Arsenal’s comeback to win 3-2 at Bolton was special, but Manchester United’s 4-0 demolition of Aston Villa on Saturday was simply sublime. Cristiano Ronaldo’s amazing flick for the first goal summed it all up.

But how good are this United side? Is the Premier League already in the bag and should AS Roma be expecting another 7-1 Champions League mauling on Tuesday?

Here Deputy Sports Editor Jon Bramley talks to vlogmeister Owen Wyatt about Arsenal, United and the Premier League run-in. We’d like your views in the comments below or you can send us your own vlog via youtube or wherever. Tag it ‘Vlog on the pitch’ and if we like it, we’ll put it up here.

Italy is hoping the death of a Parma fan on Sunday was not the result of more fan violence.

Matteo Bagnaresi was accidentally knocked down and killed by a bus, forcing Parma’s match at Juventus to be postponed.

Police said Parma and Juve fans were trading insults at a service station on the way to Turin where the accident happened. Juve fans and the coach driver say they were being threatened and that is why they made a quick get away, hitting Bagnaresi without realising.

Italy’s soccer hooligan problem is well-known and despite the facts about the latest incident being unclear, calls have been made for all away travel to be banned. 

Restrictions on travelling supporters are already strict in Italy, with away fans prohibited from attending high-risk games.

AS Roma host Manchester United in the Champions League on Tuesday following violence at their previous two encounters in Rome. United fans have been warned to stay alert.

Would a ban on all away travel be too much? What is the situation in other countries? The bottle thrown at the visiting keeper during Real Betis v Athletic Bilbao recently came from a home fan, for example.

Mark Meadows, Milan

Is Ronaldinho about to become the latest player to leave the Nou Camp by the back door?

Marca and the rest of the Madrid-based media seem convinced of it, meaning we could be about to see the former World Player of the Year following the well trodden path of such luminaries as Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Romario, Juan Roman Riquelme, Luis Figo, Hristo Stoichkov, Bernd Schuster and Maradona.

All of these players underwent the transformation from Nou Camp idol to persona non grata in a remarkably short space of time.

Maradona left for Napoli after a traumatic two-year spell at the club marked by a bout of hepatitis, a horrendous tackle by Athletic Bilbao defender Andoni Goikoetxea, rumours of drug taking and a mass brawl after the final of the King’s Cup.

Schuster was ousted after walking out following the team’s defeat in the 1986 European Cup and a subsequent legal wrangle with the club. Romario and Stoichkov were not on speaking terms with then coach Johan Cruyff when they left the club.

Ronaldo departed at the peak of his powers after just one glorious season with the Catalans in which he racked up 34 goals in 37 matches, deciding that he would get better treatment at Inter Milan.

Luis Figo, of course, famously defected to Real Madrid after he was offered a more succulent deal by presidential candidate Florentino Perez, while Rivaldo was revered for the wonderful hat-trick that put Barca in the Champions League only to be ushered out of the side door a year later.

Other top Barcelona players such as Gary Lineker, Steve Archibald, Ivan de la Peña and Patrick Kluivert could all have left under better circumstances. Ronaldinho’s career at Barcelona appears to be following a depressingly familiar line.

Having guided Barcelona to two league titles and victory in the Champions League in his first three seasons at the club he is now being accused of failing to pull his weight.

Fitness problems, no-shows at training, a series of below-par performances on the pitch and rumours about late nights have all served to tarnish his reputation. Some of the local media even say that Barca will be prepared to let him leave on a free transfer at the end of the season, while the latest stories suggest he could exercise FIFA’s article 17 and buy himself out of the contract for a song.

It is hard to believe that only two seasons ago he was the most sought-after player on the planet. What is it about Barcelona’s tendency to devour its own sons?

We asked at the start of this season whether it was time Barcelona let Ronadinho go, and the consensus was that it would be too great a loss for the club. I wonder how many people have changed their minds.

Simon Baskett, Madrid

PHOTO: Ronaldinho reacts during the Atletico Madrid-Barcelona match in Madrid, March 1. REUTERS/Susana Vera

Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has travelled to Italy for talks about a job with Inter Milan, his personal adviser Eladio Parames has said.

“Jose has left for Milan for talks with Inter’s directors,” Parames told Reuters without giving further details.

Earlier this month, Inter coach Roberto Mancini said he wanted to quit the Serie A champions and current leaders at the end of the season only to reverse his decision the following day.

There has been no official statement from Inter about Parames’ comments but on Thursday owner Massimo Moratti said: “There is all this stuff to deny but I no longer have the patience to do it.”

What do you make of all this? What will Mancini think? What will it do to Inter’s season?

Mark Meadows, Milan

My colleague Zoran Milosavljevic was enthused about Wednesday’s batch of friendlies but not everyone was so impressed. Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger both pondered the death of the international friendly after the midweek ‘action’ and they were not alone.

Other than the dramatic 4-3 victory by the Dutch, who had been trailing 3-0 to Euro 2008 co-hosts Austria, Wednesday’s games were a poor advert for mid-season international football with many players coming back injured — much to the annoyance of their club managers.

Ferguson did not hold back when asked what he thought of the matches after Darren Fletcher returned injured from helping Scotland draw 1-1 with Croatia.

“It was a bad blow with Darren Fletcher, which to me just emphasises the futility of playing these friendly games. It’s crazy. We have lost him for six weeks now… It’s crazy and supporters will stop going to these kind of games anyway, paying all that money and travelling. I think every manager knows, deep down, that they are a waste of time.”

Wenger added this:

“I’m scared that in the modern game, there is no room any more for friendly internationals. Not because countries take our players, just because people will not be interested in that anymore. There is nothing at stake. People want to see competitive games. Maybe I’m completely wrong but is it in the long term organisable for people to travel and spend their money to watch this kind of game? I’m not sure.”

Aston Villa’s Martin O’Neill, Fulham boss Roy Hodgson and Steve Bruce of Wigan all complained as well, while Blackburn manager Mark Hughes will be the most fed up of all after seeing his South African midfielder Aaron Mokoena injure his Paraguayan club colleague Roque Sante Cruz in their international friendly.

So with all this unrest is it time FIFA acted and separated the international season from the domestic season and have all internationals played in a six week window in the summer?

PHOTO: David Beckham talks to German referee Florian Meyer during France’s win over England in Paris, March 26, 2008 REUTERS/Charles Platiau

One of the greatest things about Subbuteo, besides giving generations of kids endless table-topping fun, was the chance of studying the team colours chart.

Where else could you learn at a glance that your claret and blue squad could be either West Ham, Burnley or Aston Villa, or that Plymouth Argyle were the only team in the Football League to play in green shirts (as did amateur giants Hendon) and that Blackpool were unique for being the only team to play in tangerine.

I thought of that old chart for the first time in years this week as Bolton, Fulham and Derby County edged closer to relegation from the Premier League.

Forget about logos and sponsors names, as far as my generation is concerned all three teams play in identical kits — white shirts and black shorts — and they are on the brink of becoming the subject of a future pub quiz trivia question.

Q: What was unique about the relegation of Bolton, Fulham and Derby in 2008?

A: It was the first time three teams wearing identical colours were relegated together.

Derby are already doomed but if Bolton and Fulham join them — and that is far from certain as yet — it will be because they haven’t played well enough, not because of the colour of their shirts.

But is there anything in a club’s colours that determines its success rate? Bill Shankly certainly thought so, changing Liverpool’s kit from red shirts and white shorts to all-red in the early Sixties. He believed that it made Liverpool look more intimidating and perhaps he had a point, perhaps not.

Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal, the three most successful clubs in English soccer all wear red, but Real Madrid, nine times European champions, play in all-white.

You can argue it until you are blue in the face, of course. Or in the case of Bolton, Fulham and Derby, white with fear as the prospect of Championship football edges closer.

PHOTO: New Derby owners pose with manager Paul Jewell in January 2008. REUTERS/Darren Staples

On February 16 Inter Milan were 11 points clear at the top of Serie A. Since then, a lot has happened and by the time the champions visit Lazio on Saturday their lead could be down to just one point.

First they lost to Liverpool in their Champions League last 16 first leg when Marco Materazzi was harshly sent off and important centre back Ivan Cordoba was ruled out for the season with ligament damage.

Patchy form and defensive lapses followed, with Javier Zanetti grabbing a late equaliser in a 1-1 home draw with second-placed AS Roma, who went on to beat Real Madrid in the Champions League as their form generally picked up.

Inter were eliminated by Liverpool after losing 1-0 at home and 3-0 on aggregate, a hammer blow to their confidence, so much so that coach Roberto Mancini bizarrely announced after the game he would quit at the end of the season.

Mancini quickly appeared to change his mind, although the suspicion remains that he will leave in June with Italian newspapers packed with speculation of a fall out with club owner Massimo Moratti. Jose Mourinho, Rafa Benitez and Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli have all been linked should the job become available.

Quite what the players thought about Mancini’s outburst is unclear, but confidence has continued to be low and last weekend they lost their first home league game of the season against old rivals Juventus.

There are more specific reasons for Inter’s troubles. Luis Figo is well past his best at 35 and has struggled to regain form and fitness following a broken leg in November. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a knee problem and is gritting his teeth to play one game a week, but his goals have dried up.

Roma’s priority seemed to be the Champions League after their triumph over Real. Suddenly a surprise scudetto is on the cards if Inter do not get their house in order.

Mark Meadows, Milan

PHOTO: Inter Milan’s Marco Materazzi dejectedly leaves the pitch after losing 2-1 at home to Juventus in Serie A, March 22. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

If Wednesday’s friendlies involving the 16 Euro 2008 finalists are anything to go by, the June event should be a real treat for the fans, with plenty of goals, near-misses and desperate defending, and the chance of a few shocks too.

Written off by most pundits as little more than a punching bag, the Austrians showed in the first 30 minutes of their astonishing 4-3 defeat to the Netherlands that they might be a tough nut to crack playing at home after all.

A fierce Austrian onslaught coupled with a comedy of errors at the back by the Dutch, never really known for their defensive strength, gave the co-hosts a 3-0 lead before the “Oranje” turned the match on its head.

Poland’s Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker tipped his team to be the Euro 2008 surprise package after their impressive qualifying campaign but the 3-0 defeat by the United States suggests they might end up as mere also-rans.

Poor defending from set-pieces did not cost the Poles on the road to Euro 2008 as they were able to outscore their opponents most of the time but it could undo them at the next level.

Germany made it clear they are rightly one of the tournament favourites with a 4-0 drubbing of Switzerland, the other co-hosts, with Miroslav Klose taking his international tally to 38 goals in 73 matches.

An understrength France will certainly take heart from a 1-0 win over England as will Spain after beating world champions Italy by the same score thanks to a spectacular David Villa volley.

Anyone prepared to write off defending champions Greece may want to reconsider after their 2-1 victory over Portugal in a repeat of the Euro 2004 final. It was Greece’s third consecutive win over a team widely regarded as one of the world’s most talented outfits.

Romania’s 3-0 rout of eastern European rivals Russia and their effervescent performance suggests they have a fighting chance of surviving the “Group of Death.”

Croatia’s famous 3-2 win over England fuelled high hopes of glory among the country’s fans and media but Eduardo’s horrible injury and last month’s 3-0 defeat to the Dutch instilled more modest expectations of reaching the last eight.

England’s conquerors were not impressive in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Scotland at Hampden Park and their current form suggests they will do well to progress to the quarter-finals.

As ever, there are at least half a dozen heavyweights and it seems inevitable that one of them will be crowned European champions on June 29… unless someone can do a Greece. Give us your thoughts on that in the comments.

PHOTO: Klaas Jan Huntelaar (L) scores for the Dutch against Austria in Vienna, March 26, 2008. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

Paris in the early spring - perfect for a few days’ break, and as long as you are not drowning in credit crunch debt, it is still the most wonderful city to go shopping for the latest fashions.

“You’d like a cap to go with that Armani suit, monsieur? Certainly, I have just the thing. These caps have not gone out of fashion since 1872 … suits you perfectly.”

Of course David Beckham does not have to go shopping for his latest England cap, he will be awarded it in the time honoured fashion of a special delivery from the headquarters of the Football Association.

I think it’s rather fantastic that in this age of the iPod, Xbox and Blackberry, England players still get a cap for playing for their country, just as they have done since the very first international against Scotland in 1872.

The FA tells me the same company that made the caps then still makes them today — but here’s something not too many people know.

David Beckham’s appearance against France means he will have played for England 100 times, making him only the fifth English player to do that, but he will be awarded just his 85th cap.

Players are awarded one cap for every match they play — unless they play in a World Cup or European Championship finals tournament. Then they are given just ONE cap to cover all the matches they play in that competition — with the names of all their opponents stitched into the fabric of the cap itself.

Beckham appeared in 20 of England’s 21 matches at the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups and the 2000 and 2004 European championships. One cap was awarded for each of those five tournaments — which actually leaves him 15 short of 100 actual caps. Odd, but true.

Still, he is convinced he can make a valuable contribution for England until the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa as long as England qualify and if he does that he could also be in view of Peter Shilton’s record of 125 appearances.

Now how many caps did HE actually get…

Mike Collett, Reuters Football Correspondent, Paris

PHOTO: Beckham attends a news conference at the team hotel in Watford, March 24, 2008. REUTERS/ Eddie Keogh

Avram Grant was being ridiculed last week as not good enough to manage Chelsea, while referees were getting stick for not coming down harder on dissent.

Cue Grand Slam Sunday — when Chelsea virtually ended Arsenal’s title hopes and Javier Mascherano left Liverpool with 10 men at Manchester United following a quite avoidable red card, clearing the champions’ path in their quest to retaining the title.

Grant made a double substitution that changed the face of Chelsea’s match with Arsenal, who were leading 1-0, with the strategy of twin strikers producing two Drogba goals for a 2-1 victory.

As they put it at EPL Talk: “Avram Grant looks as if he’s starting to understand this whole managerial thing…”

The weekend’s biggest winners, though, were United who, five points clear of Chelsea with seven matches to go, should go on to retain the title after a 3-0 win over Liverpool.

Mascherano may not have been able to prevent United’s victory had he remained on the pitch for the full 90 minutes but Liverpool’s chances diminished with his unnecessary departure for dissent.

Worse still, the end of Liverpool’s seven-match winning streak in all competitions could have a negative effect in the race for fourth place, which includes the city derby against fifth-placed Everton at Anfield next weekend, let alone virtually ending any lingering hope of fighting for the title.

Mascherano was variously called “Mad Masch”, a Muppet and much worse. Liverpool Pies disagreed with the red card but added:

“Can we please stop blaming another Old Trafford defeat on the referee? … He was hardly responsible for a defensive shambles, a midfield that lacked as much fight as it did creativity, and a striker so isolated that he must have wondered whether he was the only one on the pitch.”

The title push is now down to the top three. Chelsea have the easiest run-in on paper but United have their five-point lead. So has the title race already been decided? Give us your thoughts on that in the comments.

PHOTO: Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates his goal against Liverpool at Old Trafford, March 23, 2008. REUTERS/Phil Noble