We’ll fight right to the end... but we’re all QPR fans today

Posted Sunday, May 13, 2012 by The Sun

We’ll fight right to the end... but we’re all QPR fans today
BLISS TONY ... Valencia is praying QPR can help Man United to the title

ANTONIO VALENCIA last night revealed his Old Trafford team-mates are all ready to join the QPR fan club.

Manchester United are hoping against hope that Rangers can somehow squeeze a result at Manchester City today while they win at Sunderland.

It is an unlikely scenario and it looks certain that City will be crowned champions for the first time since 1968.

But United winger Valencia insisted: “We cannot lose all hope. We must fight until the very last moment.

“I know City are favourites but QPR are fighting for their own salvation and to avoid relegation, so that is a little advantage for us.

“The last day will be emotional and intense. A little help from the Londoners will be magnificent. If QPR obtain any sort of positive result at City the whole United squad will become Rangers’ fans.”

Valencia, like the rest of the red half of Manchester, was convinced the club’s 20th Premier League title was there for the taking when United pushed eight points clear of City just over a month ago.

But an unfathomable 1-0 home defeat against Valencia’s old club Wigan and then a dramatic 4-4 draw with Everton allowed Roberto Mancini’s men back in the hunt.

And United’s 1-0 Manchester derby defeat at the Etihad turned the title race firmly back City’s way as Vincent Kompany’s goal lifted City back into top spot on goal difference.

The two teams go into today’s matches still level on points — but City are eight ahead on goal difference.

The mood in United’s dressing room was one of despair. Alex Ferguson’s players could not believe they had lost — nor that they were almost certain to finish the season empty-handed.

Valencia, a £16million buy from Wigan in 2009, explained: “It was like a funeral because this match was a final and we wasted an enormous chance to clinch the title. We had it in our hands but failed in a number of incredible matches.

“If City do win it instead it will be so disappointing and the problem will be that we failed in games that theoretically were easy.

“People may think that the key was our two derby defeats this season. But they weren’t so decisive as the loss to Wigan or the incredible 4-4 draw against Everton.

“Never did I think we would lose two points in the final 10 minutes of that one at Old Trafford.

“If City win on Sunday I shall congratulate our rivals. But let’s hold on, there are still 90 minutes of the season to go.”

Such is United’s dismay some fans are worried it might be difficult to keep their eye entirely on the ball at the Stadium of Light.

But Fergie’s players are determined to react to any small chink of light QPR may throw their way.

And Ecuador winger Valencia is a key figure in their plans to ensure all three points.

His form since the New Year has been inspirational — and so his omission from the starting line-up against City raised more than a few eyebrows.

Ferguson fielded a defensive formation which was designed to frustrate City, but the plan failed and Valencia’s entrance as a 78th-minute substitute came too late to make a difference.

Sunderland’s full-backs, however, have been prone to drifting inside to keep gaps narrow under Martin O’Neill so Valencia can expect to feed off a welter of diagonal balls swung wide from midfield by Paul Scholes and Tom Cleverley today.

And Valencia will need no second invitation to take on markers while the rest of the Black Cats’ back line is scrambling to re-organise.

Valencia is currently recognised as United’s best creator, having shown time and again he has the pace and guile to orchestrate gaps for Wayne Rooney and his fellow strikers to run through.

So feeding the South American the ball as often as possible is the key to opening up a well-structured Sunderland side.

The 26-year-old’s efforts are not lost on Alex Ferguson. The Old Trafford boss said: “He is such an honest, hardworking player.

“You get two sides to Antonio. He is prepared to work really hard. He can tackle, he can run, but he can also beat a man. He has got everything really.”

Even if Valencia does finish up with a runners-up medal today, one consolation will be that he has come through this season relatively unscathed.

Twenty months ago he fractured and dislocated his ankle — as well as suffering ligament damage — in a Champions League tie against Rangers and that cost him six months on the sidelines.

So it is not too surprising he says now: “When I look back upon this season, the best moment will be if we manage to finish on top. But personally, at least I am happy not to have suffered another big injury blow.

“And whatever happens our supporters know how this club works. We shall be back next season trying to win the title again. Nothing will change that.

“I don’t know details about the manager’s plans for the reinforcements but it will be normal for some new players to arrive.”