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Sometimes, we need to be different. And now, Bolanova wants to be a little bit different from our daily blog post. We will post two matchs review from my fellow blogger, Agus Sanjaya, in English. So, here they are.

Liverpool vs Chelsea

The first leg of Champions League semifinal between Liverpool and Chelsea ended with a 1-1 draw. Dirk Kuyt gave Liverpool the lead just before half time. Following a quick free kick, Kuyt then launched a cross to the penalty area which was headed out of danger by Terry. The ball then fell to Lampard who failed to control it. As the ball was loose right outside of the box, Mascherano tried to shot but his missed kick shot proved to be a good pass to Kuyt who then scored the goal.

In the second half the game began to open up with both teams tried to score goal. A one goal lead is really not good enough for Liverpool to take to the second leg. Chelsea also want to score at least one goal so they can have the away goal advantage coming into the second encounter. Both teams had many chances on the second half. On the 58th minute Gerrard presented a brilliant pass for Babel which sent a hard shot but Cech still managed to divert the ball out. Ten minutes before full time Lampard had a chance to level the game but his shot was blocked by Carragher. On the 89th minute Torress broke the offside trap but his first touch let him down and Chelsea were able to clear the defense. A disaster then came on injury time when Riise - who was trying to drive away a cross from Kalou which was intended for Anelka who was lurking behind him - headed the ball pass his own keeper.

This result is extremely important for Chelsea as now they have the away goal advantage. On the return leg they only need a 0-0 draw to go through to their first ever Champions League Final. But they also need to be careful of Liverpool as it is still a game to play. With all the experiences they have in Champions League don’t just write them off the competition before the end of the whistle. Surely you still remember what they did in Istanbul in 2005 against AC Milan.

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Barcelona vs Manchester United

The second semifinal of Champions League which featured Barcelona against Manchester United ended in a goalless draw. This result left both team with a fair chance of reaching the final in Moskow. Manchester should have taken the lead with just three minutes of the game being played when they were awarded a penalty by the referee.

The penalty was awarded after Gabriel Milito handled the ball headed by Ronaldo following a corner kick. Ronaldo then took the penalty only to send his shot high above the bar with Valdez already chose the wrong way. Barcelona then slowly began to control the game with Lionel Messi causing the real danger for Manchester. Messi twice sent a through pass which open up Manchester’s defense. On the first occasion, the pass released Iniesta from the offside trap but hist cut back pass was left unattended. The same game plan was played later on but this time the pass was too strong.

On the second half Barca was still dominant with their one-two passing game. Manchester really had no chance of playing the ball, they were forced to defend. Messi had his site on goal and sent a shot but it was blocked by Brown. Eto’o then found his way pass the Manchester’s defense and into the penalty box, lucky for Manchester Carrick was there to clear the danger. On the 61st minute, Rijkaard decided to take out Messi and replaced him with Bojan. He then had a chance to score with a header but Van Der Sar was equal to the task. Former Arsenal’s captain, Thierry Henry, was then brought on but fail to make any impact. Two minutes of injury was added but still no goal was scored.

The return leg next week at Old Trafford will be the decider which of the two teams will go to the final. Manchester has to win in order to reach Moskow while Barcelona need only a draw other than 0-0 to make it to the final. I surely think that game will be a different game compared to yesterday’s game. Manchester United will try to win the game at all cost. Hopefully they will.

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Foto source: OkeZone.com