BBC SPORT
Benfica v Man Utd
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Group D
Date: Wed 7 December
Venue: Stadium of Light
Kick-off: 1945 GMT
Coverage on BBC Radio Five Live and BBC Sport website
Manchester United will have Gary Neville back for Wednesday's crucial
Champions League match with Benfica.
Right-back Neville, who missed Saturday's win over Portsmouth with a thigh
injury, was a member of the 20-player party that left for Portugal.
Defender John O'Shea is also expected to recover from a hamstring strain.
Benfica will be without five first-team players, including captain Simao
Sabrosa, who scored when Benfica lost 2-1 at Old Trafford in September.
Man Utd (from): Van der Sar, Howard, Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Silvestre,
O'Shea, Bardsley, Richardson, Ronaldo, Giggs, Park, Scholes, Smith,
Fletcher, Van Nistelrooy, Rooney, Saha.
STATS
# Benfica will qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League if they win
this match.
# If Benfica draw they will qualify for the Uefa Cup only if Villarreal win
the other match.
# Manchester United can only be sure of qualification for the Champions
League last 16 if they win.
# A draw could be enough for United but only if there is a winner in the
other match. Even then, they are reliant on the tie-breakers if Lille are
victorious.
# A draw guarantees at least Uefa Cup football for the Red Devils.
# Sir Alex Ferguson's side can still finish in any of the four positions in
this group.
Definitions of terms used:-
Champions League (CL) - only group phase matches and beyond of this
competition which began in 1992/1993.
Champions Cup/Champions League - all matches played since it began in
1955/1956 including qualification matches.
European matches - all matches played in the major European tournaments
(Fairs Cup, Uefa Cup, Cup Winners' Cup, Champions Cup, Champions League).
Uefa Super Cups, Intertoto Cups and the old Intercontinental Cup competition
are excluded.
Head-to-Head
# Manchester United and Benfica have met each other four times in European
history, with United winning all four encounters.
# In 1968, United beat Benfica 4-1 in extra time in the Champions Cup final
at Wembley. After 90 minutes the score was 1-1 through goals by Bobby
Charlton and Jaime de Silva Graca. In extra time George Best, Brian Kidd and
Bobby Charlton led United to a 4-1 victory.
# In 1965/66, United won 3-2 at home and 5-1 away in the quarter-finals of
the Champions Cup.
# Earlier this season, United secured a 2-1 home win by virtue of goals from
Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy scored. Simao netted for Benfica.
# Benfica have lost three out of seven home matches against English clubs.
The other four matches were an equal share draws and victories.
# Overall they have recorded three wins, two draws and 11 defeats against
opponents from England.
# Manchester United have secured two wins in six visits to Portugal.
European history
# Both teams have won the Champions Cup/Champions League twice.
# Benfica won the Champions Cup two years in a row in 1961 and 62, beating
Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.
# Manchester United won the 1968 Champions Cup beating Benfica in the final.
In 1999 United won the Champions League.
# The Old Trafford club have 29 seasons of European competition under their
belt, including 10 in the Champions League.
# Benfica have 44 seasons of experience in European competition. However,
this is only their third Champions League campaign.
# In 1994/95 the Portuguese club were eliminated by AC Milan in the
quarter-finals.
# In 1998/99 they were eliminated in the Group stage, finishing second in
group F to Kaiserslautern.
# Manchester United have played 225 European matches, Benfica 264.
Current European form
# Manchester United have not scored a single goal in each of their last
three Champions League matches.
# Their last CL goals came in the 2-1 win over Benfica on 27 September, when
Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy scored.
# Before that match the Red Devils had failed to score in four successive CL
matches, marking the worst ever CL streak without scoring by an English
club. Deportiva La Coruna own the competition record sequence of eight.
# United have also failed to score in their last five CL away matches. The
second longest streak ever for any club in the CL. Olympiacos hold the
record with eight away matches without scoring.
# United's last away goals came on 15 September 2004 at Olympique Lyon
(2-2), when Ruud van Nistelrooy netted twice.
# United have failed to win their last three CL matches. The club record is
five and was set between December 1997 and October 1998.
# Benfica have failed to win their last four CL matches, which equals their
club record set between December 1994 and September 1998.
# Benfica's sole win this CL season came in their opening group match, when
they defeated Lille 1-0.
# Benfica have failed to score in the last two CL matches. However, Benfica
have scored more goals (three) than any other team in Group D.
Player and disciplinary info
# There are no players suspended for this match.
# Nuno Gomes (Benfica) and Alan Smith and Mikael Silvestre (United) will be
suspended upon receiving another yellow card.
# Manchester United's squad includes last year's CL top scorer Ruud van
Nistelrooy, when he netted eight goals from seven matches.
# The Dutch striker has scored 43 times in 53 CL matches.
# If he keeps goal, Edwin van der Sar will become the seventh player in the
current United squad to make 50 CL appearances, joining Gary Neville, Ryan
Giggs, Paul Scholes, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Mikael Silvestre and Ruud van
NIstelrooy.
# Gary Neville already has 91 CL matches under his belt. Only Raul (99),
Roberto Carlos (97), David Beckham (95), Paolo Maldini (92) and Oliver Kahn
(92) have more CL experience.
# Benfica's Nuno Gomes has netted five times in 10 CL matches.
# Giorgios Karagounis is Benfica's most experienced player with 32 CL
appearances.
Other miscellaneous facts
# Manchester United are two goals away from scoring 300 in the Champions
Cup/Champions League.
# Last season United finished third in the Premiership trailing Chelsea and
Arsenal.
# Sir Alex Ferguson's side won 3-0 home to Portsmouth on Saturday, with
goals from Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
# The Old Trafford club are currently second in the table, 10 points behind
Chelsea having played a game less.
# Benfica won their 31st Portuguese championship last season three points
clear of FC Porto.
# Benfica coach Ronald Koeman won the 1992 Champions Cup as a player with
Barcelona.
# Benfica won 1-0 at CS Maritimo on Saturday, with the winner from
Mantorras.
# Benfica are sixth in Portugal's LIGA, six points behind leaders FC Porto.
Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi/football/europe/4494936.stm
Published: 2005/12/06 14:57:49 GMT
© BBC MMV
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