Manchester United hasn’t face Romanian opposition in seven years, with the Eastern European nation failing to produce a side of note since Steaua Bucharest made the European Cup final in 1986. But following Saturday’s timid draw with Liverpool, Sir Alex Ferguson has promised a full-strength side will face Romanian champions Oțelul Galați on Tuesday night.
With just two points from the side’s opening games, United is under surprising pressure to deliver victory in one of the Champions League’s easier groups. Indeed, anything bar victory could leave the Reds vulnerable to the unthinkable: elimination at the group stage.
Ferguson’s quest to end that line of thinking is boosted captain Nemanja Vidic’s return to the side, with the Serbian recovering from a longstanding calf problem. The defender’s return will compensate for the loss of Rio Ferdinand, who has been left in Manchester as a precautionary measure ahead of the derby next weekend. Jonny Evans is likely to start alongside captain Vidic, with Phil Jones reprising his recent role at right-back.
“I think we have to win tomorrow and I’ll play a strong team,” said Ferguson.
“I could play several teams and I’d consider them strong enough to win. This isn’t a tournament you can afford to be complacent in. Tomorrow’s game is very important for us. I guess it depends on what happens in the other tie [Basel v Benfica]. The important thing is for us to win. That solves all the problems.
“We have to progress in the Champions League and then we have four or five days to recover for the Sunday game against City. The timescale for recovery is perfect for us and it’s the same for City as well.”
Meanwhile, Ferguson says Wayne Rooney will start in Romania, after overcoming the apparent mental anguish that the striker suffered in the wake of UEFA’s Euro 2012 ban. Rooney will sit out all of England’s group matches in the tournament, with Fabio Capello reportedly undecided whether to take the striker to Poland and Ukraine at all.
Ferguson left Rooney out of United’s starting line-up at Anfield, ostensibly under the banner of Rooney’s mental health, although a string of poor performances in the past against Liverpool will presumably have made the decision easier.
“I think he’s OK,” the United manager said on Monday.
“Actually when he came on he was quite bubbly. He was full of energy and enthusiasm. He was desperate to get on actually ,which is good because when he sat watching the game he probably said: ‘Christ I could be out there.’ He’ll be playing tomorrow.
“The initial news was a definite blow for him. He didn’t expect that. I don’t think any of us did. To me it was a silly action but it wasn’t seriously dangerous. It was a slight reaction but to get a three-match ban. When he realised getting three-match ban meant missing all the games for England and that he might not be involved at all, as England know how difficult it is to get out of a group, that resonated in Wayne’s mind.”
“We’ve watched Galați a few times and I watched the video of them against Benfica,” added Ferguson.
“Their system is like a lot of systems in Europe – they play with two wide men and one through the middle, one midfielder in the hole… a lot of European teams are playing this way now. We’ve got a good idea about how the game should be played tomorrow and we hope we can get the result we want.”
To do that United must defend better than Ferguson’s team has in the tournament to date. Last season’s runners-up did not concede a single goal in 540 minutes of away action en route to the final.
Yet history bodes well, with United having beaten Dinamo Bucharest on the only previous occasion on which the club has met Romanian opposition. Goals from Alan Smith, David Bellion and Ryan Giggs contributed to a 5-1 aggregate win in the 2004 third qualification round, which included a 2-1 win in the Romanian capital.
Moreover, the last time United failed to win either of its first two games in the Champions League group phase was in 1998/99 when Ferguson’s ended up lifting the trophy at Camp Nou. Mind you, those opening draws included a 3-3 with Barcelona at Old Trafford.
Meanwhile, Oţelul may have never previously met at English club but the club’s coach, Dorinel Munteanu, has enjoyed two high-profile victories over the national team. He scored in a 3-2 win against England at Euro 2000 – a result that knocked England out – while Munteanu also played in Roamnia’s 2-1 defeat of the English at the 1998 World Cup.
Galați will begin the game in rude health too, with Cornel Râpă and Gabriel Paraschiv returned to action last Friday.
Yet all eyes will be on Rooney and yet another dramatic return to the United side in the striker’s ever turbulent story.
Match Facts
Oţelul Galaţi versus Manchester United, Champions League, National Stadium Bucharest, Tuesday 18 October 2011, 7.45pm
Likely Line-ups
Oţelul Galaţi (4-2-3-1): Grahovac; Skubič, Filip, Ljubinković, Antal; Ibeh , Buş; Costin, Pena , Giurgiu; Perendija. Subs from: Viglianti, Frunză, Punoševac, Sălăgeanu, Paraschiv, Râpă, Benga, Iorga, Frunză, Ilie, Cojoc, Chavez, Buchta, Novac.
United (4-4-1-1): Lindegaard; Jones, Vidic, Evans, Evra; Nani, Anderson, Fletcher, Young; Rooney; Hernandez. Subs from: De Gea, Smalling, Fabio, Pogba, Carrick, Park, Giggs, Berbatov, Welbeck, Valencia, Owen, Diouf.
Officials
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
Assistant referees: Thorsten Schiffner, Mark Borsch
Additional assistant referees: Christian Dingert, Tobias Welz
Fourth official: Peter Gagelmann
I would rather that Smalling took Rio’s place than Evans in order to avoid moving Vidic away from his normal position as the leftmost of the centre backs. Perhaps this match would be a good one to rest Evra, let Evans play at Left Back.
Linegaard, Fabio, Vidic, Smalling, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Anderson, Nani, Rooney, Hernandez.
SUBS: De Gea, Evans, Jones, Fletcher, Owen, Berbatov, Welbeck
united city leeds madrid benfica.. 50 quid
106723… working well.
Wins what?
a free prostitute for the night.
350 just under
a nite in with unclesmalldickbiganuscocktwiddler
any complacency and it will be a long night
remember zalegerszeg ffs
need to score a few and put pressure on basle and benfica
Leeds will let you down.
ffs mad red
for £350 im sure u’d get twin sisters for a week in romania
not to mention the rest of the extended family
u obviously have money to burn
benfica are my dodgey one i thought
wtf does berbs have to do to get a starting berth? feel for him i really do
no commentary on radio 5 either – what a fucking nite
but wait – oh joy – its on talk shite sport
i’d rather listen to a wall of silence than that human jock strap colleymore
City down 0-1 already.
rossi played his part in the villareal goal
for all the early possession, not doing too much with it
come on united, this is here for an anal gang bang fest
you may even get there mother free.
This stream I’m watching is damn near telly quality.
dont tell unclesmalldickbiganuscocktwiddler that.
I’m streaming the same one, Alf. It’s ace
come on united, up your game.
share it out then alfieeeeeeeeeee
What the fuck is the defence doing two mistakes till now
benfica 1 up
Those drummers in the crowd can play
Had a really nice beat going
have we had a shot on target yet.
and……………………………?
spill the beans dude
its not really the united way is it to do things nice and easy against a bunch of part timers ffs
We’re shite in the final third
not much better in the other 2/3rds by all accounts
Nani is better on the right. Pity Valencia is a one foot donkey.
wake up united.
1st united shot on target after 29 mins
i know its cold out there tonight but that hairdryer better be blowing fucking extra hot at h/t
alf
give us the link ffs
Pay attention Han.
aye alfie
but can u copy the whole link not just the numbers pls
It’s sopcast mate…
Evra looking good tonight. Nothing like a bit of Uruguay sledging to get the blood pumping again. Thank you Suarez.
Plenty of links here…
http://www.footballstreaming.info/streams/todays-links/
cheers Alf
Rooney just not involved enough… and we’ve got no real guile in the middle.
Scholes would have peeled this lot like a banana.
disgrace
Poor.
off to find my hair dryer, so Fergie can throw it at someone.
This is pretty poor. Why do Carrick AND Anderson have to sit so deep all the time?
Well.. that was fucking frustrating. Not the game, but my fucking internet
Must have been cut off completely more than 30 times during that. I can’t even stay connected long enough to type and post this message FFS
Sid it’s doing you a favour, this is dire
against this team, united are making it unneccessarily hard for themselves
wake up u bunch of overpaid muppets
rooney earns more in a week than most of the opposition earn in 4 years
you missed nothing.
Fergie rip in to them, make them earn their money.
anyone know what the point of carrick is?
can’t pass forwards
can’t score
can’t create space for others
a complete and utter waste of time in a united shirt
stick berbs on in the middle in place of this charlatan
if we can’t beat the dregs in this competition, theres no point in dreaming about another final
2.5 games into this group stage and looking woeful for the majority
come on SAF – kick some arse at h/t
My stream’s been shite, but the match is even worse. I’m not going to bother to download and re-watch it when it becomes available.
City level with OG.
why did we ever release him on a free?
come on united
score 1 at least
they better score.. city too
come on reds score u ponces
fuck city
i want my money… fuck you
time for a change
sweet pea off – owen on
carrick can fuck rite off – even de gea can play a better midfield cameo than that twat
kiss goodbye to your 50 smackeroonies
Fucking shite game tbf…
The twins are made of glass. FFS
Fabio out FFS
Oh ffs… Fabio crocked… AGAIN!
“Badges, to god-damned hell with badges! We have no badges. In fact, we don’t need badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges, you god-damned cabrón and ching’ tu madre! Come out from that shit-hole of yours. I have to speak to you.”
ooooooh Rooney
how he miss.. twat
handball
FFS close, had time to turn
finally ffs
goal.
If its one of those nights then this penalty won’t go in
1-0 yes.
Now for 2 more. They will attack and we will finish them off.
Hooofuckinrah the only goal we score comes from a penalty
Now, let’s kick on, and build up some confidence for the Bitters.
Fuck off ref. Red card Vidic. No fucking way.
4 of them on yellows
could be an interesting final 25 mins
What the fuck is this ref on?!
Never a red card
Great tackle from Carrick there.
Hah… can you believe that?
Fuck me…
what did vida do?
he tackled a player close to the halfway line. Fucking joke decision
fucking german nazi cocksucking referee
It’s a yellow at best
He almost gets a touch
It’s not a vicious tackle by any means
come on united – rape these fucks and the ref too
vengeance for vidic
Jones on for Fabio.
Benfica 2-0
basle like going 2 down
they’ll score 3
can united appeal that red card:
Don’t think so….remember Fletcher at the Emirates? I think you can only appeal a red card if the referee sends off the wrong player
Carrick has been great since we went down to 10 men.
Hernandez is great at winnig those kinds of fouls
I mean that was pretty much a dive
Anderson is that useless.
Red card. 10 men apiece.
Why?
Wow great effort from Nani.
pen
Another penalty. Space created by Anderson. You haters can fuck off.
was fletch not given a yellow then red???? they cant be.
i thought straight reds could
was fletch not given a yellow then red???? they cant be.
i thought straight reds could
—
Pretty sure Fletcher’s was a straight red (last man) – could be wrong though.
2-0 Rooney
Brilliant from Rooney, winning the penalty and then the finish
get in city.. stole it
Ref had a shocker second half but at least he got the penalties right
Job done
arrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhh leeds bastards
Fuck it…not pretty, but 3 points.
Let’s go home.
oh i am sooooooooooooooo sorry
fucking wanting city and leeds to win
“ahem”…
last kick of the gamefor leeds beat my bet.. was up for all of 10 seconds
your to blame
do u not get anything for 3 of your horses coming in?
It’s “you’re”…
… Cunt!
naa. all or nothing mate
Rooney got two, but he had a quiet night, i thought.
so what….the world wont end
not pretty match , but we won , should win at home to.
Alex said united wont appeal Vidic red card even though it was soft, as you can not win appeals against Uefa.
MANCHESTER IS MY HEAVEN- SIR MATT BUSBY
blatant example of racist behaviour if there ever was one
i’m reporting u to uncletwatfiddlerffs
You don’t know that for sure.
that was never a red card offence for vidic
misses 3 matches
fucking nazi cunt referee
when is clev back?
3 matches FFS
I thought Clev was fit. I hoped he’d play today so he would feature against City
dont think we missed Clev tonight. Anderson and Carrick did well.
watching them itv highlights it looked like nani created all our chances and put rooney through for the first pen and hit the post from 30 yards, but the pundits says he was crap, what’s the truth
Pundits mostly talk shit.
That’s the truth.
that don’t help ffs useless fat twat
its a simple question was nani good or not
fucking useless…
hehe..
knobcap
he started on the left and was ineffectual. When he switched to the right he was better. Nowhere as bad as Valencia who was useless.