Man Utd (0) v Chelsea (0): Alex Ferguson has been full of praise for Jose Mourinho and Chelsea over the last week but the compliments stopped yesterday when it was put to him that the London club could one day be bigger than Manchester United.
"That's the most stupid question I've heard this year," he bristled. "You should be apologising for even asking it." Ferguson was not so much angry as incredulous that anyone could think such a thing.
At Old Trafford tonight the second leg of the League Cup semi-final will be watched by 68,000 people compared to the 41,492 that saw the first-leg 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge. In two years the capacity will rise to 75,000. And if Mourinho or Roman Abramovich want to prolong the argument, Ferguson could also give them a tour of the club museum, stopping off at the trophy cabinet en route.
Yet overtaking United and Real Madrid as football's greatest income generators is precisely what Chelsea are aiming for. An important foundation block will be the establishment of a new title shirt sponsor; the existing four-year, £24 million deal with Emirates airline expires at the end of this season.
Sources at the club say they are now in "advanced discussions" with six multi-national companies in an attempt to raise a minimum of £7 million per year in shirt-sponsorship revenue as Chelsea's board attempts to diminish its reliance on Abramovich's patronage and move towards self-sustainability by 2010.
Though United's £36 million, four-year agreement with Vodafone may be difficult to match, Chelsea are convinced of the value of their product and will consider entering their centenary campaign next season without any such sponsor if their target is not met.
"We are keen to agree something, but we won't sell the shirt short," said a source. "We know the fans' position but with the amount we're spending we'd be remiss to turn down such an important revenue stream."
Last week's ditching of Umbro as their shirt manufacturer was another indication that Chelsea are committed to easing their patron's financial burden and if the recruitment of Peter Kenyon from United as chief executive was the first warning of a fight on all fronts, catching up in matters on the field will be straightforward by comparison.
Deep down, Ferguson must know there is a shift in power taking place, one that will gather considerable momentum should Chelsea win tonight. Abramovich might not be able to buy Chelsea a more gratifying history but, 10 points clear in the Premiership and seemingly on their way to a first title in 50 years, an away victory would all but confirm the changing order of English football.
It is not a scenario that Ferguson wants to contemplate and, with only a couple of exceptions, he intends to field his strongest side, with the fit-again Alan Smith back in contention. "I set out in this competition with the idea of giving the young lads and squad players some much-needed football," he said. "That has changed now."
Coveniently overlooking the fact that Arsenal have regained second place in the Premiership, Ferguson went on to declare it would be a meeting between "the two best sides in the country". He does not anticipate a high score and reckons it will have the feel of a Champions League tie.
"It will be a tactical test, a game of cat and mouse with a heavy emphasis on counter-attacking. There won't be a lot of goals, I can assure you of that. Chelsea don't lose many goals and our job will be to break them down."
When Arsenal lost at Old Trafford in October they took only 11 points from their next seven games but Ferguson does not go along with the theory that a United victory could precipitate a similar slump for Chelsea. "Everyone would be waiting for that kind of reaction," he said, "but in another way that would be a motivation for them."
This was a remarkably calm Ferguson, beginning his press conference by paying homage to Robert Burns and exchanging friendly insults with his questioners. Yet Ferguson has not beaten Mourinho in four attempts and Chelsea have lost only three of their 12 visits to Old Trafford in the Premiership.
Meanwhile, the Football Association last night confirmed it would not be pursuing Petr Cech for his alleged comments in the Czech press following the Arsenal game in which Thierry Henry scored from a hotly-disputed quick free-kick.
The goalkeeper was alleged to have questioned the referee Graham Poll's integrity but the FA could find no evidence to support the claims. "After a thorough investigation the FA has decided it would not be appropriate to take formal disciplinary action," said an FA spokesman last night.
