United v. Aalborg – Champions League Preview

By: Taylor Rockwell | December 10th, 2008

Champions League Match Day 6
Old Trafford, Manchester, England
Kickoff @ 2:45 PM EST

What’s at Stake:
Essentially, very little. Aalborg (AaB) is already ensured a UEFA Cup spot, and and United has already secured promotion to the next round. The only thing that remains to be seen is whether United will finish the group stage in first or second. They are level on points with Villarreal, but currently have a superior difference. Villarreal still have a fairly challenging test to go against Celtic at Celtic Park, so a win should definitely see United end up on top.

Recent Champions League Results

United (9 points, 1st in Group E)
November 25th: Manchester 0 – Villarreal 0
November 5th: Manchester 1 – Celtic 1
October 21st: Manchester 3 – Celtic 0
September 30th: Manchester 3 – AaB 0
September 17th: Manchester 0 – Villarreal 0

AaB (5 points, 3rd in Group E)
November 25th: AaB 2 – Celtic 1
November 5th: AaB 2 – Villarreal 2
October 21st: AaB 3 – Villarreal 3
September 30th: AaB 0 – Manchester 3
September 17th: AaB 0 – Celtic 0

Random Bits of Intrigue
Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that, “Cristiano is doubtful and Michael [Carrick] is out. Those are the only injury problems we have. Michael should be ready for Saturday, but we’ll have to see how Cristiano is.” Additionally, it looks like both Gary Neville and Paul Scholes will see action this evening. Indeed, yesterday ManUtd.com reported that, “… Paul Scholes is now fit enough to start, but Sir Alex plans to use the 34-year-old midfielder from the bench as he continues to ease his vintage midfielder back after knee surgery in September. Club captain Gary Neville, who has been on the sidelines this season, is set for another start, most likely at right-back at the expense of 18-year-old Brazilian defender Rafael.”

The Battle for Second Choice rages on, as both Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak will hope to state their respective cases for eventual successors to the Van Der Sar throne. Given that he was involved in last night’s pre-match press conference, it would be safe to assume that Foster has the inside edge to start between the posts this evening.

One must wonder if it really matters what place United finish tonight. In a pre-match interview, Rio Ferdinand put it rather nicely. “”You have Real Madrid and Bayern Munich who could finish second, so you can still get a massive game in the next round even if you win the group… It would be nice to finish top, but it would not be a catastrophe if we ended up second.” Although finishing top does secure the home leg second in the last 16, if all matches ended right now, we could still draw Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, and Bayern. Of course, if we finished second, we could get Roma, Barcelona, Lyon, or Juventus. The point is, regardless of where we finish the Group Stage, the next round should be a pretty interesting affair.

Although he may not be on the roster for tonight’s game, it looks like Fabio da Silva could be back in time to play during Patrice Evra’s four match ban. The Brazilian back (who’s twin Rafael has had a breakout season for United) has been out with a shoulder injury since the start of the season. It would be great to see the two twins line up on opposite sides of the pitch, and even better to see a long term solution to Neville/O’Shea.

What will happen with the Tevez/Rooney/Berbatov situation tonight? It would stand to reason that with Rooney suspended for this weekend’s match against Spurs, he should get a run out tonight. However, the argument can also go the opposite way in that since Rooney is out, Berba and Tevez should have the opportunity to get familiar with each other’s playing styles. My guess is that we’ll see Rooney and Tevez start, with Berbatov figuring later in the match.

Taylor’s Projected Starting Lineup: Foster, Neville, Evans, O’Shea, Evra, Giggs, Anderson, Possebon, Nani, Tevez, Rooney. BENCH: Kuszczak , Berbatov, Scholes, Welbeck, Gibson, Park, Fletcher, Vidic.

PREDICTION: 3-0 United (Tevez, Anderson, and Giggs). Tevez needs to score to keep his argument for first team action alive and well, Giggs always seems to score in the Champions League, and I will continue to pick Anderson to score until he actually does (then claim that I am a genius). Come on you Reds!