425 lines
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425 lines
16 KiB
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Executable File
sport
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football
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competitions
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champions-league
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8493665
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-----
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# Manchester United v Schalke: Ferguson's 'free pass' into final will have
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Barcelona scratching their heads
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## In the directors' box at Old Trafford last night, the spies from Barcelona
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must have wondered how it happened.
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![Anderson - Manchester United v Schalke: Ferguson's 'free pass' into final
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will have Barcelona scratching their heads][1]
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All smiles: Anderson celebtaes with Manchester United fans on a comfortable
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night for his team Photo: REUTERS
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[![Jim White][2]][3]
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By [Jim White][4] 6:00AM BST 05 May 2011
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[Comments][5]
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How come, while their club had been required to play out a tetchy, testy,
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grubby kickfest against their greatest rivals in order to qualify for the
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[**Champions League**][6] final, here were the side they will face on May 28
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being gifted what was effectively a golden pass to Wembley?
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Whatever happened to that favouritism in which Jose Mourinho insists the
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Catalans bask? It certainly wasn't in evidence in the semi-final draw.
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For [**Manchester United**][7] this was a romp, a gentle run-out for their
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understudies, as untroubled a semi as they have experienced in their long,
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emotional engagement with Europe.
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There was none of the fate-imbued catharsis of drawing with Real Madrid in
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1968, none of the astonishing display of will power as there had been against
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Juventus in 1999, no whizz-bang counter-attack like that required at the
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Emirates in 2009. After doing all the work last week in Germany, the fact is
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United reached their fifth European Cup final barely breaking sweat.
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Here's how easy it was for the home side against a Schalke team that might
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struggle to shine in the Championship: Anderson, who has spent much of his
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career at Old Trafford doing a sound impression of the only goal-shy Brazilian
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on the planet, scored twice.
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## Related Articles
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* [Manchester United 4 Schalke 1; agg 6-1][8]
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04 May 2011
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* [Wembley to inspire United][9]
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05 May 2011
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* [Manchester United v Schalke][10]
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04 May 2011
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* [United v Schalke: ratings][11]
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04 May 2011
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* [Man Utd v Schalke: as it happened][12]
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04 May 2011
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* [Manchester United v Schalke: preview][13]
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04 May 2011
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As the game petered out into a testimonial stroll, the crowd were so relaxed
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they ran through a repertoire of songs for past heroes. That their programme
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finished with a lusty name-check for Teddy Sheringham tells you all you need
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to know about how untouched by tension was this occasion.
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No wonder the visiting observers left early. If they were looking for clues as
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to how United will play in the final, they were to be found sitting behind
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them in the comfy seats, where Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Ji-Sung Park and
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Michael Carrick were dispatched, not even required for dug-out duty.
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This might have been a Champions League semi-final, but it turned out to be an
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evening when football's least sentimental manager gave his bit-part actors a
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public thank you.
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So how will Ferguson set out his side to play Barcelona? Not with Darron
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Gibson and Anderson in central midfield as he did here, that's for sure. Not
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with Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans at centre-back either, and certainly not
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with Dimitar Berbatov strolling languidly around as a lone forward, stopping
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occasionally to tug at his shirt, to ensure the material was crease free.
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The manager will, however, know he needs to do something more than he managed
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the last time his team met Barca in this competition. Back in 2009 United were
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brushed aside with an ease that bordered on contemptuous. And this with a side
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that included Cristiano Ronaldo, a player whose singular ability has yet to be
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replaced.
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Yet missing from that line-up was a player whose name is rarely mentioned
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amonght e club's greats. Darren Fletcher, suspended from action in Rome, was
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back in contention on Wednesday night. After a long illness which caused him
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to lose two stone, the Scotland captain came on as a late substitute.
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As usual he did nothing flashy, nothing ostentatious, refusing to indulge the
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loud insistence from the stands that he shoot on sight. But he showed he was
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getting closer to being ready to assume the most substantial role in United's
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team for the final: shackling Lionel Messi.
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With Owen Hargreaves now effectively retired, Fletcher is the only man in the
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United squad capable of man-marking the world's best player. And while it
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would be facile - with all the other resources at their disposal - to suggest
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that if you stop Messi, you stop Barcelona, unless Ferguson can find a way to
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contain the Argentine genius, United have no chance.
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As was proven in 2009. Playing alongside Ryan Giggs and Carrick, behind Rooney
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and Javier Hernandez, with Antonio Valencia supplying dash on the wing,
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Fletcher would provide the kind of defensive cover so clearly missing two
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seasons ago.
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And in doing so, United's least acknowledged squad man could make the
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difference. Which would be fitting comment on a season in which United have
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been widely regarded as a thin parody of Ferguson's teams from the past.
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For a bad team they are doing all right. Here they are in the Champions League
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final and approaching the climax of the Premier League injury and suspension
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free, their top players rested and ready. On Wednesday the visitors from
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Catalonia must have returned to Barcelona thinking that in football some guys
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really do get all the luck.
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[X][14] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][15]
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* Share: [Share][14] [ ][16] [ ][17]
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[Tweet][18]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/champions-
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league/8493665/Manchester-United-v-Schalke-Fergusons-free-pass-into-final-
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will-have-Barcelona-scratching-their-heads.html
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Telegraph
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## [Champions League][6]
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* ### [Sport »][19]
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* ### [Jim White »][3]
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* ### [Football »][20]
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* ### [European »][21]
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* ### [Manchester United »][7]
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External Links
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* ### [Uefa Champions League][22]
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* ### [FC Schalke 04 (in German)][23]
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In sport
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[![Pep Guardiola - Champions League final: Johan Cruyff believes Barcelona
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coach could walk away][24] ][25]
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### [Guardiola exit talk unsettles Barca][25]
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[![Champions League final: Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar's
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giant gloves 'impossible' to fill][26] ][27]
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### [Van der Sar's gloves 'impossible' to fill][27]
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[![Rio Ferdinand - Champions League final: Henrik Larsson on the Manchester
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United line-up for Wembley][28] ][29]
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### [Henrik Larsson on United][29]
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[![Champions League final: Barcelona's Lionel Messi - behind the mask of the
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world's best player][30] ][31]
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### [Messi: behind the mask][31]
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[![Follow Telegraph Sport on Twitter][32]][33]
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### [Follow Telegraph Sport on Twitter][33]
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Share:
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* [ ][14]
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* [ ][16]
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* [ ][17]
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* [Tweet][18]
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* Advertisement
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![][34]
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telegraphuk
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[2]:
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[3]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/columnists/jimwhite/
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[4]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/columnists/jimwhite/ (Jim White)
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[5]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/champions-
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league/8493665/Manchester-United-v-Schalke-Fergusons-free-pass-into-final-
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will-have-Barcelona-scratching-their-heads.html#disqus_thread
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[11]: /sport/football/competitions/champions-league/8492833/Manchester-
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[12]: /sport/football/competitions/champions-league/8492625/Manchester-
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[13]: /sport/football/teams/manchester-united/8490372/Manchester-United-v
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[14]: #
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[38]: #configurableTab_8257595
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[39]: #configurableTab_8120678
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[40]: #configurableTab_8255335
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[41]: http://jobs.telegraph.co.uk/?utm_source=TMG&utm_medium=CS&utm_campaig
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n=jobslink
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