Monday, October 17, 2011

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18.10. (Tue) 20:45 Otelul - Manchester Utd.

Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United
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 PROBABLE LINEUPS


OTELUL GALATI
 

Otelul Galati


Grahovac
Skubic, Perendija, Costin, Salageanu
Antal, Filip, Ibeh, Giurgiu, Bus
Pena
MANCHESTER UNITEDManchester United
De Gea
Fabio, Jones, 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.

Tom Cleverley (foot) and Darron Gibson (ankle) are concerns for Sir Alex Ferguson, while Rio Ferdinand has not made the trip to Romania, with the club yet to confirm why the England defender has remained in Manchester.
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.

Prediction
Editor's Prediction 
Otelul Galati 0-2  Man Utd.