Champions League Matchday 2 Preview
Table of Contents
Title holders Manchester United and 2006 finalists Arsenal will be looking to their first Champions League win when they face Aalborg and FC Porto respectively.
Having drawn their opening Group E match against Villarreal at Old Trafford two weeks ago, Sir Alex Ferguson knows his side must claim three points on their visit to Energi Nord Arena to put their campaign back on track.
United boss admits will not take any risks against the Champions League minnows after revealing he is still haunted by the memories of United's 1-0 defeat against FC Copenhagen two years ago.
However, Fergie intends to learn from past mistakes and unleash all his best players on Aalborg tonight.
Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo has return to full fitness and already scored this season against Middlesbrough in Carling Cup and Bolton in United's last Premier League match.
Dimitar Berbatov, a club record £30.75 million signing, has struggled to find his form since arriving from Tottenham in September, but has already scored against Alborg while at Spurs in the UEFA Cup.
Two players who didn’t make the trip are skipper Gary Neville and Owen Hargreaves, both sidelined due to thigh strain and knee injury respectively.
Aalborg are currently managed by Scottish coach Bruce Rioch, who famously signed Dennis Bergkamp for Arsenal during his year in charge at Highbury.
The former Bolton and Wigan boss is yet to be on the losing side when facing Sir Alex.
All four teams in group E only picked up one point in their opening match with nothing separating them as both fixtures remained goalless.
At the Emirates Stadium, Arsène Wenger will be keen for the match against Porto for the chance to bounce back after his side’s shock Premier League home defeat to Hull.
Arsenal will be boosted by the return of Samir Nasri, who has been out with a knee injury since late August.
While Alex Song joins Tomas Rosicky, Abou Diaby, Amaury Bischoff and Eduardo in the treatment room.
At the Petrovsky Stadium, Zenit St. Petersburg are eager to get off the mark when they play nine-time champions Real Madrid.
The Russian champions went down 1-0 in their opening Group H match against Juventus in Turin, thanks to a late Alessandro Del Piero goal.
However, Zenit are at full strength for tonight's showdown - except long-term absentee Nicolas Lombaerts - although there is a question mark over Andrei Arshavin.
The Russia star was not even named among the substitutes in the Moscow derby against Lokomotiv, which they won 3-0, with Zenit coach Dick Advocaat claiming the player remains distracted by the prospect of a possible transfer in January.
Group leaders Madrid head into the match with some worries, despite the fact that they’ve now managed five straight victories.
Wesley Sneijder, Guti and Fernando Gago aro all out due to injuries, while their defensive form have seen them keep just two clean sheets in six matches this season.
At the Horodskiy, hosts BATE Borisov will be the first Belarus team to host a Champions League group stage encounter.
Viktor Goncharenko's side, have won the Belarus championship three years in a row, are unlikely to make much impact in this group, but they only conceded twice to giants Real Madrid in their opening match.
Meanwhile, Juventus travel to Belarus without goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon due to a thigh strain.
Denmark midfielder Christian Poulsen also unavailable for the match while defender Nicola Legrottaglie has recovered from injury and will return to the squad.
Claudio Ranieri’s men have started the season well and are still unbeaten. However, lack of goalscoring has hindered the Bianconeri, whose biggest margin of victory has been a 1-0 result this campaign.
They struggled to a goalless draw in their last Serie A match at Sampdoria, which marked their second consecutive draw and meant the club drop to seventh.
Today's Champions League full fixtures:
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Also see:
Having drawn their opening Group E match against Villarreal at Old Trafford two weeks ago, Sir Alex Ferguson knows his side must claim three points on their visit to Energi Nord Arena to put their campaign back on track.
United boss admits will not take any risks against the Champions League minnows after revealing he is still haunted by the memories of United's 1-0 defeat against FC Copenhagen two years ago.
However, Fergie intends to learn from past mistakes and unleash all his best players on Aalborg tonight.
Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo has return to full fitness and already scored this season against Middlesbrough in Carling Cup and Bolton in United's last Premier League match.
Dimitar Berbatov, a club record £30.75 million signing, has struggled to find his form since arriving from Tottenham in September, but has already scored against Alborg while at Spurs in the UEFA Cup.
Two players who didn’t make the trip are skipper Gary Neville and Owen Hargreaves, both sidelined due to thigh strain and knee injury respectively.
Aalborg are currently managed by Scottish coach Bruce Rioch, who famously signed Dennis Bergkamp for Arsenal during his year in charge at Highbury.
The former Bolton and Wigan boss is yet to be on the losing side when facing Sir Alex.
All four teams in group E only picked up one point in their opening match with nothing separating them as both fixtures remained goalless.
At the Emirates Stadium, Arsène Wenger will be keen for the match against Porto for the chance to bounce back after his side’s shock Premier League home defeat to Hull.
Arsenal will be boosted by the return of Samir Nasri, who has been out with a knee injury since late August.
While Alex Song joins Tomas Rosicky, Abou Diaby, Amaury Bischoff and Eduardo in the treatment room.
At the Petrovsky Stadium, Zenit St. Petersburg are eager to get off the mark when they play nine-time champions Real Madrid.
The Russian champions went down 1-0 in their opening Group H match against Juventus in Turin, thanks to a late Alessandro Del Piero goal.
However, Zenit are at full strength for tonight's showdown - except long-term absentee Nicolas Lombaerts - although there is a question mark over Andrei Arshavin.
The Russia star was not even named among the substitutes in the Moscow derby against Lokomotiv, which they won 3-0, with Zenit coach Dick Advocaat claiming the player remains distracted by the prospect of a possible transfer in January.
Group leaders Madrid head into the match with some worries, despite the fact that they’ve now managed five straight victories.
Wesley Sneijder, Guti and Fernando Gago aro all out due to injuries, while their defensive form have seen them keep just two clean sheets in six matches this season.
At the Horodskiy, hosts BATE Borisov will be the first Belarus team to host a Champions League group stage encounter.
Viktor Goncharenko's side, have won the Belarus championship three years in a row, are unlikely to make much impact in this group, but they only conceded twice to giants Real Madrid in their opening match.
Meanwhile, Juventus travel to Belarus without goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon due to a thigh strain.
Denmark midfielder Christian Poulsen also unavailable for the match while defender Nicola Legrottaglie has recovered from injury and will return to the squad.
Claudio Ranieri’s men have started the season well and are still unbeaten. However, lack of goalscoring has hindered the Bianconeri, whose biggest margin of victory has been a 1-0 result this campaign.
They struggled to a goalless draw in their last Serie A match at Sampdoria, which marked their second consecutive draw and meant the club drop to seventh.
Today's Champions League full fixtures:
Group E
| v |
| ||||||
| v |
|
Group F
| v |
| ||||||
| v |
|
Group G
| v |
| ||||||
| v |
|
Group H
| v |
| ||||||
| v |
|
Please subscribe to our RSS feed to receive more updates. You can also subscribe by Email and enjoy our latest posts sent directly to your inbox.
Also see:
Post a Comment