Former Manchester United star Ray Wilkins said: “This is a clash between two of the greatest clubs in European history,..." And I agree! Match days like these come 13th February 2013 at the Santiago Bernabéu and the 5th March 2013 at Old Trafford is why the Uefa Champions League was created. Though this might be the tie of the round, the tournament organisers will be licking there lips at what the draw has has kicked out. In some media circles its touted as the Dream Draw. José Mourinho returns to Old Trafford in the Champions League for the first time since he ran down the touchline when his Porto side scored in the last minute in 2004, while Cristiano Ronaldo will return to his beloved Manchester United, its bound to stir emotions. United and their much debated defence is yet to gel or yet to reach full fitness and Real are currently underperforming in La Liga, so neither would want to meet each other right now but February it might be different, a lot can happe...

The draw for the knock out phase of the Champions League takes place later today in Switzerland  and is sure to bring us a few exciting match ups. There are nine former European Champions in the last 16 and only Malaga of the 16 have not reached this stage before. The spanish outfit & Celtic have had a long road in which they started their campaigns in August already in a qualifying round before the group stages began . The eight group winners will be matched up against a second-place team that is not from their own group and no side can meet another from their association. So for example Manchester United cannot draw Arsenal FC similiarly Real Madrid cannot draw Barcelona for the initial knock-out stage round. Another draw will occur for the quarter-final and semi-final knock-out rounds after this initial knock-out round concludes. These are two-legged ties to occur in early February (with away goals being the tiebreaker) and the Group winners will host the seco...

To say this is a fearsome rivalry is somewhat of an understatement. More so now than way back in the first Manchester Derby which was played on November 12, 1881, (Though then United was known as Newton Heath). The Heathens won 3-0. Sunday will be the 164th Derby though it's far from the title decider of the 163rd (and last meeting at the Etihad) it could have a huge bearing on each sides momentum going in to the busy Christmas period. With City being knocked out of Europe in mid week it does mean they can now focus on their domestic commitments. That is another reason why I can understand Sir Alex Ferguson saying it would be one of Manchester United's best ever results to win Sunday. City could possibly be playing (and traveling) considerably less than United so a 6 point gap at the summit of the English Premier League (EPL) would definitely be great to have. United and City are threatening to leave third-place Chelsea trailing in their wake, but all is not wel...

Records are made to be broken or in this case winless runs (10 years infact). Manchester United are faced with positive and negative problems, the negatives are self evidant in them concededing first in 8 of 12 games this season and the positive problem is which striker/s to use. The latter is something Sir Alex would much rather have sleepless nights on because "I cant understand our defending" he said. Roberto di Matteo (RDM) undoubtedly would love to have the strikers lined up as United do. Last season when United visited Stamford Bridge they did so knowing that captain John Terrry will be missing in the Chelsea back four and this time around he sits out again.  RDM will hope history does not repeat itself as last season a Andre Villas-Boas Chelsea squandered a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 with United.  The number 10 is quite prominent in this fixture, besides the 10 years, it has now been 10 games since United  last ...

The most successful team in Currie Cup History face up to the seven times winners in Durban this Saturday. Yes Western Province (WP) have won the Currie Cup on 31 occassions(four draws),that is 24 more titles than the Sharks but the Sharks can boast at winning two of the last four tournaments (appearing in three finals)and WP won their 31st Currie Cup way back in 2001. Allister Coetzee's men have the arduous task of defeating the table topping Sharks in the Shark Tank. A venue the Sharks have not lost at in the 2012 Currie Cup and they have done the double over WP this season a Shark Tank drubbing(43-27) in round 1 and a close encounter at Newlands (25-23) in Round 2. So I agree with Coetzee's claim that the Sharks are overwhelming favourites, rightfully so. Coach John Plumtree's men deserve the plaudits they recieving I mean this is the Sharks third consecutive final(granted they lost both the Currie Cup 2011 & Super Rugby 2012 finals). They will be despera...

I just loved reading this: Is there anything less satisfying than a drawn test match? The All Blacks latest attempt at beating the world record for consecutive test match victories has been halted in most frustrating style by a stalemate in Brisbane. They were in many ways lucky to escape without defeat and owe that, more than anything, to Australia’s lack of self-belief and in particular Kurtley Beale's abject unwillingness to take a dropped goal when it was on offer in the final stages. The one admirable thing about the All Blacks' otherwise flatline performance was their refusal to give away a penalty as the Wallabies went 24 phases in possession inside the New Zealand half. It was an incredible display of determination and discipline, attributes that had taken an untimely holiday earlier in the game, when they were rattled into mistakes and repeatedly penalised. In the end you got the distinct impression the Wallabies wanted Craig Joubert to win the game for them, ...

Coach Meyer wishes he had a PVR on Saturday against the  All Blacks  . Dear Heyneke, . So, back to earth with a horrible thud then. That was painful. First, let's pay tribute to the best team playing rugby on the planet today. The All Blacks were all pace, power and ruthlessness Saturday. I have to confess, once I realised we were simply being outclassed, I sat back and marvelled at how brilliant they truly are. . It eased the pain slightly, but I imagine not for you Heyneke. Once you threw everything at them in the first half, it was awesome to watch how they simply absorbed and when handed the smallest of opportunities, simply executed clinically. . What went wrong besides having to play the "chosen ones"? I'd like to offer an opinion. Your "pressing" defensive system is very risky. It can put your opponent under heavy pressure, but if even one man misses his mark, gaps will open up. Against a team such as NZ, you were always going to be u...

This might not be the biggest derby match on my calendar but come Sunday it will be undoubtably be the biggest match in the world... on Sunday that is. “No. Not at all”. That’s what coach Jose Mourinho said when CNN World Sport Anchor, Pedro Pinto asked him if Sunday’s El Clasico was a must-win match for the champions, even if Real are currently eight points behind Barcelona. That sly old fox Mourinho knows that going ELEVEN points behind Barcelona at any stage of the season is a tall order to recover from. So what he is doing is taking the pressure off his squad and easing the backlash if infact they do come short Sunday. What I'm pleased about is that for a change the home side are not overwhelming favorites for this weekend’s clash at the Camp Nou. Yes they have 100% record in the League this season but the Catalans for me haven’t really hit their straps, and more significantly they have serious problems at the back. It is a distinct possibility Barca coach Tito Vila...

Last year mid September Brendan Rogers Swansea team had five points from their first five fixtures, this term his Liverpool team has only two points in their first four fixtures and this Sunday lunch time he welcomes Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United team to Anfield. Not the fixture of choice for Rogers Liverpool team, but knowing Liverpool they will bring their best performance of the season against United (like every season) they always do. A good thing for Rogers is that his troops won’t need any motivation for a “must win” fixture in all honesty. It could be a hum-dinger and the knowledge that the last time United came away with all three points at Anfield was way back in December 2007 when Carlos Tevez tapped in a parried Wayne Rooney strike just before half time, a stat I only looked up thanks to @Red_Rants #WinAUnitedShirt Twitter competition (which runs till just before kick off on Sunday I might add). We can all agree that’s just way to long ago. For Unite...

People forget Manchester United won the English Premier League (EPL) last year… until Aguero netted, that is. They achieved that without captain Vidic, without Fletcher   (in my opinion he had developed into more than just “doing a job” for Sir Alex Ferguson SAF), without Cleverley and his protracted injury woes, with a Nani that’s stellar performances… which were few and far between, with Anderson that never reached the Brazilian promise we all expected and finally with Evra that probably had his worst season in the red of Manchester. Granted Rooney, Valencia, Carrick, Ferdinand & Scholes (when he played) was the back bone of Manchester United's "success" last term and the boy Danny over achieved, where some would say he stepped up to the plate. Manchester United should never have gotten so close in the end, as the blue half of Manchester should have walked away with the EPL, but they did and it should be noted without an influx of Sheikh Mansours...

Due to the long trip from Pretoria to New Zealand and the fact that the Bulls have not won in Christchurch since the first year Super 12 in 1996 Righfully so the Crusaders are installed as favourites for this weekends first super rugby qualifier. The two sides have never met in a final, but todays match will be their fifth knock out meeting in seven seasons with the home side winning on each occassion. Earlier this year the Crusaders almost wiped out a 16 point deficit at Loftus highlighting their never say die attitude and with the likes of McCaw and Carter who are widely regaarded as the best ever in their positions in their ranks the South Africans will need everything to go their way. On the other end of the scale the Bulls will be without the experience foursome of Matfield, Roussow, Botha and Du Preez and when it comes to the crunch, experience or the lack there of could be the deciding factor. Some Stats The overall record between the two sides sees the Crusaders ahead wi...