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Defense likely to shine in Champions League final

Tue 20th, May 2008

Moscow, Russia (Sports Network) - Manchester United and Chelsea will square off in the first all-England Champions League final on Wednesday in Moscow, and while both sides boast a number of gifted offensive players, it will be the stingy defenses of both clubs that take center stage.

United and Chelsea finished as the top two teams in the Premiership, and not coincidentally, they were the top two teams defensively as well.

The Red Devils yielded just 22 goals in 38 league games, and they shut Barcelona out over two legs in the semifinals to get to Moscow.

Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown, and Patrice Evra have been strong all season, while Owen Hargreaves filled in for the injured Nemanja Vidic. Edwin Van der Sar was solid in goal and is a veteran who will certainly not be bothered by the pressure of a big game.

Ferdinand was a rock in the middle against Barca, and he will be joined by the physically imposing Vidic for Wednesday's game, with Brown and Evra likely manning the outside spots.

Chelsea's Petr Cech is regarded as one of the top keepers in the world, and he has an equally talented back line playing in front of him. Although Chelsea let in three goals over two legs against Liverpool in the semifinals, expect a much sturdier unit to take the field in the final.

John Terry anchors the defense, and although he suffered an arm injury in the team's final league game on May 10, there is no way the captain would be kept on the sidelines.

While Terry is a strong, physical player, Ricardo Carvalho complements him well in the middle as more of a skilled player. Outside back Ashley Cole has a reputation for getting forward and jumping into the attack, while Chelsea manager Avram Grant has the option of using midfielder Michael Essien on the other side, giving the team a strong offensive presence in the back.

The teams split their two meetings in league play this season, United winning 2-0 in September after Chelsea's John Obi Mikel was sent off in the first half, and the Blues winning the second contest less than one month ago, 2-1.

The last time these sides met in a cup final was last year's FA Cup, when Chelsea beat United 1-0 in extra time on a goal from Didier Drogba. The match was extremely tactical and lacked any real passion, a sign that both sides were worn down following a long season.

However, with the biggest prize in European club soccer on the table, expect to see much more urgency out of both sides, which will have had 10 days off since their last games.

With such high quality defenses to break down, goals will likely be at a premium, but both sides have players capable of making an individual play to break the game open.

Cristiano Ronaldo immediately jumps to mind for United. The Portuguese winger is widely regarded as the best player in the world after scoring 41 goals in all competitions, but he still has to prove he can excel on the biggest stage.

Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez give United two talented strikers up top, but it remains to be seen if manager Sir Alex Ferguson decides to play both, or go with one striker.

Drogba has been very inconsistent this season, but he made people remember just how dangerous he can be by scoring two goals in Chelsea's second leg win over Liverpool to help them reach the final.

German midfielder Michael Ballack is enjoying his best spell of play since he arrived at Chelsea, scoring both goals in the team's 2-1 win in April against the Red Devils.

Frank Lampard has been criticized for his poor play with England, but he usually summons up top efforts for the Blues and will likely team with Ballack to form a top duo in the middle of the field.

After losing out to United in the league last season, Chelsea spoiled hopes of a double by beating Ferguson's men in the FA Cup final. Now, the Blues will try to keep United from an even bigger double, and Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka believes they have the players to once again deny United.

"We play Man United and we know them and they know us and it is going to be very hard but I think we can do it because we have big players who are used to this type of game," Anelka said. "Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in the world and when you look at the names of the players you can see that."

Hargreaves and his United teammates know what a league and Champions League double would mean, and the former Bayern Munich midfielder believes that his team has come too far to finish the season with less than two trophies.

"Anyone who has been in a position to win things knows that the worst feeling you can have is not achieving," Hargreaves said. "It's actually easier to take when you don't get this far.

"It's easy to set out at the start of the season and say 'we want to win the title or Champions League'. Not everybody does it. We've actually gone out and won the title and we're in the position to win the Champions League.

"There's no point in doing all that work to get there, you need to put on the finishing touches. It could cap off a very memorable season for the club."

Some Chelsea supporters are calling Wednesday's match the most important game in the 103-year history of the club, since this will be the team's first ever Champions League final.

Both teams have plenty of incentive and both teams have an abundance of skilled players, but this game will be decided by the team that is able to produce one moment of individual brilliance against a top-notch defense.

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