Besiktas Vs Manchester United: Champions League Preview

Besiktas vs Manchester United

Tuesday 15 September 2009,

Inönü—Istanbul

Kick-Off: 20:45 CET (19:45 UK time)

Besiktas

Mustafa Denizli hopes that European football will bring about a change in the performance of the reigning Turkish Super League champions Besiktas J.K.

Last year’s domestic double winners have opened the 2009-10 season with a run of less-than-impressive results. Besiktas have one win through five games played in the Super League and will be entering the match against United fresh from a degrading 3-0 defeat at the hands of local rivals Galatasaray on Saturday.

Nihat has returned to Besiktas after seven years in Spain with Real Sociedad and Villarreal. His services up front for Denizli are certainly a boost for the Turkish side, but have yet to yield any real rewards in the young season.

Brazilian midfielder, Rodrigo Tabata, could be an influential player in the match if given room to roam. Tabata joined Besiktas after a successful year with Gaziantepspor last season where he netted 11 goals in 26 appearances.

Manchester United

Manchester United enter the 2009-10 Champions League Group Stage as one of the favourites to lift the trophy.

The English giants have been largely successful in the competition over the last few years, winning the 2007-08 title and coming runner-up to Barcelona after a 2-0 defeat in Rome this May.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s men enter the competition through a direct seed into the group stage after winning back-to-back Premier League titles.

Man Utd's form in the Premier League has shown an upward tendency after the first few matches left more to be desired. They have now won their last three matches in the Premier League and sit comfortably in second place on twelve points from their first five matches, after Saturday’s results.

Manchester United’s most recent victory, against Tottenham, must surely be regarded as their most impressive outing thus far. Despite Tottenham taking an early lead through Jermian Defoe in the first minute of the match, Man United were able to fight back and grab the lead before halftime.

When Paul Scholes was sent off in the 59th minute, Tottenham applied some pressure, but instead of finding an equaliser, Ferguson’s men were able to tack on a third.

Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville could return for United and provide a big boost ahead of the trip to Turkey, as both have returned to training. Edwin van der Sar will miss another month recovering from a broken thumb.

Prediction

Turkey is never an easy country to travel to and get a result, though United will be expected to do just that.

Besiktas don't have the best history against Premier League teams, with their last meeting against such a side resulting in an 8-0 crushing at the hands of Liverpool at Anfield back in 2007.

However, Besiktas may also remember that they overcame Liverpool at home just a fortnight before this disastrous result, and so the Turkish side may hold some hope of pulling off a similar, surprise result against the Red Devils on Tuesday night.

Besiktas do have the potential to surprise a few teams if they’re not careful, but expect Sir Alex’s men to come in fully focused and eager to get their 2009/10 Champions League campaign off to a good start.

Besiktas vs Man Utd Prediction: Besiktas 1 - Man Utd 2

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