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The Champions League provide a platform for young players from different countries to show case there talent. This time was also no different.

1. Karim Benzema : The 20 year old French and Lyon forward showed his class when he scored a brilliant goal against Manchester United last week. He has scored 25 goals in 40 games for Lyon with 3 of them coming in the CL. At only 20, he is being compared with Zidane and some top clubs such as Arsenal & Manchester United are interested in signing him. He could well be described as a perfect blend of Henry, Trezeguet and Anelka. He has got pace, good movement and his finishing is brilliant. He has also been an integral part of the French National team having played 9 matches scoring 3 goals.
2. Alexandre Pato : The 18 year old Pato is one of AC Milan’s future stars. Although he was signed by Milan in August, He officially became there player in January and immediately showed his talent in his début match. He is quick, has good movement and blistering pace and his intelligent play is sure to cause some trouble to defenders. With Ronaldo injured and Gilardino and Inzaghi not in the best of forms, he has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.
3. Bojan Krkic : He may very well be called as the Spain’s new sensation. At just 17, he could have become the Spain’s youngest ever international but he suffered stomach problems before Spain’s friendly with France. He scored 889 goals in seven youth seasons with Barcelona. In spite of having enormous talent such as Eto, Henry, Ronaldinho, this youngster is getting himself noticed and that is also an achievement in itself. He has also played in 20 games so far for Barca and that shows how much his manager has got faith in him. Imagine what he will be in a few years time.

Tottenham beat Chelsea 2- 1 in extra time to win the League Cup, there first silverware since 1999. They have won the league cup four times now and the record of manager Juande Ramos having not lost in a cup final continues. He is sure to become a fan favorite now for winning a silverware in his first season I charge of the club. Tottenham have definitely improved under him and they showed it on the pitch.

They showed great character to come from behind and win the game in extra time against a full strength Chelsea side. There was a lot of talk about Lampard and Terry not starting but they both started in the Chelsea team. Spurs could have gone two up quickly but Chimbonda headed against the bar from a corner and then Berbatov headed wide from Keane’s cross. Chelsea won a free kick when Zokora fouled Drogba and the ivory coast hitman curled the free kick in the bottom left corner of the goal with Paul Robinson completely rooted to the wrong position. Chelsea defended well with there one goal lead but Spurs got there breakthrough in the middle of the second half when they won a penalty because of a hand ball by Bridge. Berbatov calmly converted the penalty and after that Spurs became the dominating force. Zokora had a great chance to give Spurs the lead when he raced through only to see his shot hit Cech on the head and he hit the rebound wide.

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Newcastle United 1-5 Manchester United

(Faye 79)                    (Rooney 25, Ronaldo 45, 56, Rooney 80, Saha 90)

Ronaldo is on a goal scoring run at the moment and he certainly likes scoring against Newcastle. He scored his first hat trick against them this season and scored another 2 goals today to give Manchester United an emphatic win. Newcastle were 9 games without a win and that hardly looked to change after Manchester United got in control. For the first 20 minutes, Newcastle defended well and were working hard in midfield to keep the threats of Ronaldo and Nani at bay. But there defending and giving the ball away has been problems for them this season and that’s what happened.

Nzogbia was guilty of giving the ball away to Rooney who tucked away Ronaldo’s cross at the far post. After that Manchester United found there attacking rhythm and began to dominate in the wings and midfield. Carrick played a beautiful pass to Ronaldo who slotted his shot past Given. They could have added around 2 more goals before the break had Tevez and Ronaldo been a bit more clinical. Newcastle first shot on target came after the break when Duff tested Van Der Sar but he was upto the mark. Newcastle were lacking in concentration and Faye’s misplaced pass found its way to Ronaldo who ran towards the goal, escaped a challenge from Taylor before rounding goal keeper to score his second of the match.

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The Champions League matches this week were exciting as well as unpredictable. There were many results in which i was wrong with my predictions. Lets take a look at the results

• Liverpool 2-0 Inter Milan

This result was something which i was expecting. Even though Liverpool were under a lot of pressure following the FA cup defeat against Bardsley, they always seem to come on top in a champions league match where we don’t expect them to win. Even though, they won it late, they were patient and were rewarded. They are the favorites now but Inter has got enough quality to make a comeback.

• Olympiakos 0-0 Chelsea

A surprising result. I was expecting a Chelsea win as they have enough quality to overpower Olympiakos. This definitely gives Olympiakos a decent chance in the return leg. They know that if they score one, Chelsea will have to score two. 

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Man Utd 4 – 0 Arsenal

(Rooney 16 , Fletcher 20,74, Nani 38)

Manchester United produced a blistering display to send Arsenal out of the FA cup fifth round. Even the absence of Ronaldo, Giggs and Tevez did not stop them from dominating the game. Rooney scored the first goal from a cross on 16th minute and Darren Fletcher scored another headed goal from Nani’s cross four minutes later. Carrick then set up Nani to score the third and Nani again set up Darren Fletcher to score the fourth through the header on 74 minutes.

Both sides decided to rest some key players in view of there crucial champions league matches next week. United were without Ronaldo and Giggs while Tevez and Paul Scholes were on the bench. Arsenal also kept Adebayor and Flamini on the bench. But it was Arsenal who missed there key players the most in the opening half which was dominated by some superb performance from Rooney and Nani. Rooney, who missed the Derby match due to suspension made his return in an amazing fashion. He terrorized the Arsenal defense from the beginning and could have got around 4-5 goals alone. So great was his performance that even England manager Fabio Capello who was in the stands, applauded the striker when he was substituted with 20 minutes left.

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Brazilian and AC Milan striker glittering career could soon be over following his latest injury. On Wednesday, Ronaldo ruptured ligaments in his left knee after landing badly in a match against Livorno. This is a same type of injury which he suffered around 8 years ago and it took him around 2 years to regain his fitness. Now it is very doubtful whether the 31 year old striker can recover from this type of injury again.

He now faces around 10 months on the sidelines after the surgery. But the time and age maybe against him. His contract with Milan expires in the summer and there were already doubts whether it would be renewed or not. Now Milan will have to enter the market to buy a new striker and that may well be the end to his, at least Milan career. According to Milan medical officer, he can only make a comeback if he is ready to face the long and difficult rehabilitation at 31. But knowing his character, he will work hard to make a comeback.

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