Manchester United and Chelsea continued on track for what could be an unprecedented series of showdowns next month; FA Cup semifinal wins on the weekend (Man U handled last-place Watford with appropriate ease; Chelsea had to go to the second overtime before dispatching Blackburn) set up a dream Cup Final, May 19, in the brand-new Wembley Stadium. Then on Wednesday, Chelsea won their ninth straight Premiership game, keeping the pressure on in a title race Man U seemed to have in the bag months ago. It may all be on the line when the pair faces off May 9 in London, in the next-to-last game of the season.

Then there’s the European Champions League, where the first leg of the semifinals is this week, April 24-25, pitting AC Milan at Manchester United on Tuesday, Liverpool at Chelsea on Wednesday (both games at 1:30pm, live on ESPN2). So Chelsea and Man U could be in that final as well, May 23 in Athens; if you’re keeping score, that would be two teams, two weeks, three championships.

And of course, that’s just some of what’s going on in title races all across Europe and South America; see austinchronicle.com/soccer for a complete wrap-up.

This article appears in April 20 • 2007.

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