Have you ever been to the Theatre of Dreams? No, what a pity! Is a wonderful place! Instead of a proper stage there’s a field full of the greenest grass you’ve ever seen. Instead of actors and actresses there are the greatest players you’ve ever seen. Instead of a theatre there’s the nicest stadium you’ve ever seen. Instead of costumes there are the reddest t-shirts you have ever seen. Instead of Johnny Depp, Marlon Brando or Meryl Streep there are Cristiano Ronaldo, Tevez, Rooney… on stage. Would you waste the chance of dreaming awake? In the theatre of dreams everything is possible.

After a good match in Barcelona (the European semi-final’s first leg), you’ve got a second opportunity to watch one of this year’s greatest match. In Camp Nou, Barcelona was superior. FCB did know how to play this complicated match. Not loosing any balls in the midfield with the return of Deco and the security given by Yaya Toure. Good transitions to the forward players. And good chances of scoring goals. Eto’o, Messi, Henry, Bojan played good but didn’t find how to create serious problems for United’s goalkeeper, Van der Sar.

Ferguson didn’t transmit to ManU players all the intentions he had planning the game. Maybe when Cristiano Ronaldo missed the penalty kick everything went upside down for Ferguson’s plans.

But now we’ve got a second chance of enjoying (in the theatre of dreams – Old Trafford) the second leg of what was a marvellous game of football. The dice are thrown and there’s only an aim: Moscow!

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Sir Alex Ferguson insists there is an air of calm around the club ahead of two massive weeks which could determine Manchester United domestic and European fate. The Reds are within two wins of a tenth league triumph, while Barcelona lie in the wait in the Champions League semi-final, the first leg of which takes place at the Nou Camp on Wednesday 23^rd April and the second leg at Old Trafford on Tuesday 29^th April. Sir Alex Ferguson is calling on United supporters attending the Barcelona home game on Tuesday 29 April to make Old Trafford a “sea of red and white”. The Reds boss believes fans have a real part to play in the remainder of this season and says that, with the help of United’s support, the home leg of the Champions League semi final against the Barça could be a memorable occasion. Many of Old Trafford’s greatest atmospheres have come in European games – Barça ’84, Porto ’77, Inter ’99, Rome last season – and Sir Alex is urging fans to help add Barcelona 2008 to that list and become again the 12^th man on the pitch.
If it’s like that on that night with our supporters bringing their red and white scarves it should be fantastic. We want to make sure it’s a real sea of red and white, and if we can do that we have a big, big chance of reaching the final. We know that not all fans are keen on wearing a scarf to the match but we’re calling on all Reds to make an exception for what is the biggest game of the season so far.
Sir Alex believes the backing of the fans really gives the players a lift – so show your colours, exercise your vocal cords and let’s roar the lads to Moscow. So many things can happen, the important thing is how you handle those things. Sir Alex is confident that it can be done in the best possible way.”

When there is only about one month for the 2007/08 season end of the most important football European leagues the probable winners in each country have already a name or at least some teams are clear favourites to obtain the championship.Let’s have a look to the present situation of the football leagues in Spain, England, Germany, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Belgium and Greece.Liga bwin in Portugal: This is the only of the above mentioned countries where there is already a winner of the major football league. Porto with 66 points is the winner when still there are four matches to be played before the end.Super League in Greece: When only one match must be played, Olympiakos with 67 points could be the winner. AEK with 65 points is second. Eredivisie in Holland: Also there is only one match to be played and PSV Eindhoven with 69 points will probably win the championship this season.Jupiter League in Belgium: Four matches to be played and Standard Liege (68 points) has 7 points advantage over Anderlecht (61 points).Premiership in England: Also four matches to be played and Manchester United (80 points) has a comfortable advantage of five points over Chelsea who is second in the table (75 points).Ligue 1 in France: Olympique Lyon with 68 points is the leader followed by Girondins Bordeaux with 64 points when there are still five matches to be played.Serie A in Italy: 4 points is the advantage of Inter (75 points) over Rome (71 points) when still five matches must be played.1 Bundesliga in Germany: 10 points is the comfortable advantage of Bayern Munich over Werder Bremen six matches before the end of the season.Primera Division in Spain: Real Madrid with 69 points is the maximum favourite to obtain the championship because second in the table is FC Barcelona with 60 points when only six matches must be played.According this up to date situation it is almost probable that following teams will go directly into the Champions League next season: Porto, Olympiakos, PSV Eindhoven, Standard Liege, Manchester United, Chelsea, Olympique Lyon, Bayern Munich, Werder Bremen, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

The Grand Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex Stadium, is a multipurpose  stadium in the city of Moscow, Russia. Now its total capacity is 84,000 seats, all covered. The stadium is part of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex,  previously called the Central Lenin Stadium. Its field is used mainly for football games by Torpedo Moscow club, which is owned by the sports complex itself, and  Spartak Moscow.It is also one of the few major European stadiums to use an artificial pitch, as it installed a FIFA-approved Field Turf pitch in 2002. The pitch is necessary for the cold Russian climate, as regular grass pitches are often destroyed during a typical winter and must be replaced at high cost. However, natural grass has been installed for the 2008 Champions League Final.The Grand Arena of the Central Lenin Stadium was the chief venue for the 1980 Summer Olympic Games, the spectator capacity being 103,000 at that time. The events hosted in this stadium were the Opening and Closing ceremonies, Athletics, Football finals,  and the Individual Jumping Grand Prix. The Luzhniki Stadium also hosted the final game of the 1957 Ice Hockey World Championship between Sweden and the Soviet Union,  attended by a crowd of 55,000 and setting a new world record for this sport.It was built in 1956 in a zone close to Moscova river and under the name of “Central Lenin Stadium” the official opening take place on 31^st July 1956 with a football match in which the Soviet Union team won the China Popular Republic team by 1-0. It was renewed in 1995-1997 and its name changed to the present name. Quality and safety of the stands was improved,  capacity was optimised to 84,000 seats and it was fully covered. This is the Stadium where all football fans will be present, in situ or trough the TV, next 21^st May.

Champions League semi-finals are served. The big clashes between Liverpool FC and  Chelsea FC and FC Barcelona and Manchester United FC will select the two teams who will travel to Moscow for the Final on 21^st May. Reds boss Sir Alex Ferguson can’t wait to face Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final and is advancing some of his thoughts.
The Catalans beat Schalke 1-0 (2-0 on aggregate) to progress to the semi-final, but they will be without suspended skipper Carlos Puyol for the first-leg tie at the Camp Nou on 23^rd April and Alex Ferguson opinion on this fact after United’s 1-0 win over Rome, which takes the Reds comfortably through 3-0 on aggregate is: “Payola’s is a very good player, so that’s interesting,”
And he adds: “We have the opportunity now to achieve something really special. We want to go to Barcelona and show we’re a good team. Barcelona are a wonderful club but we can’t go there and be negative. If we do that then we’ve got a chance.”
The United manager surprised everyone with his starting line-up against AS Rome, leaving Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Scholes on the bench. But he defended his decision and maintained his faith was repaid by the performance and the final result.
“We have to think about Arsenal on Sunday and you have to look at the big picture at times,” Sir Alex added: “We were going into a game at Old Trafford with a two-goal lead and I have to trust the players in that situation.
“I keep saying it’s the best squad I’ve ever had so if that’s the case then why shouldn’t I play them? I took out Scholes, Rooney and Ronaldo, but Ji-sung Park, Carlos Tevez and Owen Hargreaves were our three best players.”Having said all this, Alex Ferguson as well as all football fans must await the matches to be played at Camp Nou on 23r^d April and at Old Trafford on 29^th April to know the final result although what it is 100% sure is that at least an English team – Liverpool or Chelsea – will be one of the finalists. 

The FA Cup 2007/08 semi-finals are served: Portsmouth v Barnsley and Cardiff City v West Bromwich Albion will play on April 5. Both matches as well as the Final match on May 17 will be played at the new Wembley Stadium.
But let us took a brief look at the rich history of the oldest and best domestic Cup competition in the world created on 20th July 1871 after a proposal by FA Honorary Secretary Charles Alcock when he said: “It is desirable that a Challenge Cup should be established in connection with the Association, for which all clubs belonging to the Association should be invited to compete”. The competition was finally approved three months later. The original trophy, much smaller than the present one, was made by Messrs Martin, Hall & Co. and cost £20. In 1895 , after Aston Villa had won the competition, the cup was stolen from the window of a firm of football outfitters in Birmingham where it had been placed on display. It was never recovered. Manchester United have won the Cup the most times (11), followed by Arsenal (10) and Tottenham Hotspur (8). 42 different clubs have won it. In January 1922 the Duke of York, later to become King George VI, cut the first turf to mark the beginning of the building of Wembley Stadium and it was completed in under a year at a cost of £750,000. The Cup Final was played each year at Wembley Stadium except the war years until 2000.
The new Wembley hosted its first Final in 2007. Sir Bobby Robson, a Cup winner as Ipswich Town’s manager, once said: “The FA Cup Final is the greatest single match outside the World Cup Final - and it’s ours”.

After the matches played last Tuesday and Wednesday, Barcelona, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Rome, Ferenbahçe and Schalke 04 are already qualified for last-eight games of Champions League 2007/08. Internazionale and Liverpool will play on March 11 to decide the last team to be qualified for this phase which corresponding matches (as well as possible semi-finals) will be draw on Friday March 14 in Nyon.
But one of the important facts is that Lionel Messi will miss both legs of FC Barcelona’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie after being ruled out for six weeks with a torn thigh muscle. The 22-year-old Argentinean was forced to leave the pitch 38 minutes into Tuesday night’s 1-0 win against Celtic FC, which completed a 4-2 aggregate victory for Frank Rijkaard’s side. Suffering the damage during a sprint, Messi left the field in distress having also torn muscle in his left thigh in a league game against Valencia CF in December, an injury which resulted in a one-month absence from the first team.
Club doctors have ruled Messi out for six weeks, meaning he will miss a crucial period with Barça still in the running for three trophies. He is expected to miss six Liga First Division games, both legs of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and he will also stop his career to obtain the tittle of maximum scorer where he is now on top together with Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United with 6 goals each. He will also miss the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final against Valencia and also the final on April 16, should Barça make it.

Only three Premiership teams are definitely through the Quarter Final.
FA Cup holders Chelsea have been given an away tie in today’s Sixth Round draw. The Blues will travel to Barnsley, who sensationally won at Anfield last Saturday. The other two, Manchester United and Portsmouth, have been drawn to play each other at Old Trafford. United won 2-1 when they met in the Fourth Round last season, also at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’.
Ricky Lambert’s late goal on Saturday put Bristol Rovers into the last eight for the first time for half a century. Even Jack Sparrow will be struggling to get a ticket with half of Bristol wanting to see the Pirates take on West Bromwich.
Sheffield United or Middlesbrough v Cardiff City; Manchester United v Portsmouth; Bristol Rovers v West Bromwich Albion and Barnsley v Chelsea are the Quarter Final matches.
The FA distributes prize money and broadcast payments to clubs for their participation in The FA Cup.
The FA’s stated objective is to use The FA Cup to redistribute funds throughout the game and together the prize fund and the television monies represent an investment in the competition of around £15 million.
All clubs receive money from The FA’s Prize Fund, while for matches on TV, live or highlights, or on the radio.
The most significant payments are: £900,000 for each winner of semi-finals matches and £1,000,000 for the FA Cup winner.