Champions League final tickets plan looks a nice little earner for the Football Association

Well, there’s a way up Wembley Way, a very expensive way. The Football Association is offering Uefa-sanctioned hospitality packages, including ticket, for £3,480 per person.

“Messi, Nani, Xavi, Rooney, Iniesta et al going head to head, what a fantastic final this promises to be – certainly one not to be missed,’’ reads the excited blurb from Wembley as if United supporters needed reminding.

The deal includes a “ticket located behind the goals or in the corners on Level Two; pre and post-match access to the hospitality lounge in Wembley Arena; informal seating with a range of bars and food options with pre- and post-match buffet; Champagne reception with inclusive beer, wine and soft drinks pre- and post-match; live entertainment; ex-player expert panel; photo opportunities and one match programme per person”. At £3,480, that’s a nice little earner.

For those wondering whether the governing body of English football, a non-profit-making organisation, should be involved in such trade, the small print confirms that “hospitality packages are being provided by the FA on behalf of Uefa” and adds that “the price for the packages has been set by Uefa”.

Whatever happens on the pitch, this 2011 Champions League promises to be the greatest money-spinner in club history.

United fans sing when they're winning

Now that a 19th title seems destined for Old Trafford, Manchester United fans have set their sights on finishing No 1 in the charts. United fans are busily spending 79p to download the Paul Hardcastle song 19; they believe they need around 30,000 to be No 1 by Sunday. Hardcastle has given the United fans his blessing even though he’s a currently crestfallen follower of Chelsea.

“I’m asking EMI to put proceeds to charity,’’ he tweets. “I see it then as a good cause. Anyway we will have the title back in 2012, ha ha.” Hardcastle also points out a quirk of the 1985 charts to Liverpool fans disappointed at United breaking their 18-title mark. Having spent five weeks at No 1, 19 was knocked off its perch by a charity version of You’ll Never Walk Alone.

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Manchester City face hard grind to secure Champions League spot following defeat to Everton

For all the money spent by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, a talent for making life unnecessarily complicated remains and the next few days will be far more arduous following this defeat.

Victory at Goodison Park would have enabled Roberto Mancini to rest the legs of his key men against Tottenham tomorrow night, with the FA Cup final against Stoke to come on Saturday.

But after surrendering a lead that revealed a worrying weakness for crosses, which will have been noted by Tony Pulis, who could not even venture to the toilet without being grilled by supporters about Matthew Etherington’s hamstring, the visit of Spurs retains important.

It may be a little removed from the Champions League decider that was the penultimate match of last season but there will be no shortage of tension at Eastlands.

Mancini plans to bring Carlos Tévez, sidelined with a hamstring problem since April 11, on for up to half an hour against Harry Redknapp’s side but even that may be thrown into question if the game is not going City’s way.

The City manager, who was involved in an ugly exchange with Phil Neville after the final whistle, maintains that a six-point lead over Tottenham with a vastly superior goal difference and three games remaining means that fourth place is not a major concern.

“I am not worried but I am disappointed because, if we had won this game, [the race for fourth] was finished and we could have prepared very well for the final but now we are thinking only of Tottenham,” Mancini said. But the nature of City’s collapse under Everton’s second-half onslaught – they conceded both goals from headers – will give Rory Delap and Stoke’s own list of potential NBA recruits plenty of encouragement.

Nigel de Jong, who has been nursing a hip problem, is one who might have been spared tomorrow night but the Dutchman is certain that 35 woeful minutes will not disrupt City’s attempts to end their 35-year trophy drought.

“We have now got to grind through the Tottenham game before the Cup final and that will be hard,” De Jong said. “It is our own mistake and we just have to get our heads clear again. This is a very important week for the club, the players and the fans. This is do-or-die for Manchester City. Fourth place is in reach and everything is in our hands.

“We just have to win that game against Tottenham, we then have a chance to be FA Cup winners after 35 years but we just have to learn from this game.

“We just have to think what we did wrong, take the mistakes out and if we do that, we can be in fourth place and FA Cup winners.”

In the opening period at Goodison, the excellent David Silva and Yaya Toure combined to pull the hosts apart regularly and it was they who worked the opener, with the Spaniard slipping through for the Ivorian to finish with a cross-shot.

But again they simply seemed to stop doing what was so productive and Everton forced their way back, with Sylvain Distin heading in from Mikel Arteta’s free-kick and Leon Osman beating Vincent Kompany to glance in from Neville’s cross.

At the final whistle Aleksander Kolarov accused Seamus Coleman of elbowing him, resulting in Mancini and Neville having to be pulled apart as they roared insults at each other.

Moyes has come out on top in each of his four meetings with Mancini and the closest the Italian has come to any sort of victory was ripping the ball from his counterpart’s grasp at Eastlands last season.

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Roman Abramovich 'obsessed' with Champions League – Sir Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed Roman Abramovich is "obsessed" with winning the Champions League. Chelsea have lost four semi-finals and also the 2008 final to Manchester United since Abramovich bought the club in 2003 and will have their hopes ended for another year unless they can overturn a first-leg deficit in their quarter-final at Old Trafford.

If they do go out, many believe Carlo Ancelotti will get sacked in Abramovich's quest for European success. But Ferguson feels the Chelsea owner has set himself a stiff target.

"It does seem to be an obsession with Chelsea to win the European Cup," Ferguson said. "That is why they signed Fernando Torres. The owner has very much nailed his colours to the mast in that respect. I have felt that for quite a while with him.

"To have an obsession of winning the European Cup is stretching yourself a wee bit. At the end of the day it is a very difficult competition to win. But I can understand it because I had the obsession myself for quite a while. I lost semi-finals and you say to yourself you are never going to do it. When we achieved it in Barcelona [against Bayern Munich in 1999], it was the greatest feeling of all time. It took the monkey off my back."

This season, as then, Ferguson's side have the Premier League title and FA Cup to go for as well, should it go wrong against Chelsea, but that does not diminish his desire.

"Chelsea are no more desperate than Manchester United, believe me," he said. "For any club when the expectations are high you come to a situation where it is all or nothing. People talk about us winning the league but we are desperate to win this game."

"A British team coming here is different," he continued. "Though Juventus and Milan have played here a few times over the years, Chelsea play here every year. In that respect there is a familiarity about it. The stadium, the size of the pitch, the condition of the pitch, all these things are in their favour over other European teams."

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