Prior to the match Vs Benfica, Sir Alex Ferguson and Jorge Jesus rang Wayne Rooney's praises, hailing him as the best British player, and as England's answer to Pele. United fans have of course been singing it for years as Rooney continues to close in on Sir Bobby Charlton's all time goalscoring record season upon season.
"Rooney is the best British player but doesn't seem like a British player. He's like an Argentinian or Brazilian. He can decide the match in the final third and so we have to pay special attention to him." Jorge Jesus
"I think he's a typical British player. There have been British players over the last few years, maybe for the last decades, who have similar great qualities that make them great players, whether it's a [Paul] Gascoigne, George Best, Bobby Charlton, Denis Law. The similarities are that the boy has great courage, wants to play all the time and has incredible stamina. These are added extras to the talent he has. In terms of a Brazilian, you'd say Pelé. He was a very aggressive attacker also who could look after himself, so can Rooney. They have similarities that way: strength, speed, determination, but he's white, completely white." Sir Alex Ferguson
The United hitman is certainly a wonderful talent but some remain divided on where he stands compared to other great players around Europe at this moment in time. Certainly there are times when his consistency is questionable, but this season, buoyed by his new patch of hair, he looks to have finally joined all his qualities together to morph into a playmaker and goalscorer, in the mould of a Francesco Totti. Rooney's influence and ability to win a match are beginning to remind me of Roma's favourite son even if the Italian is perhaps not quite as much of a bulldozer or aggressive in nature (spitting and a few other incidents aside). But is the Liverpudlian truly a worldclass player?
Lets hear your thoughts in this thread on our forum.
We open our Champions League campaign this Wednesday away to Benfica at the Stadium of Light.
We'll travel to Portugal without the injured Vidic, Rafael, Cleverley, Gibson and Welbeck. Evans (hip) and Evra (knee) are both doubtful.
Sir Alex has said he could rest some of our younger players and go with experience, this could mean first starts of the season for Park, Giggs, Berbatov and the returning Valencia.
Benfica warmed up for this game with a 2-1 win at home to Guimaraes, Cardozo getting both goals from the penalty spot.
United have played Benfica 7 times the first being in 1966 where the Reds were able to run out victorious 3-2. Of the 7 times the two have played, United have won 6, drawn none and lost once.
Players to watch: Pablo Aimar, Luisao, Nicolas Gaitan, Ezequiel Garay, Oscar Cardozo, Nolito and Axel Witsel.
Possible line up: De Gea, Smalling, Ferdinand, Jones, Fabio, Valencia, Fletcher, Giggs, Park, Rooney, Berbatov
The draw for the Champion’s league has taken place in Monaco today and United have been drawn in Group C alongside S.L. Benfica, FC Basel and FC Otelul Galati in what is according to many a favourable group. Of their opponents, this is ofcourse not the first time United have played Benfica in European competition, the two will square up once again in a repeat of the 1968 European cup final, where at Wembley United were able to emerge as England’s first club to lift the European cup against the legendary Eusebio and company. In this blog we look at United’s opponents more closely.
Benfica
Benfica were founded in 1904 and considered as one of the “big 3” in Portuguese football along with FC Porto and Sporting Clube de Portugal. Supporters of the Lisbon based club are termed “Benfiquistas”. Benfica are Portugal’s most successful club in terms of domestic titles with a record 32 league titles and in terms of fanbase they also lead the way ahead of FC Porto and Sporting.
Benfica have two European Cups to their name and play their home games at the Estádio da Luz which translates to the “Stadium of Light” The club motto is “E Pluribus unum” Latin for “Out of Many, One”. They boast a former Ballon D’or winner in the shape of Eusebio.
United have played Benfica 7 times the first being in 1966 where the Reds were able to run out victorious 3-2. Of the 7 times the two have played, United have won 6, drawn none and lost once. They have lost the likes of Angel Di Maria, David Luiz and Fabio Coentrao in recent seasons but will always present a good challenge at home in an intimidating atmosphere in Lisbon.
Players to watch: Pablo Aimar, Luisao, Nicolas Gaitan, Ezequiel Garay, Oscar Cardozo, Nolito, Axel Witsel
FC Basel
FC Basel were founded in 1893, they are the 3rd most successful Swiss Football club having won the Swiss league 14 times. They are nicknamed “RotBlau” which translates to “RedBlue” due to the colours of their kit, their colours not only inspired Barcelona’s “Blaugrana” colours but the formation of the whole club, the Catalans actually being founded by former FC Basel captain Joan Gamper. FC Basel play their home games at St Jakob-Park which holds a capacity of 38,500 and has been given a 4 star rating by UEFA. The stadium also has the feature which allows it to illuminate on the outside at night much like Bayern Munich’s Allianz-Arena. Their period of dominance in Swiss football came in the late 1960s and 1970s, however they were relegated in 1987 but have returned right to the top in the 2000’s and are the reigning Swiss league champions.
FC Basel are known for having a set of passionate fans, perhaps the most passionate in all of Switzerland with one of their most famous fans being Swiss Tennis legend Roger Federer. The club retains a rivalry with FC Zurich and Grasshopper. FC Basel are widely considered to have the best youth system of all the Swiss clubs, famous graduates from their youth system include Ivan Rakitic, Felipe Caicedo, Eren Derdiyok, Xerdan Shaqiri, Alexander Frei, Gokhan Inler and Hakan Yakin.
This will be the second time the two are drawn together in a group. The first time the two played each other was in 2002 where United were able to win 3-1 away at St. Jakob-Park, one of the highlights of the game being this outstanding goal scored by Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
The subsequent return game at Old Trafford ended in a 1-1 draw.
Players to watch: Xerdan Shaqiri, Alexander Frei, Marco Streller, Yapo Gilles Yapi
FC Otelul Galati
FC Otelul Galati is a Romanian club based in Galati, founded in 1964, they are currently the Romanian League Champions their one and only league title, but this will be their first foray into the Champion’s League. They play their home games in a 13,500 capacity stadium.
Very much the unknowns in Group C, this will be the first encounter between the two clubs at any level either competitive or non-competitive.
The 6 group stage fixtures have been released and are as shown below:
Wed 14-09 Benfica A
Tue 27-09 Basel H
Tue 18-10 Otelul A
Wed 2-11 Otelul H
Tue 22-11 Benfica H
Wed 7-12 Basel A
The rest of the Champion’s League groups were drawn as follows, one would have to say Groups A, E and F look rather interesting for the neutral.
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