I would have loved an all-English Champions League final, insists Platini

09 May 2009 23:04
Michel Platini has emphatically rejected the suggestion that he did not want Chelsea  to beat Barcelona in order to prevent a second successive all-English Champions League final, insisting the current phenomenon of Premier League success is simply in the cyclical nature of the tournament.[LNB]All-English affair: Arsenal's Spanish keeper Manuel Almunia congratulates Manchester United's Portugal star Ronaldo [LNB]'If there had been two English clubs in the final I would have been happy because I respect the result of the competition,' said Platini, the UEFA president. [LNB] I hate foreign owners and Beckham in Italy but I'm not anti-English insists Platini [LNB]'It's not about the nationality of the team. I will always respect the result. If there were two English clubs I would be as happy as if there were two German clubs.[LNB]'I am 54 years old. You are younger than me, but the balance in European football always changes. I always say, you had two Italian clubs in the final in Manchester six years ago and two Spanish clubs in 2000. That's not bad.'[LNB]But Platini does acknowledge that he was inconsistent when condemning Manchester City for wanting £120million Kaka while appearing to accept Real Madrid's pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo for £70m funded by a bank loan. [LNB]'That is a good question,' said the Frenchman. 'You have embarrassed me! Why is it different? I could understand [why people were upset in England] but it wasn't what I intended. My intention was to rationalise things. [LNB]'I didn't know that Real Madrid would receive a loan for the transfer so we will look at that and we will see. The fact is, how can we work to protect football? I think it's not a good thing that a player can be bought for £120million. It's not good forfootball to spend £120min the financial crisis.' [LNB]And Platini put in context comments that he wanted Juventus to win the Champions League, which, given the recent history of corruption at Juventus, appeared inappropriate for the UEFA president. 'I said it of all my former three clubs,' said Platini. [LNB]'For the first time, all three of my former clubs were in European competition, with Nancy and St Etienne in the UEFA Cup and Juventus in the Champions League. Inever say it would be nice if they won, but it was throwaway line. I always respect what is happening on the field.' [LNB]  

Source: Daily_Mail