One of the fascinating battles within the Manchester United v Milan Champions League semi-final will undoubtedly be the tussle between Ronaldo and Kaka, surely the two hottest properties in football at the moment (although that will no doubt offend the Messi camp).

Both sides are strong in all areas - although there are undoubted weak links, Milan's age and United's injury problems, but will go as far as the pairing will carry them. Ronaldo, playing slightly wider and cutting in has more pace, is trickier and frightens defences whilst Kaka, coming from deep will play almost as an auxilliary striker, protected by a bank fo three midfielders behind him. Not as pacy as Ronaldo, he is nonetheless quick and strong, he is a creator and also capable of scoring important goals at important times.

Ronaldo is expected to walk away with PFA Player of the Year award in the EPL and his progress this season is remarkable, even managing to eclipse the no less than considerable talents of a certain Wayne Rooney. Without him in their line-up, it is doubtful that United would have the lead they enjoy in the EPL.

With the loss of Shevchenko and the points deduction, Milan have stalled at times this season and struggled to replace the goals of 'Sheva', but with Kaka in the line-up he is compensating in other areas and helped Milan come to party at a time of year they generally come alive.

There is a feeling in both camps and media alike that these are the two players the other side fears most and will set about stopping above all else, and whilst not the only contest in this tie, it is the one battle that you feel will ultimately play a large part in deciding the outcome of this contest.

The Annual PFA Player of the Year nominees were announced today, and this year it looks to be a close run race between the two outstanding players of the season - Didier Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The pair - as neck and neck this season as their respective sides have been in the EPL, lead the way from Cesc Fabregas, Steven Gerrard, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.

In the young player category, Fabregas and Ronaldo again feature, alongside Kevin Doyle, Wayne Rooney, Aaron Lennon and Micah Richards.

The weekends FA Cup semi-finals saw both Chelsea and Manchester United progress to the Wembley final - but not without a scare along the way.

United saw EPL bottom club equalise at 1-1 before they eventually ran out 4-1 winners, with Rooney and Ronaldo again on the scoresheet. Meanwhile, Chelsea again left it late before progressing with an extra-time goal from Michael Ballack to run out 2-1 winners over Blackburn at Old Trafford.

So, as expected (and hoped by the FA I'm sure) Chelsea face off against United on May 19th which could be sandwiched in between their EPL showdown in the penultimate game of the season, and a possible Champions League final encounter if the two sides progress against Liverpool and Milan respectively.

It is now set for an intriguing final month of the season as the two sides - neck and neck throughout, head towards a thrilling climax.

United are chasing a repeat of their 1999 treble, whilst Chelsea are chasing an unprecedented quadruple - having already claimed this seasons Carling Cup. It would be quite a feat for either side to win every available trophy but the one thing both sides possess in abundance is the desire to win, and neither manager will let up an inch in their quest for dominance over the other.

In the EPL, United hold the advantage - as they have done most of the season, due to their three-point lead and slightly more favourable run-in, but if Chelsea can keep pace with them (or even claw a point or two back) then they will have to in their hands when it comes to their showdown at Stamford Bridge in the last week of the season.

In the FA Cup, United hold the pedigree in terms of FA Cup appearances and wins and this is a difficult one to call as so much could depend on who wins the EPL (the week before) and on who reaches the Champions League final.

Which leaves the Champions League. Both sides I believe are favourites to progress - United slightly more so, but will have to be wary of their opponents Liverpool and Milan - whose remaining hopes of silverware rests with the Champions League.

Chelsea, having been hit with injuries this season are now beginning to get players back and their fitness levels are unparallelled in the EPL, and they look to be beginning to peak at this crucial stage of the season. United, relatively untroubled by injury have succumbed of late to injuries to Vidic, Silvestre and Ferdinand, but shrugged these off in their recent defeats of Roma and Watford.

As we head into the final month of the season, what is usually a tense and crucial time of the season has been magnified tenfold by the set of circumstances which now could see them face off three teams in less than two weeks to decide the battle for supremacy in the 2006/07 season.

An intriguing fight lies ahead, and whatever the final outcome is, there are certain to be a number of twists and turns remaining between now and the middle of May.

A week after scoring an injury time winner at Watford to haul keep themselves in the title race, Chelsea are very much alive and kicking now after Saturday's games which saw Chelsea win 1-0 over Tottenham and then United crash 2-1 at Fratton Park to a spirited Portsmouth side.

Jose Mourinho admitted that Chelsea would have been out of the race had they not won at Watford, but was in more buoyant mood yesterday, claiming that United are 'lucky' not to be playing the Blues next weekend as he is convinced that is the game they will slip up.

Mourinho also pointed to previous fixtures of late, where United had often played in the Saturday lunchtime or 3pm kick offs, whereas Chelsea featured in the late game - and advantage to United in that they were always extending their lead instead of trying to maintain it.

And yesterday, having seen Chelsea cut their lead to three points, United came unstuck with a performance perhaps every bit as worrying as the result itself. A previous 'lucky' trait of United's this season (according to Mourinho) is their lack of injuries to key players in comparison to Chelsea, but United were without Neville, Vidic and Saha yesterday which highlighted a lack of quality in key positions with the likes of O'Shea, Fletcher and Smith hardly upto the grade.

At a tough stage of the season, it could also be catching up on a number of players who have been ever present through most of the season, and again yesterday they looked over reliant on Cristiano Ronaldo.

Having lost to Roma in the Champions League last week, they now face a tricky return leg ahead of next weekends FA Cup semi-final against Watford. It could be a welcome distraction for a side that now face a real battle on their hands to maintain their superb run of form this season in the EPL to fend off the current title holders.

The clash between the two sides looks to be a mouth watering one (although there are a few key clashes between now and then) and could it be that Chelsea are peaking at just the right time?

Man Utd's remaining Premiership fixtures:

Tuesday, 17 April
(H) Sheff Utd
Saturday, 21 April
(H) Middlesbrough
Saturday, 28 April
(A) Everton
Saturday, 5 May
(A) Man City
Wednesday, 9 May
(A) Chelsea
Sunday, 13 May
(H) West Ham

Chelsea's remaining Premiership fixtures:

Wednesday, 18 April
(A) West Ham
Sunday, 22 April
(A) Newcastle
Saturday, 28 April
(H) Bolton
Sunday, 6 May
(A) Arsenal
Wednesday, 9 May
(H) Man Utd
Sunday, 13 May
(H) Everton

As the leagues around Europe raw to a close and the Championship races have been decided, focus is beginning to turn more and more to the World Cup as the national managers begin to finalise their line-ups.

Previous World Cups (and European Championships) have seen some of the best players either miss out through injury or not be at their best due to injuries sustained during the season and this World Cup is shaping up to be no different.

The focus here in England (before Theo Walcott was named to the squad) was all about Wayne Rooney who joined the metatarsal club when he broke the bone in his foot just a week before the end of the season. Although he has been named to the England squad, he is a certainty to miss the group games and may only be fit for the latter stages if at all, meaning he will not have trained for around a month.

For England, Arsenal duo Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole have suffered injuries this season and have only just returned to action whilst over in Italy, star man Francesco Totti has played just two games at the end of the season as he bids to get fit for the finals, but like Rooney he is expected to be named to Marcello Lippi's squad but fellow striker Christian Vieri has been ruled out through injury.

Harry Kewell of Australia also suffered an injury in last weekends FA Cup Final and is now undergoing treatment in a bid to make the finals, but perhaps the biggest blow (aside from Rooney) could be the damaged ligaments suffered by Andriy Shevchenko. Shevchenko - who last weekend announced he wished to leave AC Milan is expected to be out for around five weeks which (like Rooney) will probably rule him out of the early stages.

So once again, as the Worlds focus turns to the biggest tournament in World sport, much of the focus leading up to the opening kick off is concerned with who may not be there as opposed to who will be playing.