CL: Manchester United fears early elimination
Associated Press
Posted: 6 hours ago
MANCHESTER, England (AP) - Manchester United's nine-year streak of reaching the knockout phase of the Champions League could end Tuesday.
A loss to visiting Villarreal and a victory for Lille at home against Benfica will mean that United will be out for the competition at the earliest stage since 1994.
United has won only one of its four group games and is in third place behind Villarreal, which will be playing without injured playmaker Juan Ramon Riquelme and will qualify for the last 16 by winning at Old Trafford.
Roy Keane's surprise decision to quit United last Friday has left the team's players and fans stunned and has dominated the headlines despite an impressive 3-1 victory at Charlton in the English Premier League on Saturday.
United manager Alex Ferguson said Monday the players had to ignore the distraction of Keane's departure.
"It's important our concentration is on the game tomorrow because we realize it's such a vital game for the club," Ferguson said. "Over the years we have been very good in this group stage and always had good form and we've got to rely on that home form now because winning tomorrow will put us in a much stronger position than we are at the moment."
Ferguson is not making a big deal about the absence of Riquelme. He said Villarreal ought to be more worried about his stars, such as Wayne Rooney, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo, who are all in top form.
"It's a blow for Villarreal. It seems that he won't be playing. But we have to concentrate on our own good players and hopefully they will give us the result we need," Ferguson said.
Ferguson believes his players will shrug off their poor form in the competition. He said United, who won the title in 1999 and has been to the semifinals twice during his 19 years at the club, has faced many of the top teams in Europe and made it through to the final stages.
"There have been so many great players who have played against us over the years," he said. "Real Madrid have been here twice, Barcelona twice and Bayern Munich three times, Juventus four times. All these teams have fantastic players and we have had to cope with that.
"It would be no different if Riquelme had been playing tomorrow."
The Argentina international isn't the only one missing from the Villarreal lineup. Captain Quique Alvarez and forward Antonio "Guayre" Betancor also are injured and Uruguay striker Diego Forlan, a former Manchester United player, will be sidelined for up to a month with torn left thigh muscle fibers.
Forlan was injured during Villarreal's 1-0 Champions League win over Benfica on Nov. 2, and he aggravated it during the first leg of Uruguay's World Cup playoff against Australia.
from foxsports.com
Associated Press
Posted: 6 hours ago
MANCHESTER, England (AP) - Manchester United's nine-year streak of reaching the knockout phase of the Champions League could end Tuesday.
A loss to visiting Villarreal and a victory for Lille at home against Benfica will mean that United will be out for the competition at the earliest stage since 1994.
United has won only one of its four group games and is in third place behind Villarreal, which will be playing without injured playmaker Juan Ramon Riquelme and will qualify for the last 16 by winning at Old Trafford.
Roy Keane's surprise decision to quit United last Friday has left the team's players and fans stunned and has dominated the headlines despite an impressive 3-1 victory at Charlton in the English Premier League on Saturday.
United manager Alex Ferguson said Monday the players had to ignore the distraction of Keane's departure.
"It's important our concentration is on the game tomorrow because we realize it's such a vital game for the club," Ferguson said. "Over the years we have been very good in this group stage and always had good form and we've got to rely on that home form now because winning tomorrow will put us in a much stronger position than we are at the moment."
Ferguson is not making a big deal about the absence of Riquelme. He said Villarreal ought to be more worried about his stars, such as Wayne Rooney, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo, who are all in top form.
"It's a blow for Villarreal. It seems that he won't be playing. But we have to concentrate on our own good players and hopefully they will give us the result we need," Ferguson said.
Ferguson believes his players will shrug off their poor form in the competition. He said United, who won the title in 1999 and has been to the semifinals twice during his 19 years at the club, has faced many of the top teams in Europe and made it through to the final stages.
"There have been so many great players who have played against us over the years," he said. "Real Madrid have been here twice, Barcelona twice and Bayern Munich three times, Juventus four times. All these teams have fantastic players and we have had to cope with that.
"It would be no different if Riquelme had been playing tomorrow."
The Argentina international isn't the only one missing from the Villarreal lineup. Captain Quique Alvarez and forward Antonio "Guayre" Betancor also are injured and Uruguay striker Diego Forlan, a former Manchester United player, will be sidelined for up to a month with torn left thigh muscle fibers.
Forlan was injured during Villarreal's 1-0 Champions League win over Benfica on Nov. 2, and he aggravated it during the first leg of Uruguay's World Cup playoff against Australia.
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