Champions League last 16 second leg
Venue: Old Trafford Date: Wednesday 10 March Kick-off: 1945 GMT

He wants them to lose.

If he does play it will be the first time in Old Trafford since he left seven years ago on the way to Real and now AC Milan. He is unlikely to start. But he can make an appearance, can't he? Even Leonardo is playing coy.

United have to fancy their chances to advance to the quarterfinals. Even a 1-0 win will not help Milan. Plus, Wayne Rooney is sure to make an appearance which could only mean more goals.

Let us first remind ourselves at the outset that if it was not for Miroslav Klose's ridiculously offside goal in the first leg, Bayern would not have progressed to the quarterfinals.

This was a game played with great intensity with some brilliant moments. It will be one of the more well remembered matches and for Viola fans, it will be one of pride as well as heartbreak.

At the Stadio Artemio Franchi, it was Fiorentina that looked the more attractive attacking team. Juan Vargas gave them the lead with a tightly angled shot after Butt spilled Marco Marchionni's rasping shot straight to the Peruvian. It was 1-0 and things were looking good for the Violas on a 2-2 aggregate and an away goal advantage.

In the second half Gilardino's exquisitely timed back heel found Stefan Jovetic whose smart finish gave Fiorentina a 2-0 lead as the Viola fans erupted in raucous celebration. They could taste the quarterfinals. Surely nothing could take it away now.

But Franck Ribery on the left who had a swarm of Fiorentina players descend down on him every time he touched the ball managed to wriggle free and pass it square all the way to the middle of the pitch. It arrived at the feet of an arriving Mark Von Bommel who lashed a nicely placed grounder to the right of Sebastian Frey. Parity was restored.

It was Jovetic, a livewire in attack who again gave Fiorentina the aggregate advantage. After a Gilardino header found him, he took off for goal managing to shoulder aside the heavier Daniel Van Buyten and place the ball past Butt.

But even before the fans had time to catch a breath, Robben who so far had been contained with great difficulty broke free moving inside and whipped in a 30 yard screamer with his left foot that seems to have caught a thermal on its way to goal. It capped a frenetic exchange of goals as Fiorentina redoubled their efforts to find another goal to no avail.

In the end it is Bayern going through and Fiorentina left behind undone by a travesty.

Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli:

(Reflecting on Miroslav Klose's goal from the first leg) "We gave up a goal that shouldn't have counted for anything, and instead we're here talking about getting eliminated by a goal that was two metres offside."

"Is that a drink ticket? I'll have two then"

Just when I thought that defenders were the new media generators what with their off field sexual peccadilloes, breaking legs, and getting injured all over the place. What happened to Joey Barton, Craig Bellamy, and Lee Bowyer? They seemed to have had off season pre-frontal lobotomies or are on downers or smoking sheeshas.

But Steven Gerrard gave us some hope. So on a day when Liverpool gets 5 yellow cards, Gerrard goes one better and makes what appears to be an offensive gesture to Andre Marriner, the referee. But it really was not so.

Liverpool came up with a strong statement that Gerrard was not really flipping the bird or trying to tear another orifice and it seems to have worked. The FA might be willing to overlook the matter since Marriner himself did not bring it up.

However, more disturbing is Gerrard's inability to manufacture goals. It has become a big factor in the regression model that might explain the reason for Liverpool's abysmal and chaotic season. Throw in and out Tom Hicks, Lucas Leiva, the blinkered use of Benayoun, the defensive let downs, and Rafa to explain the variance.

Sepp Blatter and the FIFA Luddites have gotten their first serious challenge.

The FIGC chairman Giancarlo Abete came out against FIFA's decision to do away with goal line technology in the name of keeping it "human."

"That doesn't take away that experimenting can be possible. If we don't test, there is a mistake in the method."

The real agenda appears to be FIFA's controlling nature, to keep clubs and countries bickering with one another and slapping them with fines and suspensions. It's quite medieval.

The decision came on the day when the FA suspended goal line technology and the referees failed to spot Liam Ridgewell's clear goal. Talk about immediate proof.

More voices like Abete need to be heard. There has been a lot of teeth gnashing from pundits but the silence from national federations and leagues has been deafening.

SA will become the condom-nation during the World Cup.

In the fear that an estimated half a million tourists will sow their wild oats in the month long orgy and contribute to the AIDS epidemic, the SA government has requested for a billion condoms. Britain has responded by sending 42m condomns. 40,000 prostitutes are expected to partake in this social experiment.

Looking at these numbers one would imagine empty stadiums and a few players missing on match day.

However, Jacob Zuma is the poster child for prophylactics. He just fathered his 20th child from a friend's daughter. But when it is his personal plea to combat the scourge of AIDS, you realize the seriousness of the matter. It was Zuma not three years ago who had sex with an HIV positive woman without using a condom and then showered after " as this would minimise the risk of contracting the disease [HIV]."

John Terry guides Chelsea into the FA Cup semi-finals as they beat Stoke 2-0.

A fired up Terry then celebrates by drawing up his jersey sleeve showing off his captain's armband as the Stamford Bridge crowd go wild. After a series of poor games against Everton, Inter, and City - he signaled his return to match form and led his club by example.

Earlier Terry set up Frank Lampard's scorching shot which took a deflection of a Stoke City defender to to give Chelsea the lead.

His off pitch behaviour notwithstanding, Terry is a leader. He gives no quarter and he wanted the goal more. Team mates and fans appreciate a player who gives his all for the club. That is why I think he will be missed as England's captain because Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard don't command that sort of respect.

A goal and an assist as Everton swamp Hull, 5-1. So is this Donovan's Everton swansong? He still has the Birmingham match next weekend before the Galaxy's repo men come calling.

However, it looks like he very much wants to stay longer.

The best bet for him would be if the MLS season is postponed because the league and the players union cannot come to agreement over the free agency issue that are a sticking point in the collective bargaining talks. The players representatives are threatening a strike.

That way Donovan can claim no other choice. However for all those domestic players staking their claim for a World Cup berth, a work stoppage could not come at a worse time.

Check out Nasri as he spots Fabregas running towards goal and delivers a sublime ball over the Burnley thicket of players right onto his feet. Fabregas scores his 17th goal of the season nutmegging Brian Jensen in the process.

But through the match it was Bungle It Like Bendtner and a dozen missed opportunities. Arsenal had to settle for a 3-1 win with Theo Walcott and Andriy Arshavin returning to welcome goalscoring form. David Nugent scored the solitary goal for Burnley.

Walcott clearly elevated his game, no doubt stung by Chris Waddle's twaddle on his lacking a football brain. A charge the gaffer fiercely rejected.

A link to more highlights of the game >>

Lars Lagerback: Big beer ambitions

The salary of Lars Lagerback, the Swedish coach now the helmsman for the Super Eagles has become a controversial issue.

The amount is said to be in the region of $1.5 million although Lagerback himself is said to have asked about half that. Nigeria has a history of hiring coaches with sign on bonuses, bloated fees, and little responsibility. Berti Vogts virtually coached the team from Germany only coming down to Nigeria ten days in the month while collecting his salary. His player agent acted as the de facto coach deciding which players would play on the team.

With the terms of his contract murky, the arrival of Lagerback has not entirely generated optimism from some quarters with the period of time too short for Nigeria to expect miracles. The NFA has set a semi-final berth as a mandate which appears to all purpose pie in the sky.

Sunday's match against Hull might be the last for Donovan in a Toffees jersey.

As it stands Landon Donovan will return to the LA Galaxy well in time for their March 27th season opener. Bruce Arena indicated that he wants Donovan back and has scotched rumours that the Galaxy would be open to an extension.

Arena said: "We're not interested. Landon will be back here on 15 March, as we have said all along."

Donovan's three month Everton loan has been an unqualified success marred only by a pretty lame miss in front of an open goal against Spurs. His pace and attacking qualities proved influential in their second interlude capped by historic wins against Man Utd and Chelsea. The fans were won over by him. David Moyes was quite keen that he stay on till the end of the Premiership season.

For Donovan, this is a total turnabout from his initial foray into the European leagues - a frustrating Bundesliga stint. His Everton stint shows a matured player possessing the qualities to shine in the toughest league.

However, much as he is tempted into staying there is a small issue of principal.

Last season in a well publicized snit, he lashed out at David Beckham accusing the English midfielder of lacking commitment to the Galaxy as he showed up three months into the MLS season after completing his Milan loan. The accusations were not made to Beckham's face but through more unprofessional third party sources. In this case though Grant Wahl's book " The Beckham Experiment" which sort of pre-empted any moral high ground.

"All that we care about at a minimum is that he committed himself to us. As time has gone on, that has not proved to be the case in many ways - on the field, off the field."

He also said this which bears significance for his own situation.

" But with Beckham, I'd say no, he wasn't committed. Let's say he does stay here three more years. I'm not going to spend the next three years of my life doing it this way.

Bruce Arena might be providing a gentle reminder.

Personally, this is a good time to be in the English league just before the World Cup playing at its level of pace and physicality, rubbing shoulders with some of the opposition, and in the eye of the scouting agents of the big clubs. A good World Cup campaign could provide a nice continuum into a permanent European placement.

But if he truly believes that the Galaxy need him more as I think he does, this should be an easy choice. Otherwise it will just be another platitude getting in the way of a career opportunity.