Spartak Moscow v Chelsea Highlights

Chelsea defeated Sparta Moscow 2 - 0 on Tuesday night, after a fantastic strike from Yuri Zhirkov to put Chelsea in the lead - as you can see above.

It was the first Chelsea goal of his career, and evidently worth waiting for on his 36th appearance for the club. It silenced the home crowd of the Luzhniki Stadium, and settled any nerves on the artificial pitch.
Nicolas Anelka then doubled Chelsea's lead in the 43rd minute, and Chelsea held on to their two nil lead to maintain their 100% record in their Champions League group, as they look very strong favourites to progress to the knock-out stages.

The closest Chelsea have come to winning the Champions League was in 2008 in Russia when Manchester United beat them in a penalty shoot out, in which John Terry slipped and missed his infamous penalty. He will be looking, as will the rest of his team, to improve once again, and win the Champions League which Terry so dearly wants in his trophy cabinet.

With goals like this one, as well as the good form they are currently in, they will be definitely be able to compete with the best, such as Barcelona and Real Madrid, as well as the current holders, Inter Milan.

Manchester United will be missing Wayne Rooney for their clash against Bursaspor on Wednesday after being stretchered off in training, but United may need to get used to being without him as they could be playing against him next season, after it was confirmed he doesn't want to sign a new contract. But will he be playing for Chelsea?

Ferguson: "The Player [Rooney] is adamant he wants to leave"

After so much media speculation over the future of Wayne Rooney, Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager has admitted, in a statement that he read to the media that Wayne Rooney, Manchester United's star striker wants to leave Old Trafford.

It is bitterly disappointing news for the Manchester United fan, who adore Rooney - chanting his name at Old Trafford, and supporting him, even through the recent difficult times in his exposed private life.

Ferguson said:

"I can't answer questions about why Rooney is doing what he is doing. It doesn't matter a dickie-bird. But the player is adamant he wants to leave. But I can do no more than I'm doing at the moment ... but we are leaving the door open

We have done nothing but help him since he came to this club, that is why this is such a mystery to us. We've helped him with his private life and other matters ... so we're as bemused as anyone can be because we can't understand why he would want to leave a club that is successful as we are in British football."

This shocked me, as I'm sure it is shocking you now, as United fans will have to come to terms with being without Wayne Rooney for next season. So many questions will be asked from now until January, or the summer transfer window, when Rooney is most likely to leave. Where will he go? How much will he cost? Why is he going? But most importantly for Manchester United; Who will replace him?

When Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester United in 2007 for a World Record fee, it was questioned if Manchester United would be able to cope without him. Up stepped Rooney, to fill the goalscoring void, and he was on fire - scoring goals and being at the centre of attention for all the right reasons. Times have changed, and with his questionable private life no longer private, and no goal from open play since March for Manchester United, he obviously feels it is his time to move on.

Will the young Javier Hernandez, Federicho Macheda and Mame Biram Diouf step up into the spot light? Will they be able to fill the massive hole to be left by the "adamant" Rooney? Or will Ferguson rip open his cheque book, and buy a top quality striker who will score goals, just like Ronaldo and Rooney did?

Man United, Arsenal and Liverpool fight for Dutch playmaker

You may not of heard of Ibrahim Afellay before, but by the summer transfer window, that will have changed. Above is a video of Afellay scoring for his native Holland in the recent International break against Sweden, in which he scored two good goals, as well as delivering a scintillating cross to assist his team-mate.

His talent has not gone un-noticed either, with all of Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton all interested in the 24-year-old, who will be available on a free transfer in the summer as his contract will have expired at PSV Eindhoven.
He returned this interest with this:

"Playing in the Premier League would be best for my prestige. I'd like toplay for Liverpool or Manchester United , the top-level prospect for anyplayer. The transfer deadline is closed, so nothing new will happen now. All I can do is focus on PSV and I will continue to do so. And it looks now as if I will stay at Eindhoven until the end of the season."

Manchester United may be looking to add to their attacking options in the summer - if the rumours regarding Wayne Rooney leaving are true - so where better to start for the debt ridden club than with a free and talented youngster?

New ownership of Liverpool will mean that Hodgson - or whoever is in charge by the summer, will have lots of money at their disposal. A talented and creative player would be very attractive to Liverpool, who so far this season have lacked those very qualities - hence the reason they are 19th in the Premeir League with not many good signs in performance on the pitch.

Wherever this Dutchman goes, one thing is for sure - he will add something different to the team. As you can see from the video above, he has the finishing touch, but can also set up team-mates with fantastic crosses. Who doesn't need a player like that?