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Guus Hiddink's traditional African dancing was not as accomplished as his coaching - but he earned the right to say his Chelsea farewells in any manner he wished after leaving the FA Cup for Roman Abramovich to remember him by.

Abramovich, at least according to Hiddink, joined this somewhat unorthodox conclusion to his short, but hugely impressive, spell in charge at Chelsea before a private meeting in a Wembley sideroom between coaching staff and players.

Hiddink, who conjured up intriguing imagery by revealing "my whole body moved in the African way", reported back that it was .

Chelsea's renaissance under Hiddink was confirmed by who finally found a mountain that even their reserves of resilience, heart and no little ability could not help them climb.

It was a fitting end for Hiddink, whose class at his chosen profession is matched by his personality. In the moment of victory, he still found time to personally console Everton's players, speak glowingly of his opponents and even apologise to the media for keeping them waiting to speak to him.

. Chelsea, you fear, will miss him even more.

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The late American tennis star reacted to ending his personal nightmare against Jimmy Connors by delivering one of sport's classic quotes.

Gerulaitis - a flamboyant with a flair for publicity - declared: "And let that be a lesson to you all. Nobody, and I mean nobody, beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row and gets away with it."

have had the same hypnotic effect on Everton, who have not tasted victory against the Londoners in 22 meetings since .

Everton manager David Moyes has tried and failed to beat Chelsea on 20 occasions, a compelling statistic which suggests that Guus Hiddink will end his short Stamford Bridge reign by lifting the FA Cup at Wembley on Saturday.

Moyes may not deliver a victory speech with the colour of Gerulaitis if he gets the opportunity but .

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Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Sir Alex Ferguson feared the side-effects of a trip on Barcelona's "carousel" - and he was doing his suffering in public after Manchester United were left sick and dizzy after the roughest of rides in Rome.

Barcelona's were the inspiration behind Ferguson's colourful christening of their passing style as he said: "I don't think they have ever given the ball away in their lives".

This extravagant claim appeared based in solid fact as Barcelona ruthlessly stripped Manchester United of their Champions League crown on the banks of the Tiber.

And as Ferguson grimly accepted the truth that , additional pain came from the knowledge that he knew what was coming and still his Premier League champions were ill-equipped, tactically and technically, to deal with it.

Ferguson's inner frustration surfaced with a needlessly aggressive response to a perfectly reasonable question about his hunger to fight back from this chastening night, but he made no excuses.

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Rome

Rome is sweltering in unseasonal heat, but as Manchester United fans draped themselves over , Sir Alex Ferguson was an ocean of icy calm before attempting to build a landmark of his own in The Eternal City.

In the stifling confines of Rome's footballing Colosseum, , Ferguson carried the heavy load of history riding on the Champions League final against Barcelona with comfort.

Ferguson cut a sharp contrast to his young, intense Catalan counterpart Pep Guardiola, whose deep-set eyes explained why one seasoned Nou Camp observer warned: "Manchester United might win - but only over the blood, sweat and tears of all Barcelona."

It is against this dramatic backdrop that .

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Alan Shearer was hurting and - in his words - "feeling raw inside" as he struggled to cope with the pain of Newcastle United's fall out of the Premier League.

No-one in close proximity to Shearer as he sat in an unforgiving spotlight at Villa Park doubted him. It was written on his face and evident in every word of .

Shearer admitted his own eight-week mission to save Newcastle from relegation had failed "for a million reasons." .

One thing, however, was not up for discussion. No hard luck stories can be told by Newcastle - they deserved to be relegated and anyone not sure only had to spend 90 minutes in their company on Sunday.

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It was once claimed the art of good management was simply keeping the five people who hate you away from the four who have not made up their minds.

Nothing so complicated this weekend for Newcastle's Alan Shearer, his north-east counterparts Gareth Southgate at Middlesbrough and Sunderland boss Ricky Sbragia - plus Phil Brown at Hull City.

knowing their destiny may be shaped as much by the fates as by any management techniques they care to apply.

And however much they may wish to complain afterwards - and it is to be hoped they do not - .

It has simply come to this. Four poor teams fighting for two top-flight places with 90 minutes left to save a season.

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Sir Alex Ferguson - on the rare occasions when Manchester United have been denied the Premier League title - has traditionally written a letter of congratulation to the victorious manager.

And.

It is hardly a major feat of deduction to guess that Benitez will not be moved to prose in praise of Ferguson after United equalled Liverpool's tally of 18 titles.

If he could not bring himself to utter verbal congratulations to Ferguson when pressed at The Hawthorns on Sunday, Benitez is unlikely to put it down in writing.

- putting the latest coating of acrimony on a soured relationship between the pair.

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Sir Alex Ferguson - in what has become his customary Premier League title-winning address to his Old Trafford subjects - asked: "Does it get better than this?"

, a feat that ensured Manchester United hit the hugely-significant landmark of 18 championships, drawing level with Liverpool at the pinnacle of the domestic game.

This statistic alone underscores the scale of Ferguson's achievements and perhaps prompted him to pose a question he answered himself within seconds when he insisted United would return from "a nice trip to Rome" as the first club to defend the Champions League.

So yes, it could get better than this for Manchester United and Ferguson. In fact it could get better very quickly - on 27 May to be precise if they beat Barcelona.

For now, however, another title triumph and another demonstration of the unique drive, hunger and longevity of Ferguson will suffice.

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Alan Shearer blew the dust off an old one by claiming it was better to be a lucky manager than a good one - but Newcastle United's Premier League life may just have been saved by fortune favouring the brave.

Shearer's courage as a player was beyond question and it was at a thunderous St James' Park to take a small, but potentially decisive, stride towards safety.

And as Shearer sat wearing the winner's smile after a five-week crash course in the torture of managing Newcastle, he could also reflect on a fearless subsitution that may yet be seen as a defining moment in his fledgling managerial career.

With Newcastle and Middlesbrough locked at 1-1 - the scoreline from hell as far as their survival prospects were concerned - Shearer chose to haul off his long-time friend and club captain Michael Owen.

It was a high-risk strategy justified by huge reward as Owen's replacement Obafemi Martins took just 55 seconds to score the goal that could change the course of Newcastle's future.

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Liverpool's fans cornered a small plot inside Upton Park and announced they were going to win the league - it sounded like a medium term forecast as opposed to an expectation of imminent success.

Manchester United have it in their power to equal Liverpool's 18 titles inside the next fortnight unless the small repetitions of pressure applied by Rafael Benitez's maturing team add up to an unlikely Old Trafford collapse.

It was, however, easy to see why optimism rolled off the visitors' section in the form of song as Liverpool made light of .

The words may read like sacrilege when set against Anfield's old bootroom philosophies, but if Liverpool do finish second, and that is still an if, then they can take huge pride and satisfaction from this season.

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- and Chelsea's Didier Drogba provided an unpalatable close-up study in human behaviour for the Norwegian referee amid bitter recriminations at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea appear eternally doomed in their quest to fill the largest empty space in their trophy room - a Champions League title. They can throw the game's largest cheque book at it, they can change players and they can change coaches, but they still cannot change their luck.

. and John Terry's .

This season's hard luck story will centre on as Chelsea were denied another final appearance against United by Barcelona midfield man Andres Iniesta's .

Yes, Ovrebo had a shocker and proved wholly inadequate to take control of a game of this pace, passion and magnitude, but even his regular refusals of presentable penalty appeals must not excuse Drogba's disgraceful actions on the final whistle.

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Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger were inches apart but heading in opposite directions - one pondering fresh possibilities to make history and the other starting a critical period of soul-searching.

Manchester United had brushed Arsenal aside with a savagery, speed and ruthlessness that had plenty of observers at the Emirates labelling it as this sport's equivalent of .

So while Ferguson was presented with the possibility of making Manchester United the first club to successfully defend the Champions League, Wenger was dealing with the pain of four years without a trophy and the problem of how to bridge the gaping chasm between these two clubs.

The scale of this defeat was etched on the lines of Wenger's face as he attempted to come to terms with the blow he and Arsenal had just suffered in the aftermath of what might be a pivotal night for his club.

". They saw one all right - but they saw it from Manchester United.

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Arsene Wenger's managerial cv is scarred by the absence of a European trophy - and he admits also represents a gap in Arsenal's rich history.

So it will be with a sense of personal and professional mission that Wenger sends Arsenal out to face Manchester United in the Champions League semi-final second leg at The Emirates on Tuesday.

Failure to overturn United's 1-0 lead, an advantage which should have been more given Arsenal's obvious inferiority at Old Trafford, will make it four years without silverware for Wenger, a statistic that was unthinkable when the FA Cup was won against these same opponents in 2005.

One thing that has not altered since that day in Cardiff has been Wenger's iron-clad belief in Arsenal's players - and it was on show again at Old Trafford last week when we saw him in buoyant and bullish mood after an uncharacteristically timid loss.

Wenger assured Europe's media that we would see a different Arsenal on home turf - now we will discover if will be proved right or if it was a game of bluff and bravado designed to lift his beaten players.

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