UEFA Champions League Last 16: Manchester United Vs Marseille Preview
The Champions League knock-out stage is now well under way, with the first set of ties having started last week. There have already been some thrilling matches, most notably Arsenal vs Barcelona.
Manchester United are set to take on Marseille in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie on Wednesday night and both sets of fans will be hoping that this fixture will be a little less tense. Marseille will be at home for the first leg at the Stade Vélodrome while the second leg will be played at Old Trafford on 15th March.
Here's a short preview for the first leg of this round of 16 tie.
Marseille Form
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Marseille are unbeaten in their last five games with four wins and a draw. They currently sit third in the league, three points off the top spot—the same position they finished in last season. They finished second in their Champions League group behind Chelsea, and managed to beat the Premier League champions in a group game.
Marseille have got their season running after a poor start, with key players finding their form in recent times. The league champions will need to keep that sort of form going if they are to beat Manchester United and also make up ground on Stade Rennais and Lille.
Manchester United Form
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Manchester United have won four of their last five games, including a victory over rivals Manchester City and currently sit top of the Premier League. They struggled to overcome non-league side Crawley Town last weekend, but put out a second-string team which means that the big names will be well rested.
United suffered their first loss of the Premier League season away at Wolves earlier this month but seem to have put that blip behind them. They finished top of their Champions League group and went unbeaten.
Marseille are unbeaten in their last five games with four wins and a draw and currently sit third in the league, three points off the top spot, the position they finished in last season. They finished second in their Champions League group behind Chelsea, and managed to beat the Premier League champions in a group game.
Marseille Team News
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Marseille have a serious injury problem up front. In their last Ligue 1 match, three of their strikers suffered injuries which could force manager Didier Deschamps to alter his standard 4-3-3 formation purely due to a lack of forwards.
While none of the injuries are major, Andre-Pierre Gignac will certainly miss the fist leg of the clash. This will come as a blow to Marseille as the striker had been in good form in Europe, scoring three times in four appearances so far this season and has been finding the sort of form domestically that justified his big money move to Marseille. Loic Remy and Brandao also picked up injuries. Both players should have recovered in time to play, but their temporary absence cannot have helped the preparations.
Mathieu Valbuena, the French international striker returned to training on 19th February, but is highly unlikely to play in the first leg, which could leave Marseille with problems up front.
Elsewhere, Luis González seems to have regained the form that helped power his side to the Ligue 1 title last season and Gabriel Heinze will face the club he left in 2007.
Manchester United Team News
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United will be without key defender Rio Ferdinand, but Chris Smalling's performance against Manchester City—which saw him deal with Carlos Tevez effectively—will give United hope that the 21 year-old can form a solid partnership with captain Vidic. Both the Da Silva's were injured during the victory over Crawley Town and Rafael is now a doubt for the first leg.
Nani has been inspirational in midfield this season and has been largely responsible for the teams' success this season. Paul Scholes returns to the ground where he put in one of his best performances for England during the 1998 World Cup.
Up front, Rooney seems to have found his form once again and will be full of confidence after his spectacular winning goal against Manchester City. Patrice Evra is set to play his first match in France since the World Cup fiasco and will be targeted by fans and players alike as they look to put him off his game. Ryan Giggs recently signed a one year extension which will take him into his 21st season with the club, and his experience could be exactly what is needed for United to gain the advantage in the away leg.
Manchester United Formation
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The Manchester United starting XI for the first leg is not entirely obvious. Berbatov was completely left out of the squad for the FA Cup fixture last weekend—indicating that he is likely to start today—but he may lose out to Rooney if Ferguson goes with one striker and five in midfield with Carrick coming in his place. This, however, is the formation I believe to be most likely:
4-5-1
GK: Edwin van der Saar
LB: Patrice Evra
CB: Chris Smalling
CB: Nemaja Vidic
RB: O'Shea
RM: Nani
CM: Fletcher
CM: Scholes
CAM: Rooney
LM:Giggs
ST: Berbatov
Marseille Formation
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If Remy and Brandao are unavailable, Marseille will have real problems up front. They have been without a consistent goalscorer all season and may be deprived of all their first-team strikers on Wednesday night.
4-4-2
GK: Steve Mandanda
LB: Gabriel Heinze
CB: Stephen Mbia
CB: Souleymane Diawara
RB: Rod Fanni
LM: Charles Kaboré
CM: André Ayew
CM: Edouard Cissé
RM: Luis González
ST: Loic Remy
ST: Brandao
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