Rooney dedicates his career best goal to his fans

England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has said that his career "best" goal, an overhead kick in the traditional derby against Manchester City on Saturday, is for his fans as he feels he has let them down in the recent past.

Rooney's spectacular goal ensured a 2-1 derby win over Manchester City.

"It was a special feeling for the United fans because they deserved that from me. I''ve not had the best of seasons and know how big this game is in Manchester, so I hope they enjoyed that," The Sun quoted Rooney, as saying.

"It is my best goal. To score it in that way in such an important game is special," he added.

Meanwhile, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has declared it the greatest goal he had ever seen at Old Trafford, and compared it to the great Denis Law's legendary strikes for the club.

Ferguson said: "I don't think I've seen a better one here at Old Trafford. Rooney hit that volley against Newcastle six years ago with the same ferocity. We've had some classic goals here but in terms of execution, you'll never see anything like that."

"It was reminiscent of Denis Law although I'm not so sure that Denis ever put them in with such ferocity," he added.

Arsenal must show that it does not habour any fears while facing Barcelona in Wednesday's Champions League showdown, said skipper Cesc Fabregas.

Twenty three-year-old Fabregas said: "We don't have to worry too much about them - we just have to play with no fear and play our game. We respected them too much last season, in the first half especially."

"We know they are the best team in the world and it is a big task for us. We have a young team but one with a lot of quality and energy," The Sun quoted him, as saying further.

Barca bundled Arsenal out of Europe 6-3 on aggregate in last season's quarter-finals.

Fabregas insisted: "It is difficult to learn from last year. They are such a good team. Even if you know everything, they have so many quality players that can make the difference."

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has said that his club will have to win their remaining 13 Premier League games to retain the title.

Chelsea are currently 10 points behind leaders Manchester United, and are currently at fourth place thanks to a superior goal difference to Tottenham Hotspur.

"We still have to play Manchester United twice and there are a lot of other big fixtures for the other teams involved in the title race. So, we know we can get back into the picture, but it will take a huge effort because we need to win all of our games and hope other clubs slip up," the Daily Star quoted Lampard, as saying.

"But it's something we still believe in and we have to start against Fulham. The desire is still there for me. Winning is like a drug for me. When you win leagues and win cups, you want to keep on having that feeling of success," he added.

The 32-year-old further admitted that everyone at the club is struggling to come to terms with their abysmal season.

"The players are well aware that we had a terrible run during November and December. But we never believed it when people were calling us invincible at the start of the season and we never listened too much to criticism during the times when we couldn't win a game," Lampard said.

Spanish and ex-Liverpool football star Fernando Torres has said that he will repay Roman Abramovich with goals for sealing his 50-million-pound "beautiful" move to Chelsea.

"As a striker I'm asked for goals so I'll pay in goals. I still haven't seen Roman Abramovich. To put so much money down for me speaks of his dreams to keep on making history," The Sun quoted Torres, as saying.

"We want to repay him for this effort. I have to pay my debt on the pitch. It's beautiful he paid so much for me," he added.

Torres also said that he hoped Liverpool fans have forgiven him for decision to move to Chelsea.

Having been off the football field for the past three weeks with an injured back, Welsh ace Gareth Bale is expected to make a shock return for Tottenham's Champions League crunch against Italian club AC Milan.

Tottenham coach Harry Redknapp has said that he will take a final decision on Bale after assessing Rafael van der Vaart's fitness. He says that he needs to do this, as he will be missing the services of Luka Modric in Tuesday's clash.

"Gareth is not out for sure. I've got to wait to see how Rafa is. The specialist says Gareth should be OK. If he feels right on Monday, I'd like to think he'll be playing," The Sun quoted Redknapp, as saying.

He added: "It's a good game for us. When we got into the Champions' League, I didn't want to go out in that first tie against Young Boys of Berne."

Redknapp said: "It's good getting drawn with AC Milan. It's a massive game."