MATCH PREVIEW
Old Trafford, Manchester
Tuesday 29 April 2008 - 20.45CET
Semi-finals, first leg
Sir Alex Ferguson has called on his Manchester United FC side to seize a “marvellous chance” to reach the UEFA Champions League final in the deciding leg of their semi-final against FC Barcelona.
Test of nerve
After eight months and 990 minutes of on-field endeavour, it all boils down to who holds their nerve at Old Trafford. United fell at this stage to AC Milan last spring, a third loss in four previous semi-finals under Sir Alex, but the Scot believes they have what it takes to prevail following last Wednesday’s 0-0 draw in Spain. “We’ve got big-game players, we’ve got players who can win matches,” said Sir Alex, who has overseen eleven straight home wins in Europe. United’s manager rated the first-leg display of his men as “probably our poorest in Europe this season” but, after another cautious showing in Saturday’s 2-1 reverse at Chelsea FC, United will surely revert to attacking type. “I think it’ll be more open than it was at the Nou Camp and it could go either way, but I think we are going into the game with a marvellous chance. It will be tactical at times but there will be times when there will be the explosions of play that we expect from our team.”
Domestic strife
Defeat by Chelsea has given United their worst sequence since August – three matches without victory – but Sir Alex responded bullishly to suggestions their fortunes were waning. “We are sitting here right now with two [Premier League] games left, we’ve a semi-final, a home game on Saturday and a game against Wigan away – disaster,” he smiled. Certainly, his Barcelona counterpart Frank Rijkaard would gladly trade places. Saturday’s 2-0 loss at RC Deportivo La Coruña was Barcelona’s third goalless game and left them with just one win in eleven domestic outings. “I prefer to concentrate on the present – we have a very important game, we will be fighting our hardest to make sure things go well and we can draw a conclusion on the season later,” said the Dutchman.
Puyol returns
Rijkaard guided the Blaugrana to a 2006 final victory over Arsenal FC but his two other UEFA Champions League campaigns with Barcelona ended on English soil, against Chelsea FC (2005) and Liverpool FC (2007). Predicting a tight contest, he added: “We have to score at the very least and it is important to impose our own game – to be brave and get hold of the ball and not let them impose their game.” It waits to be seen whether Rijkaard, who welcomes back Carles Puyol in place of the suspended Rafael Márquez, will retain Andrés Iniesta on the left or give Thierry Henry the chance to renew his rivalry with United.
Opportunity knocks
If Europe presents Rijkaard and Barcelona with a path to redemption after a difficult season, Sir Alex will know that, at 66, opportunities like this may not knock too many more times for him. He is convinced his reign should have brought “more success in Europe” – specifically, the UEFA Champions League – than that solitary 1999 triumph. Twelve months ago United hit the wall in Milan. Twice before, meanwhile, they slipped up at home after first-leg stalemates – in quarter-finals against AS Monaco FC (1997) and Real Madrid CF (2000). Against this backdrop of past disappointments, he could have done without concerns over the fitness of Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidi?, who missed training on Monday with respective hip and mouth injuries sustained at Chelsea. “Both could make it but I can’t be certain about that,” he said.
Young guns firing Giggs’ belief
Ryan Giggs believes Manchester United FC’s winning blend of youth and experience can prove pivotal in their pursuit of European glory.
‘Enthusiasm and youth’
The long-serving Welshman paid credit to the young players in Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad for the “infectious” enthusiasm they bring to the Old Trafford dressing room as he looked ahead to the semi-final decider against FC Barcelona. United fielded four attacking players aged 24 or under during the 0-0 first-leg draw in Spain – Nani (21), Wayne Rooney (22), Cristiano Ronaldo (23) and Carlos Tévez (24) – and Giggs said: “They’ve been so successful this season because of the enthusiasm and the youth they’ve got. It has been infectious and has carried on right through the team.”
Good mix
The 34-year-old has appeared in all four of United’s previous UEFA Champions semi-final contests, and scored a crucial goal on the only occasion they won through to the final – the late equaliser at home to Juventus that preceded a 3-2 triumph in Turin in 1999. He added: “We’ve got a good mix of experience and youth. Experienced players use the experience that they’ve gained and we’ve got many players who’ve played in European Cup finals before, and players who nearly got there last season and who want to get there.”
Perspective
Giggs was one of four United players on show at the Camp Nou to have featured in a UEFA Champions League final, together with Patrice Evra, Owen Hargreaves and Edwin van der Sar. To put into context the winger’s longevity, when he played in his first European semi-final, in spring 1997, Rooney was in his first year at De La Salle secondary school in Liverpool.
‘Enjoy it’
With this degree of know-how comes a truer sense of perspective and Giggs could almost have been preaching to United’s young guns when he said: “First and foremost you just go out and enjoy it, it is a European Cup semi-final at Old Trafford. You have got to enjoy these games, that’s why you become a footballer. These games don’t come around too often, so you have to go out and make the most of it.”
Recipe for success
To reach the final, Giggs went on, United would have to produce an attacking display to match their defensive efforts last week. “We defended brilliantly against a very good team who’ve got quality players, although we could maybe have kept the ball a little bit better. At Old Trafford, with the crowd behind us, we are noted for our attacking play, scoring, making goals, creating chances, and that is what we hope we’ll be doing. Obviously we’ve not got to neglect what we did at the Nou Camp which was defend as a team, defend as individuals and stop them creating chances. We have to defend like we did but create a few more chances and I am sure we
