Milan president personally shapes the May 2008 Champions League final match clash.


UEFA Champions League defending champions AC Milan will not mind meeting FC Barcelona in a final match clash that will see the Barca, the 2005/06 champions and AC Milan, the 2006/07 champions play the 2007/08 final match. This wish was revealed by Milan's club president, Silvio Berlusconi, who has had a long-held fascination with FC Barcelona, and often coverts Barca's players in continuous bids to lure the Blaugrana stars to San Siro. The most recent of this is the Rosseneri's twin bids for Barca stars Samuel Eto'o and Ronaldinho, which both failed. Still not deterred by the failure, Berlusconi called Barcelona a great club and hopes the Catalan giants will reach the final of the Champions League this season:

I hope tonight will be the first step towards another final. Milan always aim to be victorious in every competition. A dream final would be against a great team like Barcelona or Real Madrid. It would even be great to face Inter. I offer my best wishes to Massimo Moratti that we may arrive with them in the final, as I know he has poured so much love and dedication into the club.

AC Milan play Portuguese club Benfica tonight at the San Siro, and will also exchange fire with Skakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine and Celtic of Scotland in the remaining group games.

Ex-Barca star Ronald Koeman is the new head coach of PSV Eindhoven.


Benfica Lisbon and coach Ronald Koeman have agreed to part company so Dutchman Koeman can join PSV Eindhoven. Ronald Koeman took over Benfica from Giovanni Trapattoni last summer but despite lthe Italian leading Benfica into the quarterfinals of the champions league against FC Barcelona he had a disappointing Portuguese championship campaign.
Benfica finished on 3rd place behind arch-rivals Porto and city rivals Sporting Lisbon. They failed to secure direct qualification for the champions league.

Koeman has signed a two-year deal with PSV where he will succeed Guus Hiddink.

Over 7 Mill. viewers followed the UEFA Champions League match between FC Barcelona and Benfica on TV. This figure results in a market share of 41.9 %. RTVE reported that the "Golden Minute" was at 22.07 h when over 9 Mill. viewers (49.3 % market share) were following the match in front of the TV at this point. This was at the moment when Ronaldinho was taking a freekick in a dangerous position near the penalty box

Sir Bobby Charlton, Englands world champion of 1966 and Manchester United legend attended Barça´s quarter final match on Wednesday and was delighted about the performance that the Barcelona team showed on this evening. The legandary Manchester United midfielder expects a Champions League Final between English Club Arsenal FC and FC Barcelona. Sir Bobby Charlton is a member of the organising committee for the Laureus Award and visited the City Counsil of Barcelona to present the names for the Laureus Award. Laureus awards annually a price for the Best Sportsman of the World in its divers categories. The Old Trafford legend Charlton arrived in Barcelona yesterday and attended the 2-0 Champions League quarter final victory of FC Barcelona against Benfica in Camp Nou. Sir Bobby Charlton was amazed by the magnificent atmosphere in the Camp Nou stadium:

I never played as a player in Camp Nou but it was a fantastic experience yesterday. At the end I ended up suffering like a fan. I have fond memories of the stadium, especially the happy ending of the 1999 Champions League Final between Manchester United and Bayern Munich, when United scored twice in the last 2 minutes

. Bobby Charlton, a former midfielder himself, was impressed by the young Barça player with the shirt "No. 24" and "his magnificent work in midfield". Charlton believes that Barca could be the team that may play a very important part in European Football over the coming years but thought:

Barca should have scored more goals in respect to all the chances that the team created.

Although, soon Charlton claryfied that if this is the only problem, it would be a "luxury problem". Sir Bobby Charlton also spoke about Ronaldinho, a candidate for the Lareus Award that will name the Best Sportsman of the Year.

He must be among the candidates with all the achievements and what he does for the FC Barcelona team. His ability, skills, vision of the game and the spectacular way how he outplays the opposite defence

. Charlton also spoke about the World Cup favourites in Germany in the summer:

Argentina, Italy, France... all are good teams, but they are all a step behind Brazil, the great favorite

. In respect to the Spanish national team, Bobby Charlton was very clear:

...Each World Cup people say that it could be the year for Spain, but at the end it never materialized. Like England, with the difference that we already won a World Cup once.

Benfica coach Ronald Koeman admitted that Barcelona deserved to beat Benfica in the Champions League quarter finals, but was disappointed that his side did not take their chances. The former Barça star recognised FC Barcelona´s performance and dominance in both matches to deserve a place in the semi finals of the UEFA Champions League Competition against AC Milan: "They were superior to us in both matches but we did have good chances to get through.You could say we feel disappointed at the result, as we were after the first leg at Da Luz. We had two good opportunities in the second half which meant we could have drawn. To control the match you have to play very calmly, but Barcelona pressurised us a lot and we lost too many balls in midfield. I think Barcelona showed in two games against us what they are made of. Of course, they are capable of beating Milan."