"Hexallent", Santos wins again

... and still heavyweight champion of the world!

O'globo: Those are some of the chants being echoed in Rio de Janeiro this days after the long wait was over and Santos was officially declared champion.

The Sixth edition and the infamous turn of events
The sixth edition of the WECL was held from May 18 to October 5, 2008. Few will argue that Chelsea was the clear favorite to win it all. With an all world cast led by Ballack, Lampard and Thierry Henry, Costly had created "The Stanford Bridge monster" It would be the most powerful club ever to step into a pitch since Sir Darwin's "Fantastic four". However this edition will be remembered for a series of events never seen before. It started with Madrid's surprising exile from the tournament early in the season. The heartbreaking retirement of Lilian Thuram from Barcelona also made the news. AC Milan saw its chances fade when Ronaldo Nazario Lima became ineligible to play due to contract issues. Later a major scandal rocked the CL when Roma, Chelsea and Liverpool were sanctioned for rule violations that ended up costing decisive points for these clubs. This was followed by the misterious retirement of Chelsea's number one; Annti Niemi just days before key matches against Santos and Barcelona which may have cost the blues both trophies. Finally and although the alleged charges of match calendar violations against Santos were ultimately dismissed, the case was cause of controversy. In the end Santos found a way to win; three straight victories in due or die matches against AC Milan, Chelsea and Arsenal helped the Brazilian club to retain the tittle. It is conceivable that had some of this events not occurred, we would be celebrating a different club as Champion. Perhaps, Chelsea; the Stanford Bridge club had an outstanding campaign and was a deserved candidate.

Rooney Ballon d'Or

Rooney's fine form helped Santos lift the Champions League trophy for the sixth consecutive time. Easy's fate on Rooney paid off as the Santos number 9 was on target 14 times this season (9 league, 6 cup).