Ever since Manchester United and Chelsea were drawn in the Champions League quarters, some “experts” have billed it as a "revenge" fixture for Chelsea.
Of course, that May night in Moscow was one that Chelsea, and John Terry in particular, would rather forget. With a chance to win the game from the penalty spot, Terry slipped on his run up and his kick went wide. We all know what happened next.
However, no matter how much pundits want to hype up this game, calling it a "revenge" fixture is completely off the mark. Whatever happened last time around has no bearing on this fixture whatsoever. It's happened, it's in the past and both teams have moved on since. The bigger story here if you ask me, is what kind of approach Manchester United will take in this leg.
Chelsea is playing a lot better in Europe than they are in the Premier League. They have also seemed to get the better of Manchester United in their head-to-head fixtures. United have only won 3 games against Chelsea since Roman Abramovich and his boat loads of money came to town. None of those wins have come at Stamford Bridge; a place where they haven't won since 2002.
United haven't also played well in nearly all of their away fixtures this season. However, a come from behind win against West Ham last weekend might just be the turning point of their season. Wayne Rooney was inspirational in that game and he made sure to let the viewers on Sky TV know all about it.
While United will of course be playing to win, they will also be just as happy if they can collect an away goal or two. As they've shown in the past, they can always get ahead without having to beat Chelsea. This isn't their strongest outfit, but they've seemed to get the job done somehow.
The Champions League is Chelsea's last chance for any kind of silverware this season, but whatever their motivation may be, I'm not buying into "revenge".
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