UEFA Champions League - Group stage
Tuesday, 25 November 2008 - KO: 19:45 GMT
El Madrigal, Villarreal, Spain

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MATCH BACKGROUND

First place in UEFA Champions League Group E is at stake when the section's top two teams, Manchester United FC
and Villarreal CF, square off at El Madrigal on Matchday 5.

• With both clubs six points clear of Celtic FC and Aalborg BK and almost certain to progress to the last 16, this
match offers them the opportunity to not only end any lingering doubts but, moreover, ensure their qualification as
group winners.

• A draw would send the pair through while retaining United's position above Villarreal at the top of the group. Having
drawn 0-0 with the Spanish club at Old Trafford, United – whose goal difference is superior – would earn
themselves a better head-to-head record too should they record a score draw at El Madrigal.

• Each side can be denied qualification by one combination of results only. In the hosts' case, a United victory
together with a Celtic win at AaB would leave them with work still to do on Matchday 6, while the same would
apply for United should they lose and AaB beat Celtic.

• This is the fourth encounter between the teams and, curiously, they have not produced a single goal between
them in the previous 270 minutes' combined action.

• When Villarreal and United met in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League group stage, it was the tournament
debutants from Spain who came out on top, holding Sir Alex Ferguson's team to goalless draws both at home and
away en route to securing first place in the section. United finished bottom of the group, recording their worst
performance in the competition since 1995.

• Wayne Rooney was sent off after 64 minutes of Villarreal's goalless draw with United in Spain on 14 September 2005.

• The lineups that evening were:

Villarreal: Sebastián Viera, Jan Kromkamp, Gonzalo Rodríguez, Quique Álvarez, Rodolfo Arruabarrena, Héctor Font (Roger García),
Josico (Alessio Tacchinardi), Marcos Senna, Juan Pablo Sorín, Diego Forlán, Antonio Guayre (Luciano Figueroa).

Man United: Edwin van der Sar, John O'Shea, Rio Ferdinand, Mikaël Silvestre, Gabriel Heinze (Kieran Richardson),
Cristiano Ronaldo (Ryan Giggs), Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes, Alan Smith, Wayne Rooney, Ruud van Nistelrooy (Ji-Sung Park).

• The two further stalemates between the sides came at Old Trafford, on 22 November 2005 and then in their opening fixture
of the present campaign on 17 September.

• Villarreal's first meeting with English opposition came when they defeated Middlesbrough FC 2-0 in a home tie
in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup group stage. They then faced another three in the next season's UEFA Champions League.
They secured 2-1 wins both at home and away against Everton FC in the third qualifying round before holding
United twice. However, their run of luck against English sides ended when they met Arsenal FC in the semi-final,
losing 1-0 in London before a goalless draw at El Madrigal, Juan Román Riquelme having a late penalty saved in the second leg.

• United have played 17 away games against Spanish sides, with just one win recorded alongside seven draws
and nine defeats. That solitary success came at RC Deportivo La Coruña in the quarter-finals of the 2001/02 UEFA
Champions League thanks to goals from David Beckham and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

• On their most recent visit they earned a 0-0 draw at FC Barcelona in the first leg of last season's semi-final,
helping to set up a 1-0 aggregate success.

• Villarreal have never lost a UEFA Champions League home game. Including the 2005/06 third qualifying round they
have collected five wins and four draws at El Madrigal in the competition.



• In this season's competition, they have recorded home wins against Celtic (1-0) and AaB (6-3) while earning away
draws with United (0-0) and AaB (2-2).

• United's unbeaten away record in the competition stretches back eight matches and so far on their travels this
term they have recorded a 3-0 victory at AaB and drawn 1-1 at Celtic. At home Sir Alex's men were held by Villarreal
(0-0) and beat Celtic (3-0) and overall they have not lost a UEFA Champions League fixture for 18 months, going back
to their May 2007 semi-final defeat by AC Milan.

• Sir Alex's most famous victories against Spanish opposition came in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. Twenty-five
years ago he led Scottish side Aberdeen FC to a 2-1 final success against Real Madrid CF and he then oversaw
United's 2-1 defeat of Barcelona in the final of the same competition in 1991.

• Villarreal's former Arsenal midfielder Robert Pirès finished on the winning side only three times in 13 meetings with
United during his time with the London club between 2000 and 2006. He was, however, in Arsenal's victorious team
in the 2005 FA Cup final against United.

• Villarreal defender Joan Capdevila appeared as a late substitute for Deportivo La Coruña on the night they
defeated United 3-2 at Old Trafford in a UEFA Champions League first group-stage game on 17 October 2001.

• Villarreal forward Giuseppe Rossi was a United player for three years between 2004 and 2007. Rossi made 14
appearances in that time, scoring four times. In the UEFA Champions League, he appeared as a late substitute in both
the 3-0 home win against Debreceni VSC in the third qualifying round in August 2005 and the 1-0 defeat away
against LOSC Lille Métropole in the group stage three months later.

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HEAD TO HEAD MATCHES

Man United - 0 victories
Villarreal - 0 victories
Draws - 3

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