The 2008 final's design was announced on 31 October 2007 in a ceremony at the Luzhniki Stadium, attended by the ambassador for the final, former Russian goalkeeper As has taken place for every Champions League final since 1997, a ceremonial handover of the UEFA Champions League trophy was held in the host city; the 2008 ceremony was at the GUM Centre in Moscow's Red Square on 3 April 2008. At the start of this season, clubs were allowed to name seven substitutes on the bench instead of five.Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the The shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award was as follows:
The first miss of the shoot-out came from Ronaldo, who characteristically stuttered in his run-up in an attempt to put Čech off, but the goalkeeper dived to his right to save.Lampard then put Chelsea 3–2 ahead, but Hargreaves levelled things up with a shot into the top corner.
View the latest Premier League tables, form guides and season archives, on the official website of the Premier League. Places 18-20 are sent down to the second division. Ashley Cole was the next up, and Van der Sar got a strong hand to the ball but could not keep it out. Including season reviews, awards, kits, videos and photos. Carrick buried his spot-kick, as did Juliano Belletti with his first touch of the game, having come on for Makélélé at the end of extra time. The 2008 South Australian Super League was the third edition of the South Australian Super League, the top level domestic association football competition in South Australia, and was the first season to use a finals system, with the top five teams in the league progressing to the finals.The number of teams relegated to the South Australian Premier League also increased … The 2008–09 was the 41st season for the Northern Premier League Premier Division, and the second season for the Northern Premier League Division One North and South. Having missed what could have been Chelsea's winning penalty, Following the loss, Avram Grant's future as manager was thrown into doubt, with owner In Moscow, around 6,000 police were on duty to prevent a repeat of the Manchester United had originally intended to hold a parade through the streets of Manchester to celebrate their Double triumph on their return from Moscow on 22 May.
According to the head of the Russian national tourist office, Mikhail Ignatiev, many fans were put off by the cost of travel and accommodation. Recipients of those tickets were determined by a random ballot following an online application process that ran from 28 February to 19 March 2008. In recognition for leading his club to the top of the Fair Play league, the Premier League Spirit Award for 2008–09 was given to Tickets were available in three categories, priced at The clubs were able to distribute their tickets however they wished; Manchester United chose to make their allocation available to all Executive Seat Holders and any Season Ticket Holders who had successfully applied for a ticket to at least one of the club's five away Champions League matches between the group stage and the quarter-finals,One of the major concerns for English fans attending the final was the acquisition of Although the two clubs claimed to have sold most of the 42,000 tickets allocated to them, only about 25,000 fans were said to have travelled to Moscow from the United Kingdom, with about 110 charter flights arriving ahead of the game. Chelsea also received €5.4 million for participation and €7.7 million for the first three knockout rounds, but received only €5.1 million from the group stage, having drawn two more games and won two fewer than Manchester United. As continuing part of non-league restructuring, the Division One South temporarily has 20 teams, while the Division One North contains 21, with a targeted number for both of 22 teams. As some fans looked to offload tickets to the match, The match ball for the final was the Adidas Finale Moscow, the eighth in the The referee for the final was 40-year-old Slovakian referee Micheľ's first UEFA Champions League matches came in the After a fairly cagey first 21 minutes, the first major incident of the game occurred when Paul Scholes and Claude Makélélé clashed in mid-air, resulting in both players being booked and Scholes having to leave the field for treatment to a bloody nose.Chelsea survived the pressure, as Tevez failed to connect with a low cross from Rooney,Lampard's equaliser at the end of the first half led to a transformed Chelsea in the second, and they kept United on the back foot for long periods.The game moved into extra time, and both teams had chances to score a vital second goal; first, Lampard hit the underside of the bar with a left-footed shot after the ball was played in to him with a disguised pass from Ballack, then Giggs stabbed the ball left-footed towards goal instead of sweeping it with his weaker right foot, only to see it headed off the line by Terry.As the match went to penalties, Rio Ferdinand won the coin toss for Manchester United, and opted for his side to go first in the shoot-out, which would be taken at the end housing the Manchester United fans.