Darren Fletcher admits Manchester United face an ‘uphill battle’ against Basel to progress as group winners in Champions League

A 2-2 draw with Benfica on Tuesday means that the Red Devils will need "a favour" to win Group C, with a testing away match in Switzerland to decide their qualification fate

Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher admits that his side face an “uphill battle” to reach the last 16 of the Champions League after Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw with Benfica.
 
The Red Devils are currently top of Group C, level on points with the Portuguese outfit and needing a point away to Basel on December 7 to qualify, but their inferior head-to-head record means that if Benfica defeat Otelul Galati, so far without a point, in their final match, the Premier League side will have to settle for second place at best.

“This game [against Benfica] was a chance to win the group, but it’s going to be an uphill battle to do that now,” Fletcher admitted to The Daily Mirror.

“We’ll go to Basel needing a positive result, which we probably would have needed to do anyway if we had won [on Tuesday], so it’s no different in that respect.

“But you want to have won the group and you want to have qualified in advance of your last game.

“We’ve had two draws at home, the Basel game and Benfica, which have cost us.

“But there’s no point us moaning or saying what could have been. This is the situation we’re in, and we’ve got to respond and get the right result in Basel.

“In the last few years, we’ve won the group and we moved into the next round quite comfortably. But this is what’s lying ahead of us now and we’ve got to accept the challenge and the situation we are in.

“We’ll do that as a team and I’m fully confident we’ll go to Basel and get the result which will take us into the next round.”

United will be wary of the Swiss champions after they nearly caused an upset at Old Trafford.

Having been two goals behind in September’s meeting, Basel turned the game around to 3-2 before Ashley Young spared Sir Alex Ferguson’s blushes with a late equaliser.

“Going away from home in the Champions League is a big challenge,” Fletcher conceded.

“Basel play good, open, attacking, expansive football and create chances, so we know it’s going to be a difficult match. But we’re confident of going there and getting a result, like in every match.”

Finishing second would open United up to drawing the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Inter in the last 16, all of whom have already won their groups, but the Scotland international is unfazed by the prospect.

“Of course, it’s not ideal that we might have to face those [big] sides earlier than we would anticipate, but I can’t imagine any of those sides being too pleased to draw Manchester United.

“We’re confident no matter whom we play against, and if we get to the next round, we’ll rise to that challenge.

“We need to get the fine balance of not conceding and getting back to the attacking play we showed at the beginning of the season.

“There are always high standards at Manchester United. After every result, we look back on it - at what we could have done better and how we can improve as a team.

“I don’t think the season has been a disaster so far. We’re still in a relatively good position.”

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Valencia's Roberto Soldado scores fastest Champions League hat-trick since 2003 in record-breaking night in Group E

The Spanish striker set an all-time mark on matchday five in a 7-0 romp over Genk, while Chelsea's Didier Drogba also made history in defeat as the group stage nears its end

On a majestic night of Champions League action which saw Valencia destroy Genk 7-0 and Bayer Leverkusen edge out Chelsea 2-1, two strikers produced record-breaking performances.
 
Roberto Soldado of Valencia registered the competition's fastest hat-trick since 2003, when Alan Shearer scored a treble for Newcastle against Leverkusen in only 36 minutes.

The former Getafe hitman earned his in just 26 minutes on Wednesday at Mestalla, while also becoming his side's all-time leading scorer in the tournament with 11, passing Juan Sanchez, who has nine, and the first Spanish player to net three times in the first half of a Champions League clash. The fastest hat-trick in the competition was in 1995-96 when Mike Newell of Blackburn scored three times against Rosenborg in nine minutes.

Didier Drogba was not to be outdone, moving into 8th place on the competition's all-time scoring chart with 34 goals after putting his side ahead in Germany, and passing Fernando Morientes. The former Marseille man also has more goals in the competition than any other African player.

With Leverkusen already through, Soldado and Drogba will now do battle on matchday six for the last coveted qualifying spot in Group E.

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Villarreal's Jonathan de Guzman: We lost against Manchester City in Champions League because of our own errors

The former Netherlands Under-21 international was disappointed with his side's defeat as he felt they were the architects of their own downfall in the Group A clash

Villarreal midfielder Jonathan De Guzman has voiced his disappointment with his side's 3-0 Champions League Group A loss at home against Manchester City on Wednesday evening.
 
The former Feyenoord star felt the Spanish side put in a decent performance, but added that sloppy defending and individual mistakes cost them them the game.

"Although City are good up front and at the back we lost the game because of little errors at our own end of the pitch," De Guzman was quoted as saying by uefa.com.

"They capitalised on that with their counter-attacks. Otherwise I think we did pretty well, especially in the first half, but the two goals killed the momentum for us."

The Canada-born midfielder then admitted that things have not been going well for Villarreal since his arrival from Mallorca last summer, but he is hopeful that the Yellow Submarine will get back on track in the near future.

"Things have been difficult for us, especially for me because I've only just joined this team, and, since I came, we haven't had much go for us. So hopefully, sooner rather than later, our luck will turn around."

Villarreal resume domestic action on Sunday with the Primera Division game away against Espanyol.

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Villarreal's Marcos Senna ruled out of Champions League clash against Manchester City - report

The veteran midfielder won't take part in this week's European encounter at El Madrigal after having picked up a hamstring injury against Rayo Vallecano

Villarreal coach Juan Carlos Garrido will have to make do without the services of experienced midfielder Marcos Senna in Wednesday's Champions League game at home against Manchester City after the former Spain international picked up an injury.
 
The 35-year-old picked up a hamstring injury in his side's 2-0 La Liga win over Rayo Vallecano on Saturday and was forced to leave the pitch after 49 minutes of play due to the knock.

Senna underwent further examination on Sunday and uefa.com reports that the hamstring problem will keep the midfielder out of his side's fourth Group A game.

The first meeting between Villarreal and City ended in a 2-1 win for the English side. Wednesday's match at El Madrigal kicks off at 19.45GMT.

Villarreal have yet to pick up their first point of the group stage, while Roberto Mancini's side have so far collected four points from three games.

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Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas full of praise for striker Fernando Torres after a double against Genk

The manager believes the strikers game for Spain did him a lot of good but thinks the his performance shouldn't overshadow the 'collective' effort of the team

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas praised striker Fernando Torres for his impressive performance against Genk which saw him net a double on his return to the side.
 
The Blues were odds-on favourites to beat the Belgian side at Stamford Bridge and won convincingly 5-0.
Villas-Boas was pleased with the way his team handled the match and believes Torres has seen a revival in his confidence.
“He [Torres] wanted to play," Villas-Boas told Sky Sports. "It was important for him to play for the Spain national team and he has been keeping his form well and got into positive positions.
“I think it was a very good display by the team. It’s very decisive when you play a game of this dimension. We kept the rhythm high, in the second half we wanted to keep the rhythm high but I think here and there we missed a couple of passes.
“We increased the tempo in the last 20 minutes but couldn’t find the back of the net. But it was a good result and puts us in a good position. If we get ten points it will be very good.
"We felt confident from the beginning. We stayed focused and motivated together. The goal in the first 15 minutes gave us stability.
“I don’t think it’s about individual objectives but collective objectives.”

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AC Milan 2-0 BATE Borisov: Ibrahimovic & Boateng ease Italian giants to comfortable Group H Victory

The home team took all three points at San Siro with a dominating display against the Belarusian side, as they forgot their Serie A woes to equal Barcelona on points in the table

The home side missed a host of chances but still emerged the victors courtesy of two great goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kevin Prince Boateng.

The Italian champions started the match brightly, putting the visitors under heavy pressure early in the game, and in the fourth minute Alberto Aquilani was handed a great chance to open the scoring but the midfielder's close-range effort sailed just over the bar.
Then moments later and Ibrahimovic tried one from just past the halfway line but like Aquilani before him, the giant Swede’s drive flew over the top of the goal.
The hosts were still controlling the game with Aquilani looking particularly lively, as the Italy international saw one effort crash off the post before forcing Aleksandr Gutor into a good save with a drive from the right side of the box.
Just after the half hour mark and against the run of play, the away side should have taken the lead, when a lack of concentration from Mark van Bommel gifted Renan Bressan a great opportunity to open the scoring, but the Brazilian was denied by a great save from Christian Abbiati.


Ten minutes before the break, Milan took a deserved lead through a great finish from Ibrahimovic. A dangerous cross from Ignazio Abate wasn’t cleared properly, which left the Sweden international with space to drive the ball past Gutor from the just inside the area.
The second half began and the home side were still dominating the game, creating a host of chances before Ibrahimovic missed a good opportunity to get his second of the night, instead blazing his effort into the stands.
With 20 minutes to go Milan doubled their advantage with a thunderbolt from Boateng, as the Ghana international controlled the ball beautifully after an Aquilani corner before unleashing a ferocious drive from the edge of the box that left Gutor with no chance.
Following tonight's victory Milan will now travel to Belarus in November, knowing a win would all but seal their qualification to the knockout stages while BATE will be looking for their first win of the campaign.

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Manchester United's Javier Hernandez to score last & three Champions League Tuesday goalscorer tips

Jim Knight has flagged up Miralem Sulejmani as a potential scorer for Ajax, goal machine Mario Gomez for Bayern Munich and the Red Devils' gifted Mexican

 

 

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Tuesday Bet of the Day extra: Real Madrid's Karim Benzema tipped to score against Lyon

The French forward likes to rendezvous with his old club, netting in both games between the sides last season, and is a fine price to do the same at the Bernabeu tonight

Whilst a resurgent Real Madrid host Lyon in Tuesday Evening's Champions League clash on the back of three consecutive victories, the Spanish side have a surprisingly poor record against their French visitors.  
 

Having met eight times since 2005, the Madrid giants have only won once, a 3-0 victory earlier this year. Lyon have the advantage over the Merengues, with the equivalent of 13 points to the Spaniard's seven.

With this in mind, the 1.20 for a home win is far too short as an outright bet. The value, therefore, resides in the other markets, and, as a thoughtful punter, it is your duty to look elsewhere for a quality bet with profit potential.

In the goalscorer markets, there is an immediate temptation to go for the current form man in Gonzalo Higuain. His goalscoring exploits recently have taken the breath away, with three hat-tricks in four games for both club and country, making him one of the most feared marksmen on the planet.
Jose Mourinho has indicated he may now play Higuain alongside Karim Benzema, given the Argentine's impressive form only came along due to the French forward's injury. This will be a big game for the former Lyon player, and, in three games against his old club, he has found the net twice.

Having not played at the weekend it looks most likely that Mourinho (returning from a touchline ban himself) has earmarked this game for the French striker's comeback. Backing the Benz each way at 4.0 to open the scoring looks an attractive bet given that he's almost certain to start.

If you are confident in Real's ability to win, then consider backing them to win without conceding at 1.90 - and do so knowing that they've only let in one goal in their last seven home games in this competition.

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Otelul Galati - Manchester United Preview: Sir Alex Ferguson's side looking to make up for lost ground with first Champions League win

PROBABLE LINEUPS

OTELUL GALATI   Grahovac Skubic, Perendija, Costin, Salageanu Antal, Filip, Ibeh, Giurgiu, Bus Pena

MANCHESTER UNITED De Gea Fabio, Smalling, Vidic, Evra Valencia, Carrick, Anderson, Young Rooney, Hernandez

The Romanian side have not been in the best of form this season, as they are currently in a mid-table position in their local standings.

Their maiden tryst with the Champions League has not yielded any fruit either, as they look for their first ever points in the group stage against a club that has tasted the ultimate triumph in the competition three times in their history.

The wide array of attacking talent that the Red Devils possess might prompt the hosts to stick with a 4-5-1 line-up in the hope of snatching a point from the encounter.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson made a few changes to his line-up in the recent 1-1 draw with Liverpool, keeping Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Michael Carrick on the bench. All three could make a return to the starting line-up, considering the gravity of their current situation in the group.

The champions of England have drawn their opening two games and playing catch-up for the top spot may prove to be a sticky task if three points are not secured in Romania.

Tom Cleverley (foot) and Darron Gibson (ankle) are the only fitness related concerns that Sir Alex has ahead of the trip, though Rio Ferdinand hasn't travelled, with an otherwise strong squad available to the Scot.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Otelul Galati won their domestic league last season and qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history. They are yet to register their first points in the competition, having lost to Benfica and Basel in their first two games in Group C.

• They have not won a match on the European stage since a 2-1 second leg victory - 4-2 on aggregate - over Turkish side Trabzonspor in the third round of the 2007 Intertoto Cup.

• The hosts will be playing an English club for the first time in their history, while Sir Alex's charges have played a Romanian club only once before - Dinamo Bucharest in 2004-05.

• Manchester United have conceded four goals so far, drawing both their games in Group C. Ironically, Otelul have shipped in three but have lost both their games.

• The Red Devils began their legendary 1998-99 European campaign with two draws, but eventually ended up conquering Europe.

• Sir Alex has guided United to two European triumphs in his long and distinguished career at Old Trafford. Should his team taste glory again, he will have equalled Liverpool's legendary former boss Bob Paisley's record of three European cups. No other manager has won as many. 

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