A Wound That Hasn't Healed

CR leaps high above the Chelsea defense

and heads home a winner!

and the Reds were European Champions

This is the type of photo we like...

and the ones we'd like to forget (Rome, 2009)

"Sometimes you just have to accept that bad days come along and you move on from there." --Sir Alex Ferguson

Now that friendlies and qualifiers for the World Cup are done for a month, the Prem League has once again started...then stopped.

The UEFA Champion's League ties are upon us. Tomorrow, the Reds will battle against a Turkish side, Besiktas, in what has to be the loudest stadium in the world. Known for their vociferous support, the Besiktas faithful pack the stadium in the early afternoon in anticipation of the night match. I'm not sure if they are swapping recipes for sesame bread while they wait, or merely working themselves into a frenzy. But either way, the Red Devils will have a fresh challenge awaiting them come kickoff.

This new match, however, opens a fresh wound again...that of Rome. That fateful night in May when the Reds forgot to show up for the Champion's League Final match against Barcelona. The opening ten were all Reds and then a goal from Eto'o (who was promptly shipped off to Inter Milan for his gift) put Barca ahead...and they never looked back.

The United faithful were stunned (including yours truly). How could our dominant team look so bamboozled?

Well, Sir Alex (our fearless gaffer) recently told ESPN Soccernet that he spent the summer going over the DVD of the match, looking for just that:

"You look at that defeat and you can look at reasons and excuses. But it's always better to look at the reasons. We're now quite clear about where it went wrong and that's always helpful. There were valid reasons and so we were able to move on."

And maybe Sir Alex hasn't quite forgotten that night in Rome...

''I would love the chance to redress the situation with Barcelona. Absolutely..."

He certainly has had more experience at this than I have, but for folks like me who are used to seeing United win (like the previous year...see photos), a year is a long time to wait for reciprocity.

We have a great team, and even making it to a consecutive final last year was a feat in and of itself. With Barcelona being given a gift of a match (in the semifinal against Chelsea), they shouldn't have even been in the final, much less won it. But...you play the opponent you're given. And we didn't. As Sir Alex said above, it is time to move on. We can't overlook any of our opponents (as if United ever does), and these qualifying teams would love to hang a few goals on the Reds, even if they don't win the ties. So we need to be extra careful not to be looking backward instead of forward.

Onward...GG Man United