MANCHESTER IS THE WINNER!

Man Utd are Euro kings. CRISTIANO RONALDO is waking up a Champions League winner and it is Chelsea´s John Terry left in bits.
When Ronaldo’s nervy third penalty for Manchester in a dramatic shootout was saved by Petr Cech, the double Footballer of the Year have destroyed a brilliant season. With Chelsea hammering in their first four penalties, lionheart defender Terry was one kick away from the greatest moment of his career. All Terry had to do was put the ball in the net from 12 yards and the cup with the big ears would be the Londoners’ for the first time in their history. His shot skewed off the outside of United keeper Edwin Van der Sar’s left post and agonisingly wide.


The kicks then went to sudden death and, after Anderson and Salomon Kalou had scored, Ryan Giggs coolly slotted home on his record-breaking 759th United appearance to make it 6-5. Nicolas Anelka had to score to keep the Blues alive but his kick was superbly saved by the veteran Van der Sar diving to his right. Cue mayhem in the United end where the penalties were taken, as the players raced to engulf their Dutch hero. They were minus only a mightily relieved Ronaldo, who was lying face down on the halfway line with his emotions having got the better of him. Manager Alex Ferguson danced a jig as he celebrated a second Champions League success to go with that of 1999 and another magnificent Double.

Maybe it was always meant to be that United should succeed 50 years after the Munich air disaster. Meanwhile, emotions of a different kind were overwhelming the Chelsea players. Terry was inconsolable. No player should have to go through the pain he suffered. It will be carnage at Chelsea with manager Avram Grant probably losing his job and the likes of striker Didier Drogba leaving the club.This final never looked like it would go to penalties, because United so dominated the first half they should have been out of sight by half-time.

United took the lead on 26 minutes. Wes Brown combined with Paul Scholes, Scholes’ genius unlocked the space for Brown on the right and his deep cross found Ronaldo, who climbed high above a static Michael Essien to head into the corner for his 42nd goal of the season.

Right on half-time, Chelsea were back in it. Essien’s drive hit Vidic and Ferdinand before bouncing obligingly across to Lampard, who clipped a left-foot effort past Van der Sar. Lampard raced away and raised both arms to the heavens, where his mum Pat, who died so tragically only a month ago, was looking down and willing her boy on. But United have been England’s best team this season. They thoroughly deserve their reward.


EDWIN VAN DER SAR erased 12 years of pain with his shoot-out heroics in Manchester United's Champions League triumph. The keeper saved Nicolas Anelka's sudden-death penalty before Ryan Giggs tucked home United's decisive spot-kick. And Dutchman revealed that clinching the Double has quelled the agony of losing on penalties with Ajax in the 1996 final. He said: "Twelve years ago I lost on penalties and we've won it now.
"It's unbelievable. We deserve it. It's fantastic."

RYAN GIGGS hailed the "best night of his life" after clinching Manchester United's Champions League shoot-out glory. Giggs said: "I think the first half we dominated and they had their chances in the second half. "But we held our nerve and it was the best night of my life."


This one is for the Babes: ALEX FERGUSON dedicated Manchester United’s dramatic Champions League triumph to the memory of the Busby Babes. United lifted the trophy last night 50 years after the Munich air disaster which cost 23 lives, including eight of Sir Matt Busby’s famous team. Instead an emotional Sir Bobby Charlton led the United team up the steps at the Luzhniki Stadium to receive the trophy. He was one of 5 players who survived Munich watching in the stadium last night.

And Ferguson, who also guided United to Euro glory in 1999, admitted: “It was such an emotional occasion. I said the day before the game we would not let the memory of the Busby Babes down. “And fate played its hand even in John Terry slipping. We had a cause and people with causes become difficult people to play against. “I think fate was playing its hand today. “I feel very, very proud, sometimes you have to pinch yourself. But tomorrow morning I’ll be thinking about next season. “The euphoria evaporates quickly. When you win something like this you have to look at the players the following year and make sure the hunger is still there.

“But the young players who enjoy an experience like they did here will want to do it again. “Defending the trophy is not easy. But some of the players here will improve and I hope we can defend it. They are good enough.” He revealed: “I spoke to a few people afterwards and they said it was fantastic and I’m pleased about that. “I have watched many finals and some are not good because of the pressure. But this was pretty open.”


Fergie added: “It would have been so unfair to Ronaldo if that penalty miss had cost us after the season he has had. “I thought he was fantastic tonight. When he had the ball you always felt something was going to happen. I thought it was a marvellous performance.” Ferguson said of Van der Sar: “The most difficult job we had was replacing Peter Schmeichel and we did that three years ago with Edwin. “That was not an accident that save. We knew where certain players were putting the ball, so great credit to him. “When it came to the last penalty he used his experience to wait that fraction. It’s my first victory in penalty shootouts, apart from Charity Shields which you don’t count — I lost three with Aberdeen and three with United but it was seventh time lucky.”


Hero Van der Sar said: “I won a final in 1995 with Ajax and then lost one on penalties with Ajax the next season. It is all about quality strikes from our players and then you hope to save one. “We were lucky with the slip from Terry or it would have been all over.”