United will be looking to put down a firm marker for the Champions League quarter final when they face Lille this evening. Revenge for last season’s humiliation may also be on the minds of players and manager alike.
AbsolutelyUNITED looks at some of United’s key players in the battle for European glory .
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It’s seven months since Ruud Van Nistelrooy said a final farewell to Manchester and began a new adventure in Madrid. United’s supreme goalmachine knew he had no place in the club’s future once Sir Alex made him a bench monkey for the 2005 Carling Cup Final. The split between player and manager was acrimonious and ugly.
After twice defeating Benfica, United have another chance to slay the dragons of Euro disasters past, when they meet Lille in the Champions League next February.
Later today, United will discover the identity of their opponents in the next round of the Champions League.
A moment of truth awaits United this evening. A draw against Benfica will be enough for the players to stumble like drunken lords into the lucrative knock-out stages of the Champions League. United had the measure of their opponents last September in the away leg. Surely, this should not be too taxing a task for a team which sits proudly at the top of the Premiership.
What good can emerge from the rubble of Celtic Park?
Tonight’s trip to Celtic Park is an opportunity for United to nail down a place in the next round of the Champions League and to atone for the slipshod performance in Copenhagen.
A Premiership tussle with Blackburn later today gives United the perfect opportunity to wipe away the Southend blues and retain their lead at the top of the table.
A return match with Copenhagen puts United within a point of the next round of the Champions League.
A place in the next round of the Champions League is there for the taking tonight when United line up against FC Copenhagen.
As United celebrated their first European triumph on away soil for 34 months, Sir Alex may have had his sense of satisfaction tainted by disappointment.
A stirring of both passion and memory awaits United when they face Benfica later today.
In the aftermath of United’s triumph over Celtic, Sir Alex Ferguson must have taken pleasure in United’s attacking potency whilst regretting the concentration lapses of his defenders.
A journey which Sir Alex Ferguson hopes will end next May in Athens, begins tonight when United take on Celtic in the opening round of the Champion’s League.
When United last took the field in a European match, it was billed as a defining moment in Sir Alex Ferguson’s managerial career.
Finally, Sir Alex Ferguson was as good as his word when he proclaimed his satisfaction with the current United squad and denied new additions were necessary.
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