The first all-English final of the Champions League was always going to be a dramatic affair.

But it would have been hard to predict an encounter quite as rich in sub-plots as Wednesday’s meeting between Manchester United and Chelsea at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.

Looming largest of all in the backdrop to the 2008 edition of club football’s biggest match is the sense of history weighing down on United as they bid to claim the club’s third European Cup in a year that has marked both the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster as well as 40 years since they became the first English club to lift the trophy.

Sevilla’s much coveted Brazilian defender and captain Daniel Alves said on Monday he wanted to leave the club as soon as possible.

Alves had been thought to be on the verge of signing for Chelsea last season before it fell through and is believed to be a top target for Barcelona.

“I really want to leave now and I hope that everything will be finalised as soon as possible,” said Alves.

German coach Joachim Loew admitted he was delighted that the preparations were at last getting underway for the Euro 2008 finals as he jetted in with most of his squad for a training camp here.

Loew - who was assistant to Jurgen Klinsmann when Germany reached the 2006 World Cup semi-finals - was only missing captain Michael Ballack, who is on Champions League final duty with Chelsea and defender Christoph Metzelder, who has gone on his club Real Madrid’s tour of Saudi Arabia.

Ivan Bolado scored an 86th minute winner to fire Racing Santander into the UEFA Cup with a 1-0 win over Osasuna on Sunday.

Racing had looked set to miss out after Real Mallorca beat Real Zaragoza 3-2 - a result that sees Zaragoza relegated from the top flight - but Bolado struck late on to seal sixth.

Racing will now hope to hold onto their highly-regarded coach Marcelino with Sevilla and Valencia interested in his services.

“It is just reward for the whole season,” said Marcelino. “I am really happy because it goes through your mind that maybe you can miss out on something that you really deserve.”

Brazilian Joel Santana arrived here Sunday to begin a 27-month contract as coach of 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa.

He succeeds compatriot Carlos Alberto Parreira, the 1994 World Cup-winning coach who quit Bafana Bafana (The Boys) last month to be with his ill wife in Rio de Janeiro.

Dressed in a grey suit, the tall 59-year-old Santana walked from the airport building to a waiting car, left for a hotel without talking to the media and later watched a first division league fixture.

Alessandro Del Piero scored twice to help Juventus complete their Serie A season with a 3-3 draw against Sampdoria and deliver a timely Euro 2008 reminder to national team coach Roberto Donadoni.

The veteran attacker, who has been consistently overlooked by the world champions, also took his league goal tally to 21 to make him the top scorer in Serie A this season.

Only Genoa striker Marco Borriello, who has 19 goals, can depose him from the top scorers chart when he takes the field against Atalanta on Sunday.

After spending his entire career trying in vain to gatecrash English football’s grandest occasions, Harry Redknapp finally savoured success on the big stage on Saturday.

Redknapp has always felt his old school attitude and the unsubstantiated bung allegations that have dogged him for years stopped him getting a crack at managing one of the game’s big four.

During his spells at Bournemouth, West Ham and now Portsmouth, Redknapp laboured in the shadows of managers more glamourous, though often no more successful.