Champions League Group C preview: Win vital for under-fire United

Manchester United will go into their meeting with Otelul Galati in the Champions League on Wednesday as hot favourites.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s men drew their opening two matches in Group C, but a win over the Romanians on October 18 helped them into second, behind Benfica.

It took a brace of Wayne Rooney penalties to record that 2-0 win, while captain Nemanja Vidic will miss the return meeting after being sent off.

After that win, United were embarrassed at Old Trafford, slumping to a 6-1 loss to fierce rivals Manchester City in the English Premier League.

But they have bounced back, thanks to a win in the Carling Cup and a 1-0 victory over Everton in the league on Saturday.

Ferguson could afford to leave Portuguese star Nani on the bench until the final half-hour at Goodison Park, while goalscorer Javier Hernandez came off towards the end of the contest.

Ferguson’s team is two points behind Benfica in the group, and the Scot said he expected the November 22 meeting between the sides at Old Trafford to decide who finished top.

“I expect Benfica to beat Basel as they’re in a bit of disarray with (manager) Thorsten Fink going to Hamburg,” Ferguson told United’s official website.

“We’ll hopefully win our game and, when we play Benfica at home, it’ll be the decider in our section.”

The Romanian outfit are eighth in the league and have won three consecutive games since the loss to United, but manager Dorinel Munteanu will need a bit of luck if his team are to take anything out of the game at Old Trafford.

In the other game, Benfica will be out to extend their unbeaten run in Group B to four matches when they host Swiss outfit Basel.

The Portuguese side are also unbeaten in Liga Sagres and will be keen to record a win over Basel to maintain their advantage over United.