The Whole Delivery

Patrice Evra sent everyone on shock notice and Bayern in worry with his tremendous strike.  But 70 secs later, he feel asleep real quick and Mandzukic scored. And the rest was history.  Meanwhile, as I thought below, Atletico have advanced despite hitting the woodwork three times and leaving other chances to the ground.  It just wasn't Messi's night, as he had a snap header go wide as his only true chance that was a must score from him.  Courtois amazing and Xavi couldn't finish that wild scramble in the second half to put Barcelona out and Tata Martino under major pressure.  The Team of the Week:  The @ChampionsLeague Team of the Week- Courtois; Evra, Cahill, Godin, JuanFran; Raul Garcia, Jojic; Reus, Kroos, Koke; Demba Ba — Andrew Jerell Jones (@sluggahjells) April 9, 2014 What a remarkable week of Champions League quarterfinals' finales for another season. The two big Madrid clubs, Jose Mourinho, and Pep Guardi...

Final: Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool  It's a sound, workman like United victory, accomplishing the double over their bitter English rivals to go up 10 points on Manchester City in the standings and 24 points better than Liverpool at the moment.  It was another tough result for Brendan Rodgers side against the league's elite this season, as their midfield just did not have enough to help Luiz Suarez muster a consistent strong challenge for a United backline that has been shaky this season.  No clear cut chances for Suarez today. And still relying on Fabio Borini to get goals sums up the level Liverpool just is at, regardless of the positive team oriented style of play Rodgers has implemented. United have past the first test of their difficult two week period in the league, as they have Tottenham on the road next week. City and to a lesser extent, both Chelsea and Spurs, hoped that United would drop points in this difficult back to ...

Shaun Wright-Phillips winner gave QPR a shock win at Chelsea, but they need a lot more results to save them.   It truly is three different seasons in the Barclays Premier League, with the holiday festive year end/year start four game period being its own grueling season of importance. It could further spurn you to make hasty or needy moves in a January transfer window that you didn't want to have to dabble in, and it sets the table for the second half of the season. After another festive period, Manchester United are in the front and center. But unlike last season, where a clear lost to Newcastle spelled omens on what became a title-less season, Sir Alex's men are sound favorites for the title. Shaun Wright-Phillips huge goal to give QPR the 1-0 win at Chelsea moved Harry Redknapp side from bottom of the table to......bottom of the table. I just don't see enough consistent team chemistry to overcome the drop for them, although they should finish ahead of Reading...

Final: Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United  In all honesty, City were never truly deserving of a point. United through Rooney, Young, Valencia and Van Persie had much more cutting edge and clarity, as the first half showed.  Ever the constant playmaker for Van Persie at the start of the season, Wayne Rooney is definitely now finding himself in places to show his class finishing and get higher on the goal list. As always, at least in the league under Mancini the last season and a half, City play their best when it seems like everything is about to crumble. Tevez gave them the lead man play that Balotelli hasn't given them all season, and with Johnny Evans out, City's persistence was able to cause United's defense to leak more goals this year. But thankfully for United, they didn't start off on the back foot this time, and always kept their nerve whenever adversity hits in a match (Barcelona aside). Despite the comeback from City, Van Persie's de...

Photo from Getty Images The season of Dimitar Berbatov continues, as his hat trick gave Manchester United the big 3-2 win over bitter rivals Liverpool. Controversy was certainly a protagonist in this contest between England's most successful two clubs, as referee Howard Webb once again entered the spotlight with some controversial decisions that went Liverpool's way. Nevertheless, United secured the win thanks to the Bulgarian adding to his terrific start with a performance that would make even his harshest critics become his biggest supporters. And we all know he has had his share of critics. It's the first loss of the season for Liverpool, seemingly already out of the title here in September with this loss. Meanwhile, United propel to third place at 11 points with this win.

Just like with "Subprime Dan" Gilbert's embarrassing tirade towards LeBron James egressing from Cleveland, here is another top level office official making himself look like a whining fool (and hypocrite) for your very eyes to see. It is Toronto Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo in full whinny kid mode, bringing up dirt on Chris Bosh just because he is upset he left him for LeBron, Dwade, and Miami. "Despite limited swelling and any excessive damage on an MRI, he felt like he needed to sit for six more games ... I'm not even questioning Chris' injury. I'm telling you he was cleared to play subject to tolerance on his part, and the tolerance just apparently wasn't there and he chose not to play," Colangelo said. "The fact that our season was spiraling downward and we were hoping he'd come back sooner and we were also dealing with a few other things at that point ... we were really struggling there." Colangelo thinks that Bosh just ...

Photo from Getty Images Title decider? It maybe so, as Didier Drogba's tally was the game winning difference in a massive 2-1 win at Old Trafford against United. In a match that highlighted the full absence of Wayne Rooney, the moment that exemplified that came in the match's final chance, as Dimitar Berbatov couldn't get the best contact on a half-chance volley. It was a quality match on the field today, and thanks to the pace of Florent Malouda and the cleverness of Joe Cole, Chelsea went up on 20th minute thanks to the flick from the Englishman off the delivery of his French teammate. And after enduring an expected United fightback, Chelsea got the massive second goal from their Ivory Coast striker in the 79th minute, who came off the bench. But Drogba's goal will be filled with controversy, as the officials missed that he was offside. But you can never count United out, as Frederico Macheda looked to have played another "Young Hero" moment like he ...

Photo From Getty Images In just the span of 15 seconds, both Manchester United's and Wayne Rooney's years might have flashed in the blink of an eye. Ivica Olic, who blew a clear cut chance in the 1st half, scored the game winning goal to give Bayern Munich a 2-1 advantage over their England opponents after leg one of their quarterfinal tie. And that goal came a few moments after Rooney was stepped on in midfield, leading to him hobbling off at match's end in obvious pain. The injury didn't look all that good considering the fact that the England striker didn't put any weight on his ailing left foot while egressing the pitch. There will be updates as to the extent of his injury, as United's season has hit the all crucial stretch now, with a potential Barclays Premier League title decider with Chelsea on Saturday before next week's return leg against Bayern. It was a much different atmosphere at the start of the match for Rooney and his team, as he t...

Even his biggest haters can't deny that he is truly a serious contender for World Player Of The Year (Photo from Getty Images) In the first day of the Champions League Round of 16, Wayne Rooney cemented himself as the in from player in world football right now while Lyon owned Real Madrid at the Stade de Gerland once again. Rooney's two second half goals secured a massive advantage for Manchester United, as they exit the first leg against AC Milan at the San Siro with a satisfying 3-2 victory. It was an exciting encounter as both defenses were ripped for the taking in the contest, as hyped around it centered on David Beckham taking on his beloved first and former club. And the game's deadliest crosser still showed why he can still play at the highest level, serving in the ball that led to Ronaldinho's defected shot pass an unlucky Edwin van Der Saar. The lively Brazilian's redirected effort gave Milan the 1-0 advantage barely under three minutes. And the Rossi...

Photo from Getty Images The Giants ' decision to release their defensive leader Antonio Pierce is a real bizarre one that shocked everyone around here. Though Pierce's injuries and level of play lead to the release before his final year on his deal, the middle linebacker still has a few good years in my mind. And there will certainly be a team that will benefit from having him in my mind. NBA All-star news : Allen Iverson is out, as he will be replaced by David Lee , so good for Mr. Lee because he deserved it way more than Al Horford did. And thankfully, Kobe Bryant has pulled himself out of the show piece in Dallas, with his ankle being the reason why. Jason Kidd will replace him, giving Mavs fans another reason to be happy. Hopefully no one will ask Rick Pitno again until actual evidence comes up about him wanting to be the coach of the Nets. MSNBC sure has been making sure you don't miss up to the minute coverage on Lindsay Vonn's injury, as she pract...

Certainly was an enthralling encounter that they will remember for years in Manchester.

Manchester United has come back for an enthralling victory over rivals Arsenal in the biggest match in the early 2009-2010 barclays Premier League campaign. A wonderful second half that featured an own goal from Adou Diaby that made the difference as the defending champions came back from an Andrei Arshavin strike in the first half that Ben Foster should have done much better on. The post game coverage: Watch live video from DD-Sports on Justin.tv

To get a first win on home soil against the greatest team ever in the Premiership is certainly a stunner. Michael Carrick's closely missed penalty insures that in already two games this year, the Red Devils will not be undefeated this year. Robert Blake with the unlikely winner for Burnley in the 19th minute. Terrific win indeed at Turf Moor.

Photo from ESPN Soccernet It is the matchup that everyone was hoping for in Europe and throughout the rest of the world. The best team from England against the best team from Spain. The champions of the world looking to become the first team to repeat as conquerors of the continent against the team many have thought to be the best team in the world all year long. And both teams looking to win a historic treble of titles in this calendar year. Ferguson, Guardiola, Ronaldo, Messi, Rooney, Eto, Ferdinand, Puyol, Xavi, Gibbs. The UEFA Champions League final is always a special event, and it is mighty difficult to top the hype of last year's final featuring united and Chelsea. Unless the opponent's for the Red Devil's side this year is the Catalan giants. Going into the game, with Barcelona missing 75% of its starting defense, most are expecting United to be too strong with their tremendous depth (when you have the option of leaving the likes of Carlos Tevez, Dimitar Berbatov, o...