UK: Manchester United suffering ahead of Champions League home clash with Benfica but manager Ferguson still confident

Record ID: 336624

  • Title: UK: Manchester United suffering ahead of Champions League home clash with Benfica but manager Ferguson still confident
  • Date: 26th September 2005
  • Summary: RUUD VAN NISTELROOY (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 11th October 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA2W2RAZDW8M7GLNI3QQOAXQQAW
  • Story Text: Manchester United will need to put a string of injuries, a ban for top striker Wayne Rooney and a weekend upset firmly behind them in Tuesday's (September 27) Champions League game against Benfica.
    United, who started their Group D campaign with a 0-0 draw away to Villarreal, will need to dig deep at Old Trafford after little has gone right for manager Sir Alex Ferguson's side.
    Injuries have left Ferguson without three defenders -- Gary Neville, Wes Brown and Gabriel Heinze -- two midfielders in captain Roy Keane and Quinton Fortune; and two strikers: Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
    But Rooney's absence for a red card in Spain two weeks' ago, having sarcastically applauded referee Kim Milton Nielsen for a second yellow, will be the biggest blow.
    The 19-year-old was United's top scorer last season, notching a memorable Champions League hat-trick on his debut against Fenerbahce and his penetrating runs remain United's deadliest weapon.
    His sheer drive set up Ruud van Nistelrooy's second-half equaliser against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, after he came on as a substitute in what turned into an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford.
    Benfica, who opened their campaign with a 1-0 home win over Lille, will look to striker Nuno Gomes to cause United trouble after scoring five goals in his past two domestic league games.
    Dutch coach Ronald Koeman declared that the club's poor start to the season was over.
    Tuesday's match will renew an old rivalry in European football.
    The clubs first met in the 1966 quarter-finals, with United winning the first leg 3-2 at Old Trafford before going on to record a famous 5-1 victory in Lisbon.
    United became the first English club to win the European Cup when Bobby Charlton steered them to a 4-1 victory over the Portuguese side after extra time at Wembley in 1968.
    Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was in defiant mood.
    Two days after United were booed by their fans following a 2-1 home Premier League defeat by Blackburn Rovers, Ferguson was relishing the challenges ahead.
    The loss to Blackburn left United 10 points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea, but Ferguson is hoping the history of the Benfica match, a repeat of the 1968 European Cup final which the English side won 4-1, will inspire his team.
    Ferguson played down the absence of England striker Wayne Rooney who is suspended after being sent off in United's 0-0 draw at Villarreal two weeks ago.
    Ferguson, who is considering playing both Korean Park ji-Sung and Welshman Ryan Giggs in a revamped midfield, admitted his defensive resources were stretched by injuries.
    He is still determined to improve United's record in the European Cup, which they have won only twice.
    "When you lose a game you have that opportunity -- sometimes it's seven days, sometimes its four days, in this case it's three days -- to recover from your defeat," Fergusaon told a news conference on Monday.
    "It's nothing unusual. We've tasted defeats in the past, it'll happen again, it's just in the nature of our club. It happens."
    Referring to the injuries, Ferguson said: "We have one or two injuries, you know, knocks from Saturday still to get over. On the forward front we're a bit healthier than we are at the back, it has to be said."
    He said it was important to recover from the defeat but, added: "As I said before, I'm here to talk about the Benfica match. So it doesn't matter what happened in the past. A European game is a European game tomorrow. Of course, we don't like losing games, we don't need to say these things, it's always been the case at this club, we don't like losing. But we have to do something about it, we've had to face these problems in the past and we'll face them again some time -- and today's the day."
    Probable teams:
    United: 19-Edwin van der Sar; 22-John O'Shea, 5-Rio Ferdinand, 27-Mikael Silvestre, 23-Kieran Richardson; 11-Ryan Giggs, 24-Darren Fletcher, 18-Paul Scholes; 7-Cristiano Ronaldo, 10-Ruud van Nistelrooy, 14-Alan Smith
    Benfica: 1-Moreira; 22-Nelson, 4-Luisao, 3-Anderson, 5-Leo; 6-Armando Petit, 14-Manuel Fernandes, 16-Beto, 20-Simao Sabrosa; 30-Fabrizio Miccoli, 21-Nuno Gomes
    Referee: Lubos Michel (Slovakia)
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