Federer wins French Open, ties Sampras' record

Roger Federer beat out Robin Soderling, attached Pete Sampras and advanced the French Open in the end.

Undiscouraged by an on-court interloper, Federer beat surprisal finalist Soderling 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-4 Sunday to complet a life history Grand Slam and win his 14th major title, equating Sampras' record.

On his fourth try at Roland Garros, Federer became the sixth man to win all four Grand Slam championships.

When the stylish Swiss hit a service winner on championship point, he fell on his knees to the clay that had vexed him for so long, screamed and briefly buried his face in his hands. He was teary by the time he met Soderling at the net, and fans gave Federer a standing ovation as he raised his arms in triumph.

"It's maybe my greatest victory, or certainly the one that removes the most pressure off my shoulders," Federer said. "I think that now and until the end of my career, I can really play with my mind at peace and no longer hear that I've never won Roland Garros."

Playing in cool, windy weather and occasional rain, Federer raced to a quick lead, sweeping the first four games. Soderling appeared nervous at the start of his first Grand Slam final, and Federer kept him scrambling with penetrating groundstrokes to both corners and an occasional drop shot.

"You really gave me a lesson in how to play tennis today," Soderling said.

Federer's progress to the title was briefly delayed in the second set. The match was between points when a spectator waving a flag climbed through the photographer's pit and onto Federer's side of the court.

Federer backed away toward the backstop, but the fan caught up with him and tried to put a hat on Federer's head. Security personnel seemed slow to react before chasing the man to the other side of the court, and he was tackled, then carried out.

There was silence from the stunned crowd, then a chant of "Ro-ger! Ro-ger!" when the episode ended. Federer adjusted his headband, Soderling gave him a thumbs-up sign and play resumed.

Soderling's strokes steadied, and he pushed the second set to 6-all. But Federer played a brilliant tiebreaker, hitting aces on all four of his service points, and Soderling could only smile ruefully.

Federer broke again to start the third set and kept that lead the rest of the way. He never lost serve, and despite the difficult conditions, he had more winners than unforced errors - 41 to 24.

The 23rd-seeded Soderling had eased Federer's path by upsetting four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal in the fourth round last Sunday. Nadal beat Federer at Roland Garros the past four years, including three consecutive times in the final.

Despite Nadal's surprising departure, Federer's path to the title wasn't easy. He rallied from a two-set deficit in the fourth round to beat Tommy Haas, and survived another five-setter against Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals.

Federer won his 14th Grand Slam championship at age 27. Sampras, who never reached a French Open final, was 31 when he won his last major title. Federer will try for No. 15 beginning in two weeks at Wimbledon, which he has won five times.

He has also won the U.S. Open the past five years, and he has three Australian Open titles.

May The Best Win; Barcelona crowned European Championship

FC Barcelona made up crowned European champions for a third time – and the 2nd in four seasons – as a vivacious showing of pass and movement, capped by goals in either half from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi, frustrated Manchester United FC in Rome.

Holders toppled
United, bidding to become the first team to successfully defend the trophy in the UEFA Champions League era, began an open contest at breakneck speed as Cristiano Ronaldo threatened three times. After ten minutes, however, Eto'o put the Spanish champions ahead and they never looked back. Xavi Hernández struck a post early in the second period and, though the clinching second goal did not arrive until the 70th minute – via, unusually, the head of Messi – Josep Guardiola's side were worthy winners. The 38-year-old becomes the sixth man to lift the European Champion Clubs' Cup as player and coach; United are the sixth club to lose the final as holders.

Relentless Ronaldo
Fourteen of the players who started the game had featured in a UEFA Champions League final before, yet initially it seemed United's experience would prove more telling. Ronaldo made his presence felt by unleashing a dipping free-kick that Víctor Valdés could only parry; former United defender Gerard Piqué's last-ditch tackle prevented Ji-Sung Park from converting the rebound. Ronaldo then had Valdés scrambling across goal twice in as many minutes with shots from distance. If an early breakthrough looked imminent, disastrously for United it arrived when Barcelona struck with their first real attack.

Eto'o brilliance
Fit-again Andrés Iniesta was the orchestrator, finding Eto'o inside the area, but there was still plenty for the striker to do with Nemanja Vidić in close attendance. One swift turn inside the centre-back later, Eto'o was free to prod a shot inside Edwin van der Sar's near post. United's vocal supporters were stunned into silence and their team mirrored that reaction, with Barcelona enjoying the better of the half thereafter. Perhaps not surprisingly against the competition's best defence, however, clear chances were at a premium. Long-range efforts from Messi and Xavi, and a low Messi cross fumbled by Van der Sar, were the best Barça could muster.

United reprieves
Sir Alex Ferguson had said beforehand that his best team-talks "usually come to me about three in the morning" and the Scot sorely needed inspiration in his half-time instructions, opting to introduce Carlos Tévez for Anderson. This did little to stem the tide. Thierry Henry tricked his way past Rio Ferdinand only to shoot weakly against Van der Sar before Xavi curled a free-kick beyond the keeper, the post coming to United's rescue. Then Wayne Rooney's right-wing centre bounced over Park's lunge as the holders began to edge their way back into proceedings, disrupting Barcelona's rhythm though creating little of their own.

Messi decisive
Twenty minutes from time, that hard work was undone. Xavi was allowed to advance down the right; with time and space, the midfielder measured a pinpoint cross for Messi, enjoying similar freedom, and the UEFA Champions League's top scorer produced a fabulous header for his ninth goal of this campaign. Valdés promptly denied Ronaldo to preserve the two-goal cushion, yet the better openings continued to come at the other end – Van der Sar frustrating Carles Puyol twice and Iniesta. Sir Alex therefore missed out on joining Bob Paisley as the only manager to lift three European Cups. Instead, Guardiola's superbly inventive Barça became the first Spanish side to win league, cup and UEFA Champions League in the same season.

Barcelona; A long and smooth way to the Final

FC Barcelona get achieved the UEFA Champions League final gives thanks to goalscoring bonanzas by the like Samuel Eto'o, Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry, along with a few expert defending.

UEFA Champions League Group C
Josep Guardiola's men struck a remarkable 18 goals in the group stage, and after kicking off their campaign with a 3-1 win over Sporting Clube de Portugal at Camp Nou they never looked back. The high points of their group stage campaign were a 5-0 victory at FC Basel 1893 and a 5-2 rout of Sporting in Lisbon before, with first place already secured, a largely inexperienced side lost Barcelona's final game 3-2 to UEFA Cup finalists FC Shakhtar Donetsk.

First knockout round
Olympique Lyonnais 1-1 FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona 5-2 Olympique Lyonnais (agg: 6-3)

A trademark free-kick from Lyon captain Juninho after just seven minutes, coupled with some intense first-half pressure, had the French champions believing they might just bring Barcelona's sojourn in Europe to an early end. Instead, Henry marked his return to France with a 67th equaliser and the second leg at Camp Nou turned into a rout. Henry struck twice inside the first 27 minutes in a stellar performance, Messi and Eto'o chipped in with further goals and Seydou Keita came off the bench to add a late fifth.

Quarter-finals
FC Barcelona 4-0 FC Bayern München
FC Bayern München 1-1 FC Barcelona (agg: 5-1)

The knowledge of what happened to Lyon a month earlier at the Camp Nou failed to prevent Bayern from suffering the same fate, with the four-time European champions being torn apart by a Barcelona side who needed only the first half of the first leg to decide the tie. Two goals from Messi and another from Eto'o set the tone before Henry completed the masterclass with Barcelona's fourth in the 43rd minute. Bayern were at least spared further embarassment in the second leg, with French international Franck Ribéry giving them a 47th minute lead before Keita levelled for the Catalans.

Semi-finals
FC Barcelona 0-0 FC Chelsea
FC Chelsea 1-1 FC Barcelona (agg: 1-1, Barcelona win on away goals)

Given what had gone before, Barcelona's eventual success against Chelsea could not have been more different. Their flamboyant attacking football came up against the granite wall of a Chelsea defence superbly marshalled by captain John Terry, clearly on a mission after missing his chance to win last season's final against Manchester United FC in a penalty shoot-out. His side made the perfect start to the second leg, with Michael Essien smashing home a candidate for goal of the competition after just nine minutes, a volley from outside the area which gave Víctor Valdés no chance. Sadly for the Ghanaian, it was his failure to clear his lines in the third minurte of added time that allowed Iniesta to send a clever snap-shot past Petr Čech and put Barcelona into the final.

from: uefa.com

Manchester United; Road To Final Champion League

Their goalscoring efforts this season might not catch those of Barcelona, but Manchester United FC's strike matching of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney demonstrated highly efficient in taking the bearers back to the final, especially in the latter stages.


UEFA Champions League Group E
In a relatively tight group, just two wins from their six games were enough to secure United top slot, one point ahead of a resolute Villarreal CF side who held them to consecutive 0-0 draws. A 3-0 victory at Aalborg BK, courtesy of a double-strike by Dimitar Berbatov in the second half after Wayne Rooney's 22nd minute opener, got United's campaign properly under way. There was more of the same for Martin O'Neill's Celtic FC, also beaten 3-0 by another Berbatov brace before Rooney completed the scoring in a comprehensive home victory.

First knockout round
FC Internazionale Milano 0-0 Manchester United FC
Manchester United FC 2-0 FC Internazionale Milano

Inter coach José Mourinho had enjoyed success against Ferguson with both FC Porto and Chelsea FC but the Portuguese coach's luck run out when the two sides met for a second time at Old Trafford after a goalless first leg. United's Serbian defender Nemanja Vidić ended the deadlock after four minutes, rising to meet a Ryan Giggs corner with a powerful header. Ronaldo put the result beyond four minutes after the re-start nodding home his first goal in the UEFA Champions League since last season's final victory over Chelsea in Moscow.

Quarter-finals
Manchester United FC 2-2 FC Porto
FC Porto 0-1 Manchester United FC

United left themselves with plenty to do in the second leg after conceding Mariano's 89th minute equaliser in a thrilling game in Manchester. Trailing to Rodriguez's fourth minute strike, Rooney levelled soon afterwards for a below-par United who improved after the break and looked to have won it when Argentine substitute Carlos Tévez nipped in to score with five minutes left. United knew it would take something special for them to get through at the Estádio do Dragão and Ronaldo duly provided it on his return to Portugal with a stunning 35-metre strike after six minutes which broke his compatriots' resistance.

Semi-finals
Manchester United FC 1-0 Arsenal FC
Arsenal FC 1-3 Manchester United FC

United never looked like losing this all-Premier League tie and were unfortunate to have only John O'Shea's goal to show for their first-leg dominance. They made amends at the Emirates Stadium, though, with goals from Ji-Sung Park and Ronaldo within the first eleven minutes ripping the heart out of Arsène Wenger's young Arsenal side. Ronaldo added a third in the 61st minute before Robin van Persie converted a penalty as the only consolation for the 2006 finalists.
from : uefa.com