Tomorrow’s Champions League final in Moscow should be a match to remember. There is no return leg, people. This is it. The lineups for Chelsea and Manchester United are stacked with superstars. There is bad blood after a tense finish to the EPL. The hooligans (or wealthy London west enders) long ago bought tickets to the Motherland for the first ever all-English final. Chelsea looks for its first European crown while ManU seeks its third. Hell, it might even be warm under the rain. What should we expect from this match up?

Both teams are remarkable. Chelsea finished the EPL season with THREE losses and ten draws to complement 25 wins. Those losses came against Man U (1st place), Arsenal (3rd place), and Aston Villa (6th place). All were away games. Their goal differential was an impressive 39. ManU lost five times, but drew only six and won 27. They blew teams out with a goal differential of 58. They lost to Man City twice (finished 9th), West Ham (finished 10th), Chelsea (finished 2nd), and Bolton (finished 16th).

Let’s take a quick look at what happened in the head-to-heads. Back in September, with Rooney injured, Chelsea fell 2-0 at Old Trafford. Saha and Tevez scored. In late April, Chelsea struck back with a 2-1 victory. After Ballack scored on a cross from Drogba, Rooney intercepted a lazy back pass and fired one off the left cross bar and through. It wasn’t until the 86th minute that Chelsea struck back on a hand ball call made by the linesman. Ballack scored and the boys in blue won. As an aside, Ronaldo did not start the game nor did Rooney play the full match. From this evidence, it is safe to say both defenses performed well against excellent offensive squads.

The Champions League matches were surprisingly and predictably close. Chelsea needed their home turf to eliminate Olympiakos in the quarter finals, whilst ManU snuck by Lyon 1-0 at Old Trafford after they too drew the first leg. Manchester again booted Roma (by 3 goal aggregate) as Chelsea again needed a home match to win by aggregate over Fenerbache (3-2). Not exactly inspiring stuff, but this is the Champions League. The semi-finals produced similarly close scores: both ManU and Chelsea won their home matches by a goal after drawing in the first leg. ManU scored 6 goals in as many matches while Chelsea marked 10.

Neither team is going into tomorrow’s match on a hot streak, nor did either “back in.” These teams are healthy and amped. After all, they are built, at huge cost, to win the UEFA Champions League. Chelsea manager Avram Grant is undoubtedly under more pressure than the stoic Alex Ferguson. Grant might, believe it or not, be managing his last match at Chelsea, as the English press constantly reminds us. Will he release the superstars and ask Drogba to do whatever it takes? I hope so. Anything to avoid penalty kicks. We know Ronaldo and Rooney won’t settle for another Camp Nou disaster; those two WILL get touches.

The personnel are smart, but I see Chelsea’s attackers as having a slightly higher chance of getting calls and maybe altering the game. The blues MUST keep their heads about them. If they don’t and instead its Ronaldo taking free kicks, this game will swing ManU’s way. Ronaldo and Tevez have 13 final quarter goals. Time of possession will be crucial. More then a ten percent swing could decide the winner, barring a box penalty.

Manchester will have to match the strength of Chelsea, which means that Scholes and Anderson have to play well and close. Trust Ferdinand and Brown in the back due to their immaculate play against Barca. Chelsea’s attack will determine this game. Can Lampard, Drogba, and Ballack make magic? If not, I just don’t see Essien and Cole holding back Ronaldo. Maybe Grant will put Bridge on the Portuguese star and give him different looks. But Chelsea can’t pack the box and depend on a Drogba break out.

Prediction: 2-1 for Manchester. Give the people what they want Ronaldo: a late goal to seal it!