Respekt färgar avslaget toppmöte
Den förväntade titelkampen på Stamford Bridge är inställd. I stället präglas upptakten till matchen mellan Chelsea och Manchester United av ömsesidig respekt.
De två klubbarna har kopplat ett allt fastare grepp om den engelska ligatoppen de senaste åren. Trots rivaliteten mellan klubbarna och de emellanåt hårda orden tycks det inte finnas några större antipatier mellan tränarna, lagen eller klubbarna, som åren då Arsenal och Manchester United dominerade. Det verkar också genomsyra uttalandena efter Uniteds titelvinst i kavaj i söndags och inför onsdagens match mellan lagen.
José Mourinho, manager Chelsea:
“They did it (guard of honour) for us and we shall do the same for them. This is not a time for excuses. The title race is over and Manchester United are the new champions, so I wish to congratulate everyone, from the manager, to the players, the board - and everyone else who gave them a help to be champions.”
John Terry, lagkapten Chelsea:
"They are champions, and congratulations to them for that. They have been very good this year. The Manager has said already they will get the guard of honour which they did to us. Looking at some faces, it could not have been nice. We have to go through that and we fully respect them as players and individuals. We'll do it holding our heads up high."
Alex Ferguson, manager Man United:
“Jose understands winning and losing are twins in a way. You have to deal with them in the same way. When you win, you don't gloat and when you lose you don't go bananas. He was very complimentary after their draw at Arsenal and I'll bring him a decent bottle of wine to make sure his tastes are looked after."
Joe Cole, mittfältare Chelsea:
"They clapped us out when we won the league, and that took a lot of dignity. I am sure we will repay the favour. There is a good rivalry between the two clubs. We have a lot of respect for them. They won the league and fair play to them."
Gary Neville, lagkapten Man United:
"You can talk about the sense of achievement, about the hard work, about the good football, but it is not a time to brag and rub people's noses in it. We've got Chelsea coming up in the FA Cup final, the Community Shield and, before you know it, we'll have 38 games slugging it out for the league."
