My prediction that the goals would come in the second leg semi finals of the champions’ league really came to pass. Manchester United and Arsenal produced four goals in an exciting encounter at the Emirates Stadium, with United taking the lion’s share of three. It was a disappointing night for Wenger, who saw his men being mesmerized by a well lubricated United attacking machine.

My former secondary school headmaster, the indomitable C.J.Bannerman often said “were teachers magicians, no pupils would ever fail examinations but where native intelligence was lacking even the gods were powerless”. I would like to rephrase it by saying that were coaches and team manager magicians no teams would ever lose a match but where the players lack native intelligence even the gods are powerless.

The Manchester United players showed much more intelligence on the night and they made Arsenal look like novices at certain stages of the game. With United’s one goal advantage from the first leg, the strategy for Arsenal was to prevent the Old Trafford men from getting an away goal but as the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali once said “he was so fast that nobody could hit him”. Asked whether he could stand the hefty blows of George Foreman in their 1974 rumble in the jungle in Zaire, Ali retorted, “how do you hit a thing you can’t see?”

Arsenal’s tactics of stopping the swift Ronaldo could not work because he was too fast. The third goal Ronaldo scored really depicted his swiftness. He run in with such a speed that would make Jamaican Olympic champion sprinter, Usain Bolt envious. Indeed a friend has suggested that Ronaldo could be considered for inclusion in the Portuguese athletics team for the 2012 Olympiad in London.

The stage is now set for a titanic final in Rome on May 27, as I expect another titanic clash between Barcelona and Chelsea to decide who meets Man. United in the final. I predict a final between Barcelona and Manchester United and I will not forget the classic penalty kick taken against United by Arsenal’s Van Persie. It was such a terrific kick and I suspect if there were two goalies in the posts they would have still missed that bullet of a shot. What a night of amazing football exhibition.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.