UEFA Champions League 2008-2009: Manchester United vs Porto

The Manchester United FC manager recalled his team's 3-2 win at Juventus in the 1999 UEFA Champions League semi-finals – the last time they fought their way out of a similarly tight spot – as he reflected on the advantage Porto gained from the 2-2 first-leg draw at Old Trafford. Sir Alex said "We were disappointed in losing the last-minute goal [by Mariano] in the last game. That has given a definite edge to Porto but we are capable of turning that around. It is not as if we are going here without a big chance. We have to remember the places we have been in the past, like Juventus, when we drew at home and won away."
The feeling is very unpleasant and with a flavour of injustice for all we did in these two games against Manchester United. We started the match with the same players and we approached the game as we always do. I think everybody at the club can feel proud of what we did, knowing that this was not what we wanted from the tie. We wanted more and we deserved to qualify for the last four. However, we are talking about facing the best team in the world, the European champions. The scorer of their goal is quite simply the best player in the world. It's very hard to find any team capable of playing like we did at Old Trafford, including English teams. Ernesto Farías allowed us to have more presence in United's area and that worked well but in the end we didn't manage to score.



United's Portuguese forward may have had a mixed season but his world-class talent has never been in doubt and he underlined it here with the 35-metre strike that secured a 3-2 aggregate victory for Sir Alex Ferguson's side who – in the process – became the first English team to win at Porto. History has never been an impediment to Sir Alex Ferguson, who has rewritten the record books in over two decades at Old Trafford, and his quintuple-chasing team can now look forward to a semi-final against Arsenal FC with renewed heart having rediscovered their defensive solidity here with a first clean sheet in six matches.
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Iconic 'Finale Rome' set for ultimate stage

adidas has unveiled the official match ball for the UEFA Champions League final at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 27 May – the adidas Finale Rome.

Roman values
The design of the adidas Finale Rome is based on the widely recognisable UEFA Champions League starball. The colours of the new match ball are inspired by the traditional Roman colour burgundy with gold detailing around the stars. Mosaic figures representing key sporting and Roman values such as speed, teamwork, justice and power are featured in each star – honouring European club football's blue-riband event.

Sophistication
Like the EUROPASS, the match ball of UEFA EURO 2008™ in Austria and Switzerland last summer, the adidas Finale Rome boasts the innovative surface structure PSC-Texture™. This surface structure allows players to control and direct the ball perfectly in all weather conditions. The PSC-Texture™ consists of a sophisticated and extremely fine structure on the ball's outer skin that guarantees optimum grip between ball and boot. Due to the usage of this material, the ball texture feels like goose bumps. In addition, like the EUROPASS, the adidas Finale Rome is constructed out of 14 panels using revolutionary Thermal Bonding Technology.



'Historic'
At a press conference at Terrazza Colle Oppio in Rome – an open balcony with a wonderful view of the Colosseum in the background – participants sang the praises of the ball to be used for the final. "We thank the FIGC [Italian Football Federation], the Italian Olympic Committee [CONI], the municipality of the city and adidas," said Peter Willems, UEFA head of marketing activities. "Rome is a historic venue and we hope to watch a historic final here. The ball is an icon of this tournament. The starball was introduced in 2000 for the finals and has been used for all matches of the competition since the 2006/07 season. It is the best of the best on the ultimate stage – the ball with the highest level of technology."

'Important partnership'
"I want to stress the importance of the partnership between adidas and UEFA," added Winand Krawinkel, marketing director of adidas Italy. "We have been producing balls for the most important football events in Europe and in the world since 1970. UEFA gave us the incentive to make many important steps in technology." The adidas Finale Rome is currently available at retail outlets worldwide. adidas has been making footballs since 1963, and has supplied the official match balls to all major UEFA and FIFA tournaments since 1970.