May the Worst Teams Lose...

I was at Villa Park yesterday to witness Burnley collapse to an unprecedented 13th defeat in their first 14 away games of the season, their porous defence leaking five goals along the way. However, impressive home form has kept them in contention and with less than 3 months of the season to play, it seems like it could be any two from seven clubs that will end up in eighteenth and nineteenth places come the end of the season.

Twentieth place is surely accounted for. The 2-1 defeat at home to ten-man Stoke City yesterday sees Portsmouth eight points adrift from safety with twelve games to play, and while mathematically speaking there remains hope, off field affairs seem to be taking their toll on the club. Unpaid wages, the threat of going out of business altogether and the fact their manager was recently caught in a tabloid scandal visiting a brothel doesn't help a team shawn of their FA Cup winning stars of 2008. Only 4 players remain less than 2 years on from that monumentous occasion and this season the club seem to have had more owners than victories to their name. With Tottenham, Chelsea, Liverpool and in-form Birmingham all coming up in their next six fixtures, even wins over rivals Burnley and Hull City would probably not be enough.

Pompey aside, the relegation battle looks to be as exciting as ever with only 4 points separating Brian Laws' 19th placed outfit and Gianfranco Zola's Hammers in 13th. Stoke City and Blackburn have strung a series of results together to pull away from the pack, but early high-flyers Sunderland have nose-dived spectacularly and talk on Weirside has gone from European qualification to avoiding the drop over the last couple of months. Wigan Athletic, so unpredictable earlier in the season have become almost dead certs to lose, with only two wins in fifteen games in all competitions. With a dismal ten goals at Molineux all season, Big Mick's Wolves may be lacking the bite required to stay up.

Phil Brown's Hull have been written off by many but the Tigers are still level with the pack, the recent win over Manchester City and draw with Chelsea restoring some hope for the KC crowd. As for Bolton Wandererers, Owen Coyle has a real challenge on his hands to keep his team ahead of his former employers over the road at Turf Moor.

The basement battle seems certain to go on to the last day of the season as it has so often in recent seasons, and for some clubs it could be a long way back if they go down. For every Newcastle United, surely ready to bounce straight back up, there's a Bradford City, doomed to lower league obscurity. With Portsmouth's financial disaster, they could well go the way of Bradford, but as for the other teams, they will all fancy their chances of maintaining their place in the elite. Perhaps not because of their own abilities, but because of the fallability of others...

Life after Ronaldo. Life after United?

Manchester United were accused by many of being a one man team in Cristiano Ronaldo's last two seasons at the club. But last night, the UEFA Champions League results of Ronaldo's past and present clubs contrasted starkly. While Real Madrid struggled away to 4th-placed French side Lyon, falling to a 1-0 defeat, the Portuguese's former employers powered their way back from a goal down to claim a crucial 3-2 away victory against seven-times European Champions AC Milan. The £80million-man and his Galactico team-mates including former San Siro star Kaka, Xabi Alonso and substitute Karim Benzema, on his return to the Stade Gerland, failed to find an away goal and succumbed to a great strike by Jean Makoun. Meanwhile, United banged in three in Italy, Paul Scholes thoroughly outshining former comrade David Beckham, and while Ronaldinho impressed for the Rossoneri, Wayne Rooney showed that he really is the main man now. The effervescent Clarence Seedorf certainly gave United something else to think about when he came off the bench, and Michael Carrick's bizarre sending off means it isn't quite job done for the Red Devils but Sir Alex Ferguson was more than satisfied with the outcome in Milan.

That can't quite be said for Manuel Pellegrini at Real. Ok, so los Blancos are by no means out of the tie, and will still fancy their chances of overcoming the deficit at the Bernabeu in three weeks time, but the Spaniards haven't progressed past this stage of the competition since 2004, and with their outlay in excess of £200 million last summer, president Florentino Perez will be expecting a lot better from the club that he has put so much cash into. Many say that when you leave Manchester United, the only way is down, and while Ronaldo will be adamant he is going to win trophies in Spain, the all-conquering Barcelona of Pep Guardiola are still ahead of Madrid in the league, and they certainly have their work cut out in Europe. Beckham himself is an example of a number 7 who left Old Trafford for the Bernabeu, and in the seven seasons since his departure, he only has one league title to his name, as opposed to six won in Manchester( plus 2 FA Cups and a European Cup).

Ferguson's men have regrouped and hit top form again in recent weeks after a mid-season wobble, Rooney has taken on the mantle of goalscorer, and last night he netted his 24th and 25th goals of the season. Ronaldo's tally of 42 goals in 2007/08 may well be in sight if he keeps up his form, and the likes of Darren Fletcher, Patrice Evra, Park Ji-Sung and Michael Carrick have all been dominant in the recent victories over local rivals Manchester City, Arsenal and now Milan. United have scored 62 goals in 26 premier league games, making them top scorers, and have conceded less goals than both title-rivals Chelsea and Arsenal. It seems United never were a one man team, and while Real have bought many superstars, right now it is more likely that come May, the medals will be in Manchester, and not Madrid.........