Mr & Mrs Arshavin were among the oligarch\’s guests at Stamford Bridge last night.
The enigmatic Russian was wearing a shiny dark grey jumper and chewing gum as he stood in a high box with his slim blonde wife.
Arshavin saw a passionate contest between two teams of men who mixed up their game, knocking the ball around but also putting it up for grabs.
He must have found that refreshing after the tedium of pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass and pass again.
Chelsea v Manchester United was a compelling contest with lots of duels.
When Essien\’s hard, late boot caught Rooney’s raised foot in 3 minutes, Andrei must have muttered the Russian equivalent of “Ouch!” The little man knows how much those kicks hurt.
United started with tons of bite, drive and momentum, and they kept the ball with solid passing in the second half.
They scored a fantastic goal from a fine move in 24 minutes, attacking Bosingwa, Chelsea’s weak link : Carrick crossfield, sweet touch by Giggs, cut back to the unmarked Rooney, sidefoot shot stroked first time across Petr Cech and in off the post. The kind of goal Arshavin likes to score.
Biggest difference between the Reds and the Blues last night was the ferociously energetic movement of Rooney & Hernandez, compared to the static stuttering of Drogba and Torres.
Roo and the Mexican play for each other and with each other.
Evra kicked a Lampard flick off the line in 45 and in 90 he scythed down Ramires in the box. Very lucky to get away with such a risky and mistimed challenge.
Rob Hughes called yesterday but we hardly talked about football.
He did, however, fill me in on Thiago, who deputised for Xavi at Villarreal.
Myles :”I think Chelsea will beat United by one goal.”
Rob : “But will it be the real Chelsea tonight?”
To me, the real Chelsea is Kalou-Anelka-Drogba.
Or Malouda-Anelka-Drogba.
I thought Carlo started Zhirkov because Malouda won\’t pass to Torres.
But, there again, Malouda has been rubbish recently. When you’re winning games, and dominating opponents, Malouda looks like a world-beater. When you’re struggling, he’s invisible.
Having said all that, Drogba and Torres will never combine.
Maybe Thiago will play in the second leg, as Iniesta is suspended after a yellow card in last night\’s 5-1 thrashing of Shakhtar Donetsk.
Iniesta, Dani Alves, Pique, Keita and Xavi scored the goals. What does that tell us?
United had one goalscorer, Real Madrid had three goalscorers, and Barcelona had five.
Messi didn\’t score !
Messi didn\’t score but they won 5-1.
OK, they\’re not invincible.
But who will beat them?
Pep just smiles and says his team are improving year by year.
Always enjoy this time of the season, love the last eight of Champions League. It\’s an exciting competition for big clubs and ambitious managers.
Rob did give me an insightful summary of recent events at Schalke.