UEFA Champions League
Champions League Semi-final
Second Leg
Old Trafford
Tuesday, 29 April; KO: 19:45 BST

-----------------------------------------------------


Manchester United FC may appear marginal favourites at the halfway stage of their UEFA Champions League semi-final against FC Barcelona but,
after the first-leg


goalless draw

both teams have cause for caution going into the deciding match at Old Trafford.



Manchester United have doubts over striker


Wayne Rooney

and defender


Nemanja Vidic

for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final.

Neither player trained on Monday morning after sustaining injuries in the 2-1 defeat at Chelsea on Saturday.

Rooney limped off with a hip problem just after scoring, while Vidic


was hit in the face by Didier Drogba's knee.
*anyone noticed? Drogba wanted to dive even here - WTF????!!!

Barcelona will welcome back skipper Carles Puyol and he will replace the suspended Rafael Marquez in defence.

Midfielder Yaya Toure (ankle) is a doubt and Edmilson could replace him.


...:::-----------------------------------------------------:::...


Barcelona head to Old Trafford knowing that they have everything to lose
while their hosts will be hoping that their defensive approach six days ago does not cost them dearly.

Frank Rijkaard's side went into last week's first leg ranked as the underdogs due to their form
in the league and their opponents' attacking options against a supposedly fragile defence.

This encounter though, sees the Blaugrana start with the upper hand because one away goal
could see the pressure mount on United and now earn the visitors the golden ticket to Moscow.

When the tie was made, neutrals, and many partisan supporters, grumbled that this should have been the final because the flair and attacking instincts
of both teams would light up the game and produce a truly memorable occasion.

That was also the thought when United travelled to Catalunya last Tuesday and had their entire forward line declared fit,
while Barça were also boosted by several players returning from injuries.



Keeping It Tight


Sir Alex Ferguson named what appeared, on paper, to be an attacking line-up, with Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tévez and Cristiano Ronaldo
all included and hopes were high for an open and entertaining contest.

Instead, Rooney and Tévez formed part of one of the most defensive displays by a United side
for many years with Ferguson allowing his admiration for the hosts to influence his decision.

Barcelona were dominant, but only because they were allowed to be and it is now conjecture to wonder
just how the hosts' back four would have stood up to a Red Devils team in full flight.

They may find out on Tuesday though because there is no way that United can produce a repeat performance
in front of their own fans when the stakes are already so high.

Barcelona do not know how to sit back and defend in numbers before breaking out and Rijkaard
has already admitted that he will not be redesigning his tactical system to try and nullify the opposition.

That approach should finally see the game that everyone wants come to fruition and for the neutrals the best thing
could be an early away goal to really spice up the night.



Away Day Defeats


Neither team boosted their confidence at the weekend with both being beaten in tricky away games, the only difference being that
United's loss at Chelsea could really affect their season, while Barça's reverse at Deportivo had little bearing on theirs.

The reaction by the Red Devils to defeat at Stamford Bridge will mean that Ferguson needs to ensure
that his players are completely focussed on Europe with players kicking, shouting and squaring up to all and sundry after the game.

While the Barça hierarchy are slightly twitchy about the team not finishing in an automatic Champions League qualifying place,
Rijkaard was not concerned and rested several first choice players for the match in Riazor.

At this stage of the season, that could be crucial because the message from Camp Nou is clear.
They have won thing left to play for and are ploughing all their energies into that.

Whether that will be enough remains to be seen.
United at home can be rampant, but there was clearly too much respect shown to Barcelona last week and a repeat of that
could prove to be a problem.

For Barcelona, nerves on the night and the back four's ability to withstand what will be thrown at them will be
as crucial as providing the front trio with enough ammunition to test the United back line,
which will be far more open and susceptibile than a week ago.



RECENT FORM



Manchester United


Quote:

Chelsea - Man Utd. (2 - 1) - 26/04/2008 - PREMIER LEAGUE Barcelona - Man Utd. (0 - 0) - 23/04/2008 - CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Blackburn - Man Utd. (1 - 1) - 19/04/2008 - PREMIER LEAGUE Man Utd. - Arsenal (2 - 1) - 13/04/2008 - PREMIER LEAGUE Man Utd. - Roma (1 - 0) - 09/04/2008 - CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Middlesbrough - Man Utd. (2 - 2) - 06/04/2008 - PREMIER LEAGUE

Barcelona


Quote:

Deportivo - Barcelona (2 - 0) - 26/04/2008 - LA LIGA Barcelona - Man Utd. (0 - 0) - 23/04/2008 - CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Barcelona - Espanyol (0 - 0) - 19/04/2008 - LA LIGA Recreativo - Barcelona (2 - 2) - 12/04/2008 - LA LIGA Barcelona - Schalke 04 (1 - 0) - 09/04/2008 - CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Barcelona - Getafe (0 - 0) - 06/04/2008 - LA LIGA

...:::-----------------------------------------------------:::...


BIG MATCH STATS



Head-to-heads


FC Barcelona and Manchester United have met eight times in a European club competition.
Both clubs have won twice and four matches were drawn.
The goal difference is 15-13 in favour of the Spaniards.

One of these encounters was the final of the 1991 Cup Winners' Cup, played in Rotterdam and won by United (2-1).

Before this year's clash the last two meetings were in the 1998-99 season,
when both matches in the Champions League ended in spectacular 3-3 draws.
Four players from the current Manchester United squad featured in those matches: Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Wes Brown;
Barcelona's only survivor is Xavi.

Barca beat Arsenal in the final of the 2006 Champions League, but they have been knocked out by a British club in three of the last four seasons.

Manchester United have hosted Spanish teams 16 times and only been beaten twice;
Read Madrid defeated them 2-3 on 19 April 2000, and Deportivo La Coruna won, by the same score-line at Old Trafford, on 17 October 2001.




European history


Manchester United have won three European trophies - the 1967-68 Champions Cup, 1990-91 Cup Winners' Cup and 1998-99 Champions League.

This is the 13th time that United have reached the semi-finals of a European club competition.

They were knocked out nine times, but went on to win the trophy all three times they progressed.
It is also the 10th time the Red Devils have qualified for the last four of the Champions Cup/Champions League.
They went on to reach the final twice and were eliminated on the other seven occasions.

Barcelona have won the Champions Cup/ Champions League twice, in 1992 and 2006.
They have also amassed four Cup Winners' Cups, three Fairs Cups and two European Super Cups.

This is the 23rd season in which Barcelona has reached the semi-finals of a European club competition.
They progressed 14 times and were knocked out eight times.
It is the ninth time they have reached the last four in the Champions Cup/Champions League, not including the semi-final group stage in 1991-92.
They went on to reach the final on four occasions, and failed to do so on four.

Last season, Barcelona reached the last 16 of the CL and were eliminated by Liverpool;

United got to this semi-finals and were knocked out by eventually winners AC Milan.




Current European form


FC Barcelona and Manchester United are both unbeaten this Champions League season.

United have not lost in 11 CL matches, since a 3-0 reverse at AC Milan in last May's semi-final second leg.
They are also without defeat in 11 home matches in this competition.

Barcelona are unbeaten in 12 in this competition, since losing 1-2, home to Liverpool on 21 February 2007.
The Spaniards have not lost in seven away.

Barcelona and Manchester United have both kept clean sheets in their last four CL matches.




Player and disciplinary info


Rafael Marquez (FC Barcelona) is suspended for this match.

Owen Hargreaves, Nani and Patrice Evra (Manchester United)
and Lionel Messi, Yaya Toure and Gabriel Milito (Barcelona) will be suspended upon receiving a yellow card.

If he takes the field, Gary Neville will be making his 100th Champions League appearance.
Neville made his CL debut in a 3-1 defeat at IFK Gothenburg on 23 November 1994.



Cristiano Ronaldo

is this season's CL top scorer with seven goals.

He has scored 38 goals in all competitions for United this season.

Only Denis Law (46 in 1963/1964) and Ruud van Nistelrooy (44 in 2002/2003) have scored more in a season in United's history.

Messi is Barcelona's CL top scorer this season with six goals.

Xavi has played a club record 75 Champions League matches for Barcelona.

Carles Puyol will also each 75, if he plays at Old Trafford.




Other miscellaneous facts


Mark Hughes, Laurent Blanc, Jordi Cruijff and Henrik Larsson have represented both clubs.

Manchester United lost 2-1 at Chelsea on Saturday, with Wayne Rooney scoring the goal.
They still lead the Premier League from Chelsea but only on goal difference.

Barcelona lost 2-0 at Deportivo La Coruna and remain in third place in the Primera Division.



...:::-----------------------------------------------------:::...


• Barcelona must do something that none of the eleven previous visitors to Old Trafford have managed in this competition and avoid defeat.
That is a sizeable task against a side who have conceded just one goal in five home games this term and stand unbeaten
in their last 14 UEFA Champions League fixtures in Manchester stretching back over the last three campaigns.


• That said, Frank Rijkaard's men do not need to win – a score draw would suffice to carry them through to the final in Moscow
and it should be noted that only once in this season's competition have they failed to find the net on their travels.

• United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will need no reminder that on the last three occasions his charges returned from Europe
after a goalless first leg, they proceeded to surrender the initiative at Old Trafford.

• Barcelona's great rivals Real Madrid CF won 3-2 at United after a stalemate in Spain in the 1999/00 quarter-finals,
while at the same stage two seasons earlier an AS Monaco FC side including Thierry Henry
denied the English team further progress after earning a 1-1 draw.
United also exited on the away-goals rule after being held 2-2 by Russia's FK Rotor Volgograd in the first round of the 1995/96 UEFA Cup.

• The English team had won their three previous European ties following a 0-0 away draw,
one of them under Sir Alex – a 2-0 aggregate win against Athinaikos FC in the 1991/92 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round.
The earlier successes were against FK Sarajevo (1967/68 European Champion Clubs' Cup) and PSV Eindhoven (1984/85 UEFA Cup).

• The only previous time Barcelona played out a 0-0 home draw in the first leg of a European tie
was against Liverpool FC in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup semi-final.
The Spanish outfit lost the return 1-0.

• Score draws included, however, on four of the seven previous occasions Barcelona drew the first leg at home,
they went on to win the tie in the away leg.

• For two-times winners United, victory would bring a third European Cup final appearance and would also
ensure the first all-English final in the history of the competition.

• Barcelona, who achieved their second European Cup triumph under Rijkaard two years ago, are hoping to reach their sixth final.

• United's nine preceding semi-final appearances have brought just two victories and they will need no reminding
of their last-four fate 12 months ago when they surrendered a 3-2 first-leg lead in a 3-0 loss at AC Milan.

• Barcelona have won four of the eight previous semi-finals they have contested – those successes coming in 1960/61, 1985/86, 1993/94
and 2005/06 – in addition to advancing to the 1991/92 final as winners of their last-eight group.

• The English champions began the campaign by winning Group F with a record of W5 D1 L0.
They then defeated Olympique Lyonnais 2-1 on aggregate in the last 16 before a 3-0 overall success against AS Roma in the quarter-finals.

• Barcelona are also unbeaten in the UEFA Champions League this season.
They overcame FC Schalke 04 to reach the last four, winning 1-0 in both legs.
Frank Rijkaard's men had previously defeated Celtic FC in the first knockout round – 4-2 on aggregate
after topping Group E with a record of four victories and two draws.

• United have a strong home record against teams from Spain, with seven wins, seven draws and just two defeats from 16 matches played.
They have registered four wins and five defeats in nine previous two-legged ties against Spanish opposition.

• This is the Old Trafford club's third semi-final against Spanish opposition
and on the two preceding occasions Real Madrid provided the opposition.
United went down 5-3 on aggregate against Madrid in the 1956/57 European Cup,
then gained revenge with a 4-3 triumph en route to winning the 1967/68 competition.

• Barcelona's fortunes in the UEFA Champions League have become closely intertwined with those of English sides in recent seasons.
They exited the competition in 2004/05 and 2006/07 after losing to Chelsea FC and Liverpool respectively in the first knockout round.
In the season in between, 2005/06, they defeated Chelsea in the first knockout round and then overcame Arsenal FC in the final.

• Indeed in their last 32 matches in the UEFA Champions League,
Barcelona's only two defeats have come against Premier League opposition – Chelsea and Liverpool last term.

• Overall Barcelona have lost eleven and won just six of 23 visits to face English opposition.

• Their most recent triumph on English soil came in last season's first knockout round
where they beat Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield through an Eidur Gudjohnsen goal.
However, a 2-1 first-leg home defeat meant an away-goals loss.

• That defeat against Liverpool means Barcelona have won seven and lost eight of 15 two-legged contests against English opponents.
Moreover, Barcelona have won only one of four previous semi-finals against English teams in UEFA club competition:
1974/75 European Cup, Leeds United AFC 2-3 (aggregate)
1975/76 UEFA Cup, Liverpool 1-2
1981/82 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Tottenham Hotspur FC 2-1
2000/01 UEFA Cup, Liverpool 0-1

• Barcelona and United had met seven times prior to this semi-final, with both sides claiming two victories apiece.

• United have fond memories of the clubs' first encounter, in the 1983/84 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals,
where they overturned a 2-0 first-leg deficit with a 3-0 home success courtesy of goals from Bryan Robson (2) and Frank Stapleton.

• The English outfit prevailed again in the 1991 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in Rotterdam,
winning 2-1 to give Sir Alex Ferguson his first European trophy as United manager.

Mark Hughes was the hero with



two second-half goals

before


Ronald Koeman's reply

ensured a tense finish on a night where Brian McClair and Mike Phelan – both coaches at Old Trafford today
and Aitor 'Txiki' Beguiristain, Barcelona's technical director, all featured in the action.

• Barcelona handed United a football lesson when the teams first met in the UEFA Champions League in the 1994/95 group stage.

After a 2-2 draw in Manchester:


Hughes '20



Romario '35



Bakero '50



Sharpe '80


where Paul Scholes made his European debut as a 67th-minute substitute

the Spanish side won 4-0 at the Camp Nou through goals from


Hristo Stoitchkov



Romário



Hristo Stoitchkov


and


Albert Ferrer

Ryan Giggs played for 79 minutes of the match before being replaced by Paul Scholes.

• The teams played out two thrilling 3-3 draws in the 1998/99 group stage, which ended with United
pipping Barcelona to second place behind Bayern by two points.

There are no survivors from that Barcelona side but


Ryan Giggs '17

and


Paul Scholes '24

scored the opening two goals of the September 1998 game at Old Trafford



Anderson '47



Giovanny '60 (p)




David Beckham '64




Luis Enrique '71 (p)




while Wes Brown, Gary Neville and Scholes
all figured in the return at the Camp Nou:




Anderson '1



Yorke '25



Cole '53




Rivaldo '57



Yorke '68



Rivaldo '73


two months later.

• United defender Gerard Piqué spent seven years in Barcelona's youth system before leaving to join United in 2004,
and counted Lionel Messi among his contemporaries.

• Barcelona forward Henry spent eight years with United's Premier League rivals Arsenal (1999-2007) and scored nine goals
in 18 appearances against the Old Trafford outfit.
However, he found the net only once in six visits to Old Trafford – and that in a 6-1 defeat in February 2001.

Sylvinho (Arsenal, 1999-2001) and Eidur Gudjohnsen (Chelsea FC, 2000-2006) also know all about United from their time in England.


...:::-----------------------------------------------------:::...

Officials

Assistant referee
Carsten Kadach (GER)
Volker Wezel (GER)

Fourth official
Florian Meyer (GER)

UEFA Delegate
Jean-Marc Puissesseau (FRA)

UEFA Referee observer
Bo Karlsson (SWE)