5-2. The match was in doubt as Levante players were threatening a strike as they had not been paid for few months and that amount is told be in the region of €13m. And Levante who had already been relegated ran the risk going down to third division if they didn't play at the Bernabeu. But the Champions had said the trophy presentation would take place irrespective of the match status. But Levante players finally said they will play at the Bernabeu.
Real started with Codina in goal, the highly rated B team keeper and Rudd started upfront with Robinho and Raul. Real had lots of possession and Levante who did not practice throughout the week were not sharp. And Robinho had some chances but Reina saved. And Real broke the deadlock when Rudd headed the ball from Ramos. And within minutes Ramos scored a header from an assist by Guti. Levante yet kept trying and Codina made some decent saves to deny them. And before the break Rudd got his second when he tapped home a miscued shot by Robinho.
In the second half Levante played better football and passed the ball well. They never looked liked a team that had been relegated. They fought bravely and were rewarded for that when Geijo slammed the ball past Codina. Real responded immediately when Sneijder curled a freekick past Reina for the 4th goal. But Levante still kept fighting and Geijo scored again with a great finish. Levante had done what many teams couldn't do, score twice at the Bernabeu. Geijo was on a hatrick. Ramos got his second when he headed home a Sneijder corner.
The Bernabeu was rocking as the final whistle approached. And when the whistle was blown Real Madrid had made history. Their points this season is the most by a team in La Liga since the 20 team format was introduced. And Real with 84 goals in the league edged past Manchester United who scored 80 as the leading scorers in European Leagues this season. And Raul was handed over the 31st La Liga title and the party continued at the Bernabeu.
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1-0 Rudd
2-0 Ramos
3-0 Rudd
3-1 Geijo
4-1 Senijder
4-2 Geijo
5-2 Ramos
Trophy Presentation & Celebration
This has been a disappointing season for AC Milan. They were knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16 and after that all they had left to play was a 4th place in the league that will make sure they would appear in the Champions League next season. But they did not even manage a 4th place finish and that means they will have to play UEFA cup next season. Things were under control for Milan after the 36th week when they edged past Fiorentina to take the fourth place. But their 3-1 loss to Napoli combined with Fiorentina's win over Parma meant that Milan were pushed back to the 5th place going into the last weekend. And also they were 2 points below Fiorentina which meant even if they win their last match, Champions League action could not be guaranteed. And both the teams fighting for the 4th spot won yesterday and it meant Milan will play in UEFA cup next season.
It would be a bitter pill to swallow for Milan who have won the Champions League 7 times, next only to Real Madrid. And with the influx of players like Pato and latest signing Flamini they would have hoped to put a better show in Champions League next season. Kaká, prior to this weekend said that it would not be a disaster for the club if they were in UEFA cup next season. It is all down to their teams poor domestic form and they did not have the best of starts this season and they even dropped out of the top 10 but they managed to comeback and were fighting for the 4th spot. It must be remembered that even last year Milan(started on -8 points in the league) failed to finish in top 4 but they won the Champions League which gave them a direct entry to this season's edition. Milan's primary focus has been the Champions League and they have been criticized at times for that. Some say Milan are the Liverpool of Italy and vice versa, these teams do well in Europe but not that well in the league. But teams get what they deserve, Milan showed no consistency in neither Champions League nor Serie A so its apt that they are in UEFA cup next year. But one can hope they will comeback strong as Bayern Munich. Whatever may be the case AC Milan will be missed in UCL next season.
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AC Milan - Udinese Final score : 4-1
0-1 Mesto
1-1 Pato
2-1 Inzaghi
3-1 Cafu
4-1 Seedorf
Penalty Miss - Kaka
Zlatan Ibrahimovic got a brace and helped Inter secure their title. Inter had been pushed all the way till the last day of the Serie A but they had destiny in their own hands, if they win the match they win the title. With Roma leading in the other match against Catania, all the pressure was on Inter Milan to score a goal and they did it through Ibrahimovic who scored two goals in the space of 20 minutes. That dashed the hopes of a miracle for AS Roma who conceeded a late equaliser in Sicily.
Manchester United have scored more than 100 goals this season and their free scoring combined with compact defending have helped them retain the EPL title and now they are chasing their 3rd Champions League crown in Moscow. Ronaldo was the chief of the Red Devils army which destroyed defences wherever they went. So re live those magical moments
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Goals in 2007
Goals in 2008
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This season clearly belonged to two stars, Cristiano Ronaldo and Fernando Torres. But a special mention should go to Torres who set the footballing world on fire by slamming 33 goals in debut season in England, a place where the strikers arriving from La Liga and Serie A have found the going very tough. But the "El Nino" did not have any problems settling in and scored goals at will. He showed tremendous pace and strength to hold off players and his finishing was exquisite. Though most of his goals came at Anfield there is no doubt that he will be a better player next season and will score everywhere. He had shouldered the responsibility of a huge price that was paid for him and no one has questioned the amount Rafa paid to land him. Liverpool fans would be hoping that Torres would help them to launch a serious fight for the EPL title next season.
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CARLOS TEVEZ, the little bull from Argentina had been all over the news pages during the summer transfer window(June 07-Aug 07) regarding his transfer. And finally he has reached his preferred destination- MANCHESTER UNITED.
It all started way back at the beginning of the last season(2006-07) when Tevez and Javier Mascherano made a shock move to England and it was West Ham who got their signatures. Manutd who were supposed to be in the hunt for him didn't get him in spite of TEVEZ saying that he was a "MANUTD" fan. Though the Hammers got two bright talents they were struggling in the league and Tevez was not starting or even playing matches. It was clear that there was some problem with the then manager of West ham, ALAN PARDEW. And both the player's and club's positions were worsening as weeks passed by.
West Ham got a new owner Eggert Magnusson and they sacked Alan Pardew as the team was languishing at the bottom half of the table and Alan Curbhisley took over as the manager of West Ham and his first match was against MANUTD at Upton park and Tevez didn't play that match which West ham won 1-0.
And in the January transfer window Liverpool got Mascherano, another troubled player at West Ham. And with Pardew gone Tevez finally started playing matches for Westham and was scoring goals but it seemed too late as West Ham were destined towards relegation but Tevez pushed them all the way till the last weekend against MANUTD at Old Trafford and won they match 1-0, Tevez scoring the lone goal which kept West Ham in the premiership. As the games went on, West ham were found guilty of illegally signing Tevez and they were let off with a fine of £5.5m without any points deduction as they pleaded guilty. And even after the season was over Sheffield United, the team that got relegated filled a case against Westham being let off without points deduction, but they couldn't win the case so West Ham stayed in premiership thanks to late goals from TEVEZ.
As the summer transfer window opened it was clear that Manutd wanted to sign him. But the actual problem was lying in the fact that Tevez was owned by a company MSI which was headed by Kia Joorabchian and also Westham so there were confusions regarding the third party ownership of the player and Westham wanted compensation for letting Tevez free and even FIFA said it would help Tevez join MANUTD. Finally after a long delay MSI payed Westham a compensation of £2m and Tevez was free to join MANUTD.
Yet there were some delays as FA wanted to examine all the aspects of the transfer and this meant Tevez, who had been without match practice after the Copa America had to wait a little longer before joining United and start playing football with United.Yet he was practicing with the United squad and impressed everyone out there.
And Tevez was officially registered as a MANCHESTER UNITED player on 10th August marking an end to one of the longest saga's in football history. He made his ManUtd debut on 15th August against Porstmouth at Fratton Park. Tevez is set to be signed permanently as his current deal is a loan deal and with Ferguson saying that a fee is in place to complete the transfer Tevez can look forward to playing with the Reds for a long time.
