According to Cristiano Ronaldo, the balance of power in European football has shifted to Spain.

You read it, Cristiano Ronaldo, the former Manchester United winger, suggested that the Spanish La Liga is now THE league to be in European football and he claimed that one of the reasons was that star players enjoyed greater protection from referees in La Liga.

The Portuguese, who just set a record by singing a £80m contract with Real Madrid, made no secret of his dissatisfaction at what he perceived to be rough treatment from Premier League opponents during his six years at Old Trafford. Sir Alex Ferguson, his manager at Old Trafford, had even hinted that Ronaldo might be driven away from England if he was not better protected from bad challenges.

Ronaldo, the world footballer of the year, has switched to Real together with Kaka from Milan to play for a league that he claims will protect its stars better.

While Ronaldo may have a point in saying that the Spanish La Liga should now be superior, he knows that it isn’t just about the officiating. La Liga should now be superior because of the fact that it now has the two greatest footballers in the world too.

”The Premier League is a very good competition,” Ronaldo said, ”but I think that the Spanish league is going to have a little more…”

Barcelona FC clashing against Manchester United in the final of the UEFA Champions League was something that everyone was dreaming about.

Manchester United advanced to the 2009 UEFA Champions League final in Rome after convincingly beating Arsenal 4-1 on aggregate. The Red Devils had to wait 24 hours after triumphing at the Emirates to know who will be their opponents come May 27 at the Stadio Olimpico.

And with all the controversy one could ever think of, it was revealed to be Pep Guardiola’s Catalan Giants FC Barcelona, after the Blaugrana controversially ousted Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Barcelona and Manchester United are two clubs from two different countries with a completely different culture all together. However, history shows that as much as they have dissimilarities, they also have similarities, which give this UEFA Champions League final a real flavor of glamor and style.

This will be a battle between the young and the old, the inexperienced one and the wise one, the great…

The Champions League tournament is down to eight teams, half of them coming from the English Premiership.

England should be feeling pretty good after four of their English football teams made it to the 2009 UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. Defending champion Manchester United took out Inter Milan 2-0 to win 2-0 on aggregate while Premiership rivals; Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool also advanced.

Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea FC and Liverpool are the big dogs of the Premiership and it was only fitting that all four of them got to the quarterfinals of the biggest football tournament of the year.

The Manchester United Red Devils were able to hold off Inter Milan to advance. ”It was one of those long European nights where you don’t know if you’re watching a game of football or watching a game of suicide,” United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said after the fixture.

”After scoring the first goal, I thought we would go on and kill them. But after going ahead we started trying to put icing on the cake and we were lucky to be in front at half-time.”

As stated, Man-U’s rivals from the Premiership also got through the Champions League quarterfinals…

It was sweet revenge for Sir Alex Ferguson and his Man-U contingent.

The 2009 UEFA Champions League just got interesting after Manchester United qualified for the quarter finals, earning a 2-0 win over Inter Milan and giving Ferguson a win over his rival, Jose Mourinho.

You see, Jose Mourinho, now with Inter Milan, has been kicking Ferguson’s ass for years when Mourinho was then with Chelsea FC. It was ironic that Ferguson was in a face-off with his old nemesis again and fortunately for Fergie, Manchester United managed to pull through this time around.

Thanks to strong early starts from Man-U in each of the two halves of the fixture, Manchester United defeated Inter Milan, 2-0, to earn the trip to the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League.

Nemanja Vidic came up with a header for Man-U early in the first half before Cristiano Ronaldo sealed the deal with another header early in the second. Of course, Old Trafford was more than happy to see their club moving on in the tournament, especially since it’s a win over Mourinho.

”My team was fantastic but they were not lucky,” Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho said.

There were times in the fixture that Inter Milan looked…

Why are we asking?

Well, since the Manchester United Red Devils just won the Carling Cup, defeating Tottenham in a 4-1 penalty shootout after the teams played to a scoreless draw through regulation and extra time, we are.

You see, United is trying to win five trophies this season, something that has never been done. They won the Club World Cup title back in December and now with the Carling Cup title, they are nearly halfway to the goal. They have a comfortable lead in the 2009 English Premier League and Man-U winning the Premiership again is very possible indeed.

Aside from playing strong in the Premiership, the Red Devils are also in good shape in the 2009 UEFA Champions League, not to mention the fact that they are into the quarterfinals of the FA Cup.

”We’re not going to get carried away with it,” Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said. ”We’ll keep our feet on the ground. A deflected shot goes off someone’s backside at Fulham on Wednesday and you’re out of the cup. Today proved that. Without Ben Foster, we’d have lost that.”

United goalkeeper Ben Foster was brilliant for United in the victory, making big stops on Aaron Lennon and Darren Bent during the match. United also had chances to win before the shootout as Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez hit the post in injury time.

United is so deep that Ferguson chose to rest starting…

That’s right, English football is on once again.

The 2008-09 English Premier League season finally got underway Saturday with seven games including Arsenal hosting West Brom. Defending Premier League champion Manchester United and second place finisher Chelsea opened their respective campaigns Sunday to kick-off day two.

The champions, however, did not start the season at full strength. Sir Alex Ferguson had to mix and match to compensate for the injuries they have at the start of their campaign. Fortunately for them, slow starts is nothing new to them.

Last year, Manchester United started slowly with just two points in their first three games but came back to win the title. Still, starting the season without superstar scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, who is out until October, should be big.

Cristiano Ronaldo had 42 goals for Man-U last season.

”Last season we had a staggered start, Tevez and Anderson joined us and weren’t 100 percent fit, Ronaldo got suspended for three games after the first game, then Rooney got injured in the first match against Reading and…”

It’s time once again to bet on these English football games.

The 2008-09 English Premier League season opens up with Manchester United winning the Community Shield, beating Portsmouth in a penalty shoot-out.

It was customary in English football that the winners of the F.A. Cup and the winners of the Premiership meet in English football’s season opener. And as many people probably expected, the Premiership champions edged the F.A. Cup winners as Manchester United won what could be the first of the seven trophies they could win this year.

Of course, Man-U boss Sir Alex Ferguson should already be happy knowing that Cristiano Ronaldo has decided to stay with the team at least until the next transfer season opens up.

More importantly, Fergie should be happy to know that his team is STILL a class of its own. Man-U looked ready to defend the Premiership title they won last season, not to mention, looking primed to win the UEFA Champions League title again.

Portsmouth have been held up by some, including Man-United captain Gary Neville, as potential top-four material this term.

Yet for all the added bulk and height…

Man-U fans rejoice! You can now be officially excited about the coming football season.

As the brand new 2008-09 English Premier League season kicks off, Cristiano Ronaldo, only the biggest star in international football today, has finally decided on something and that’s to stay at Old Trafford for at least one more year.

You read it, Cristiano Ronaldo, after all the speculations that he will leave Manchester United and play for Real Madrid, has confirmed that he will remain with Man-U for another season.

”I will remain with Manchester United for at least another year,” Cristiano Ronaldo said, much to the dismay of the Spanish football giants. Real Madrid was determined to pry another Man-U star away from English football after successfully signing former Man-U standout David Beckham.

THIS TIME though, looks Real Madrid has failed to grab the hottest commodity in international football today. However, I’m not expecting the Spanish football champions to give up on the guy that…

That is of course, according to Man-U manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Stunned about the possibility that he just might lose his biggest star coming to the brand new 2008-09 English Premier League season, Sir Alex Ferguson says it would be a big mistake in Cristiano Ronaldo’s part if he decides to leave Old Trafford and play for Real Madrid.

In case you’ve been living under a rock lately, Spanish football giants Real Madrid has been lobbying for Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo to come and join them in the coming Spanish football season.

And while Cristiano Ronaldo himself has already declared that he indeed wants to play for Real Madrid, Man-U, as of press time, still claims the Portugese phenom is NOT FOR SALE.

Sir Alex Ferguson is obviously disappointed with these developments. And while he continues to keep the Portugese phenom in the Man-U roster ”by any means necessary,” he goes on and tells the public that the 23-year-old winger needs to stay at Old Trafford if he is to grow as a player.

As if the guy has a choice…

And guess what, the Arsenal standout agrees with the Man-U boss.

As the top teams of the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League begin to separate themselves from the rest of the pack, Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal has been receiving all kinds of praises from the big names of the game.

Since the departure of Thierry Henry from Arsenal to Barcelona, Cesc Fabregas quickly became the man in the Arsene Wenger side. Fabregas had 11 goals for the Gunners in 15 games this season and is already at the forefront of Arsenal’s foreign players.

STILL, despite the kind of season the youngster has been having, Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson says that Fabregas and all these other young players cannot be considered great yet until they start winning trophies.

Fabregas agrees.

”Yeah, he’s right,” Cesc Fabregas said. ”I 100 percent agree with him. I can’t say I’m a great player. And I always say at Arsenal we’re a very, very good side but not a great side.”

”When we win something together as a group we can say we’re great, but…”