Filed under: Manchester United, Premier League, Football
As if making Chelsea look a distant second best was not enough, Sir Alex Ferguson will this week seek to steal Manchester City's thunder while at the same time knocking Liverpool off their perch.Six points clear with two games remaining, Manchester United need only draw at struggling Blackburn on FA Cup final day to guarantee a record 19th title.
Ferguson's side kick off at Ewood Park at 1245 BST on May 14 and could be celebrating in front of their fans as neighbours City, who have not won major silverware for 35 years, emerge from the tunnel at Wembley to face Stoke at 1500 BST.
Manchester is set to become Madchester if United win the title and City lift the FA Cup.
Yet even if Roberto Mancini's side end their trophy drought, it is inevitably going to be overshadowed by events in east Lancashire if Ferguson's team avoid defeat against Blackburn.
Typical United. Typical Ferguson.
Having left Carlo Ancelotti shell-shocked, there is no way Ferguson is going to allow another Italian in the shape of Mancini steal the limelight after another season in which United have proved to be far superior to any of their rivals.
It is only a few weeks since Marseille manager Didier Deschamps said Ferguson's side lacked fantasy compared to United teams of the past.
Ancelotti may well disagree with the Frenchman after watching his reigning champions torn apart by the champions-in-waiting.
Faster, hungrier and sharper than Chelsea, United's best performance of the season was based on some outstanding invidual performances.
Antonio Valencia made Ashley Cole, England's best left-back, look awful while Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick were all terrific. But no one was as good as Ji-Sung Park, the workaholic winger running himself into the ground so his manager could take a bow in front of the Stretford End.
The scenes at the end were as compelling as the performance.
The post-match team huddle illustrated the huge sense of togetherness within the squad while Dimitar Berbatov, who must have been hurting after the Premier League's leading scorer watched his team's biggest league game as an unused substitute, hugged Javier Hernandez, the man responsible for keeping him out of the side.
While Hernandez stands on the brink of his first Premier League title, Giggs is set for his 12th having been part of all the squads that have finished top during Ferguson's reign, a figure that will knock Liverpool from their perch, as the Scot famously vowed to do when he took charge in 1986.
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