FC Barcelona have reached the final of the UEFA Champions League and they will discover their opponents when Manchester United entertain Germans Schalke 04 on Wednesday night.
The Red Devils boast a solid 2-0 advantage of their first-leg win in Gelsenkirchen.
But United suddenly have their hands full after their weekend league defeat to Arsenal blew the English title race wide open. The Red Devils host Chelsea on Sunday, in a game which could see United slip out of first place with defeat.
So, as a result, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson may be thinking it’s time to rest players, but Schalke boss Ralf Rangnick possesses a dangerous squad who won’t throw in the towel.
*Manchester United v Schalke 04’ @ Old Trafford *First Leg’
Schalke 04 0 Manchester United 2 (Giggs 67’, Rooney 69’)
Road to Semis Manchester United -1st in Group C, above Valencia, Rangers, Bursaspor -Round of 16, defeated Marseille 2-1 on aggregate -Quarter Final, defeated Chelsea 3-1 on aggregate
Schalke -1st in Group B, above Lyon, Benfica & Hapoel Tel Aviv -Round of 16, defeated Valencia 4-2 on aggregate -Quarter Final, defeated Inter Milan 7-3 on aggregate
Form Manchester United -Currently 1st in the Premier League, three points clear of Chelsea -Suffered a 1-0 loss to Arsenal on the weekend, which has blown open the title race -Recently had treble hopes ended after FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City -United have won 16 of 17 home league games this term.
Schalke -Currently 10th in the Bundesliga -Lost 4-1 away to Bayern Munich on the weekend, haven’t won in three league matches -Recently fired Felix Magath and replaced him with Ralf Rangnick -Qualified for the 2011 German DFB Pokal final -Schalke have won only four of 16 away league games this term.
Key man Manchester United Edwin van der Sar United’s evergreen Dutch shot-stopper is arguably at the top of his game at 40-years-old. He has had a fine campaign but won’t change his mind on retirement. The Dutchman will need to shore up the Red Devils defence on Wednesday to ensure no early goals are conceded and if he can they should navigate their passage into the final.
Schalke Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Schalke’s own Dutchman may not have played since February but he could be set to return after a knee injury. The former AC Milan and Ajax striker is a dangerous talent who could provide the spark the Royal Blues need as they chase goals at Old Trafford.
Team news Manchester United -Star striker Wayne Rooney missed training during the week due to a tight hamstring and may be rested by Sir Alex Ferguson. -Dimitar Berbatov should be available after a lay-off, while Ryan Giggs is back after flu and Darren Fletcher has overcome a virus.
Schalke -Goals are needed for the Royal Blues and striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar could be available as he faces a fitness test after a long time out with a knee injury, but boss Ralf Rangnick insists no unnecessary risks will be taken. -Defender Benedikt Howedes also faces a fitness test on his stomach strain, while Mario Gavranovic (ankle), Christoph Moritz (knee) and Christian Pander (toe, cold) will all miss.
Coaches Sir Alex Ferguson: “I hope Manchester United don’t regard it as a formality, I certainly won’t. The work ethic will be very high tomorrow in order for us to qualify.”
He added: “If you look at the experience of last year where we lost the league (with a vital home defeat by Chelsea) it was after a Wednesday game against Bayern (a 2-1 quarter-final first-leg defeat in Munich). The team was very tired against Chelsea in the next game so that has to have a bearing on my team selection – (they are) two massive games but each as important as the other.”
Ralf Rangnick: “We want to show we can play better, that we learned our lesson from last week and then we’ll see what happens. We need to take a different approach, learn from that and apply the lessons tomorrow.”
He added: “The first leg we competed for the first 15 minutes then we gave away too many clear chances. We are looking to change that. When we played in Milan against Inter they didn’t give us much hope either.”
Sports Pundit prediction; Manchester United 3-0 Schalke 04