Wayne Rooney:

(On Drogba) "Sometimes he seems as if his head's not quite there.” (Yep! You read that right! Rooney did say that!)

"But when he's at his best, he's an unbelievable player. He's big, strong, he scores goals - left foot, right foot, headers - at times he is unplayable."

"It is difficult when you see one of your rivals winning things. When Liverpool took the trophy, it was hard to take.  Because they haven't really been challenging for the league in the last few years, they've had chances to rest players before big Champions League games and that helped them.

"By Liverpool winning the Champions League, it's made us want to win it even more."

"I've been playing FIFA on X-Box with my mates. My girlfriend's not too happy with me, but it keeps me occupied.  I've played in three cup finals, winning one and losing two, so hopefully I can even that out.

"A few of us watched the match and most of my mates were Liverpool fans. (On the Man Utd/Bayern Munich final)

"It was just me and another pal who were Everton supporters. We wanted United to win.  When they won, I was really happy and we were winding the Liverpool fans up.

Ricardo Carvalho:

"Ronaldo has been fantastic for the Premier League and we have to make sure we don't give him too much space.

"It is difficult to stop him but if you focus and work with your team-mates it will be easy."

"As players we want to deliver this for the fans.

"Over the last few years whenever we have played against United it has always been difficult. But we have shown that we can beat them. We will arrive in Moscow confident we can win."

Patrick Evra:

"It is the time to put everything right. The bad memory from my career so far is the final that I lost with Monaco,"

"Now I am with Manchester United I can't lose for a second time. This is one of the most important games of my career so far. I don't go there for revenge though; I go there for Manchester United."

"For me if we don't win this trophy this season is bad. This is why we need to win it.

"It is a privilege to play here and it is important to win for the fans, for your team-mates and for the boss as well.  I don't know if it is destiny but if we can win this trophy for people like Sir Bobby Charlton it is the best present we can give them."

Steve Clarke:

“I’m just glad we are going to Moscow. Roman said before we reached the final: You are definitely going to Russia, I just don’t know whether you are going to Siberia or Moscow!”

”It’s a big occasion, a big achievement, but for me, the only achievement is to win it.”

”I think maybe 10 years ago you could start to imagine that there was a process in place that would take us somewhere, whether I believed it was ever going to take us to these heights or this level is difficult to say.”

”A lot of people have made big decisions over the years and pushed the club forward. Ten years ago, you could maybe have dreamed about it and it would be a realistic dream.”

“These players deserve a trophy and they have got one more chance to win one.  With three semi-final defeats in four years, maybe it could have started to become a psychological thing.”

”It was a big, big occasion for us. I think we deserved it over the two games (against Liverpool). Its 10 years since we reached the last European final. I was still young enough to run around!”

”I think with the consistency we have shown in the last five seasons in the Champions League we deserve to be in the final .This club needs to win trophies, with the players we have, the structure we have here. The place is magnificent; we have made great strides forward in the last 10 years.”

”I try and control my emotions but it will be a proud occasion. I will be proud to be there to be part of the Chelsea team playing in the first Champions League final.  But it won’t mean anything to me if we don’t win it.”

Joe Cole:

"I speak to a lot of people up there and he (Carrick) probably doesn't get the credit he deserves. The United lads know I love them - but Wednesday night will be a war!

"But whoever wins, wins and it's difficult because you can't have banter about it because we meet up with England two days later and you have to be dignified in defeat.  You can't go running round with a Champions League winner's medal round your neck at the England team hotel, either. We've had a little word about it and promised we wouldn't."

Flourant Malouda:

“I've been a starter more regularly in Europe and I'd look back at this year as a success if I ended up winning the European Cup with this team,"

"My lack of games is not down to me. It's the coach's choice. All I can do is keep trying hard to be ready if selected. I've never doubted my ability or whether I could make my mark in this league.

"I came here to win trophies and on Wednesday I have the chance to do that."

Claude Makelele:

"People look at winners and say: 'This is a big team.' I remember all the teams who came to play Real Madrid in the Champions League were scared. They knew that they would lose but they might lose by four or maybe six goals. It would be good to see Chelsea have this power.”

"It is difficult winning it but it would be so good for the players as well as the club.”

Duncan Castles The Observer:

Thoughts of stretching the game into an extra-time war of attrition will be encouraged by the clear fitness advantage Chelsea possess. United's rotating team-sheets and stumbles towards the championship finishing line are testimony to their end-of-season fatigue - Ronaldo, in particular, has dropped off his impeccable best. 

Chelsea are visibly stronger, the likes of Michael Ballack, Lampard and John Terry fresher for earlier extended absences. 'We have only one player who has played over 40 matches and that is Joe Cole,' says assistant coach Steve Clarke. 'Physically they are good, they are fresh.'

What the players will miss is the preparation and guidance of the man who forged them into the team they are. Jose Mourinho enjoyed his 2007 FA Cup defeat of United so much because of its tactical completeness - its precisely calculated efficiency.

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