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If you had to convince a non-believer that football (soccer) was, as Pelé once famously called it, “a beautiful game”, you need only have sat with them on the sofa on Tuesday night and pointed at the television screen. In a classic Champions League encounter, Manchester United and AC Milan served up a veritable feast of delicious football, with large helpings of skill, goals and drama.

Beforehand, the game had been reduced by some in the media to a head-to-head clash between two young giants of the game – Cristiano Ronaldo (fresh from his English PFA Player of the Year awards) versus Milan’s impossibly gifted Kaká. Who would win the duel? Well … apart from an explosive first ten minutes when CR looked like he actually did want to win the game single-handedly (much to the frustration, on several occasions, of team-mates when a pass might have been a better option than a solo run), it must be said that the Brazilian Kaká was much the more decisive on the night, scoring Milan’s two goals (assisted by a weakened and shaky United defence). CR did get United’s first, but in the end the Manchester United player who really stood out was Wayne Rooney, who also got two goals, the second in added time.

AC Milan will be relieved that they performed just a little better than the last Italian team to visit Old Trafford – AS Roma, who suffered an historic 7-1 defeat there at the beginning of the month. They will also be pleased with their two away goals, which could prove crucial, but the 3-2 result does leave the tie intriguingly open. Anyway, make room on the sofa next Wednesday for those non-believing friends.

We have a saying in English: “After the Lord Mayor’s show comes …”, well … the cart that cleans up after the horses. It could be applied to the other semi-final, which was several light years away from the quality of Tuesday’s classic, predictably so, perhaps, as it was an all-English affair between the second and third-placed teams in the Premiership: Chelsea and Liverpool. The Reds beat Chelsea at the same stage of the same competition two seasons ago, so this was/is a chance for Chelsea to enjoy a little bit of Blue revenge. But it was a poor game, with both sides a little too cautious and too often careless. The goalkeepers Van der Saar and Reina were the heroes for their respective teams with a couple of brilliant saves each, but the brightest moment was the excellent goal scored by Chelsea’s Joe Cole, after a lightning-quick counter-attack involving Ricardo Carvalho and Didier Drogba.

Chelsea coach José Mourinho was employing his famous mind games again. Before the match, he insisted that Liverpool were the favourites … something surely he wouldn’t have been repeating to his players in the changing room. Then after the game, he once again criticised the referee, the experienced German Markus Merk (he’d done the same after the weekend’s Premiership programme). This time, however, he was very wrong: his main claim was for a penalty for handball by Álvaro Arbeola … the ball was definitely handled, but it clearly happened outside the area. The ‘Special One’ was forced to admit that he was wrong, although the minor embarrassment caused him will certainly not stop the outspoken genius from continuing to speak his mind in the future.

Wednesday’s game was preceded by a minute’s silence in memory of Alan Ball, who died of a heart attack that very day at the age of 61. Ginger-haired, squeaky-voiced Ball was a member of the legendary England team who won the country’s only World Cup title at Wembley in 1966. At club level he represented Blackpool, Everton, Arsenal and Southampton, among others, and he was later a manager, with less successful results. All of the tributes offered by friends and former team-mates highlighted his infectious enthusiasm for the game. For this beautiful game.

Alan Ball, R.I.P.

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