UEFA Champions League – Match Preview: Manchester United versus Rangers
Manchester United are set to kick off their fifteenth straight UEFA Champions League campaign against Rangers tonight as the UEFA Champions League for the 2010-2011 season gets under way.
United have had mixed luck in the past in European Competitions. Lately their manager Sir Alex Ferguson has come out and expressed his desire to improve on the clubs record in Europe.
In a press conference, he mentioned his disappointment regarding Manchester United’s failings in Europe. He commented that the club has won the European Cup only three times, something that is not acceptable because Manchester United are looking to compete against the likes of A.C Milan and Real Madrid and both of them have won the UEFA Champions League, seven and nine times respectively.
Ferguson will open his team’s European charge with a game at Old Trafford against Rangers. A lot of history goes into this game, as United are working towards winning their fourth European Cup. Previously, they won the UEFA Champions League in 2008 after beating Chelsea on penalties at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, Russia. On that fateful night, Cristiano Ronaldo was the star of the show for United but unfortunately for the red devils he has long parted ways with the club.
Before that, Manchester United pulled off one of the greatest come backs in the history of club football as they scored twice in two minutes to win the UEFA Champions League final against Bayern Munich at the Nou Camp in 1999. United also hold the prestigious title of being the first English club to win the European Cup, this happened back in 1968 as the red devils defeated Benfica in the final match of the tournament. For the 1968 triumph, Manchester United were marshalled by their legendary manager, Sir Matt Busby.
Last season’s UEFA Champions League ended in tears for United’s faithful supporters, as they exited the tournament at the quarterfinals stage after losing the away leg by a two goals to nil and then blowing a three goal lead to lose the tie on away goals after playing the second leg at Old Trafford. It was a sentimental moment for everyone involved with the club, something that Sir Alex and his players will be looking to avoid in this year’s European campaign.
Manchester United’s opponents on the night, Rangers, hail from the Scottish Premier League and they qualified for the UEFA Champions League after winning the Scottish Premier League in the 2009-2010 season. Rangers fought off Celtic to seal their spot in the elite club cup competition. Rangers are unbeaten in their last five matches and so are United. However, Rangers have won all of their last five competitive matches whereas Manchester United have only won three of their last five matches. Two out of those five matches ended up in draws for the club which originally hails from boroughs of Manchester.
All the pre-match focus has been on United’s star striker Wayne Rooney, who was left out by his manager for their weekends Premier League match against Everton. Ferguson, took this decision because according to him the crowd at Everton is quite vocal in their abuse of their former player. Nonetheless, Rooney has been in the limelight in the past couple of weeks due to his scandalous personal life. The English national team striker has been accused of cheating on his wife with a vice girl, an allegation he still has to categorically deny.
Both of these teams met in the 2003 UEFA Champions League competition as well. In those meetings, United ended up as winners in both home and away ties, as Fergie’s men won by a goal to nil in Glasgow and thrashed Rangers by three goals to nil at Old Trafford on the return leg.
Rangers will be working hard towards avoiding the same fate again as they will be hoping to at least qualify for the next round of the UEFA Champions League by getting a result at Old Trafford. Nevertheless, this might be easier said than done as Manchester United have a very intimidating record at Old Trafford when it comes to European competitions.
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