News Updated

1. Former England defender Paul Parker says his former club Manchester United must lay down the attacking gauntlet to defeat Chelsea in Moscow. "If Man Utd play the way they do week in week out in the Premier League they will win the Champions League final. They must attack, play their game and go for the win. If they try to match Chelsea like for like, they'll lose out. That's what happened in last year's FA Cup final. Both sides cancelled each other out and Chelsea won it. I expect United to go 4-4-1-1, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney up front, but Carlos Tevez is going to be hard to leave out. He was phenomenal on Tuesday and he's scored some really vital goals this year - so maybe the option is to play Rooney on the left of the midfield. The problem with that is he'll run all over the place and could tire easily.


2. Former Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri believes only a Champions League final victory will prevent the Blues from sacking Avram Grant this season. Italian coach Ranieri was sacked in 2004 when owner Roman Abramovich decided to bring in Jose Mourinho from Porto and while Grant was chosen to succeed Mourinho early this season, speculation persists that he will be ousted this summer. The Blues secured their place in the European Cup final on May 21 with an extra-time victory over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge and Ranieri, now coach of Serie A giants Juventus, was pleased for the Israeli coach.


3. Barcelona are preparing a major overhaul at the club after the team's failure to live up to expectations this season. "The poor performance means we have to make changes," sporting director Txiki Begiristain told Barca TV. "Now is the time to analyse the situation and we will make the decisions at the end of the season." Barca's 1-0 aggregate defeat at the hands of Manchester United in the semi-finals of the Champions League this week meant that the Catalans have now gone two seasons without winning a trophy despite making heavy investment in new players.


4. France captain Patrick Vieira said that he intends to finish his career with Italian champions Internazionale. Vieira has had a frustrating season with injuries but he is back in the side for the crucial Serie A run-in, beginning with Sunday's eagerly-anticipated Milan derby. The 31-year-old midfielder joined Inter in 2006 after his previous club Juventus were demoted for match-fixing.


5. Malaysia have been drawn in Group B together with three European football powerhouses -- Ajax Amsterdam of Holland, Chelsea of England and AC Milan of Italy --in the second edition of the Champions Youth Cup (CYC) to be held from Aug 2 till 16.
Event promoter London-based Gifted Group's chairman Jonathan Price said it was a surprise when Malaysia and Chelsea were drawn in the same group. "In last year's tournament, Malaysia and Chelsea were in the same group and in their group match at the Sarawak Stadium, Malaysia and Chelsea were locked to a goalless draw. Once again, this year's group match between Malaysia and Chelsea will be an interesting one," he told reporters here Tuesday. All group B matches will be held in Penang.
Malaysia's opening match will be against AC Milan on Aug 6, followed by Chelsea (Aug 8) and then Ajax Amsterdam (Aug 10).