Champions League: History Against Chelsea Ahead of Their Second Leg with United

Man Utd vs. Chelsea

Chelsea will be looking to defy history when they take on Mancheseter United at Old Trafford, knowing that Sir Alex Ferguson has not lost a European tie after winning the first leg during his reign as United's manager.

The odds are heavily stacked against Chelsea, who managed to beat Wigan by a solitary goal after huffing and puffing throughout the match. However, Carlo Ancelotti will know that a victory by a solitary goal is going to be enough for his side to qualify for the semifinals of the Champions League.

Man Utd have been showing impressive form of late and they came into the match after their sixth consecutive victory over Fulham at the weekend. Wayne Rooney missed the match against Fulham due to a suspension and he will be once again pumped up for the match against Chelsea following the week's rest.

Ancelotti will have to make a major decision over the strikers that he is going to select for the match with the importance of the match in mind.

Fernando Torres is expected to drop to the bench, while Nicolas Anelka is expected to be paired alongside Didier Drogba. 

Shakhtar vs. Barcelona

Even though most regard this tie to be over even before the second leg is actually going to be played, Shakhtar Donetsk will be confident of overturning the four-goal deficit that resulted after the splendid performance by Barcelona at the Camp Nou.

The only consolation for Shakhtar was the away goal. They will be looking to use this and the poor away form of Barcelona in the Champions League.

Mircea Lucescu will be looking forward to nothing more than an early goal against the 2009 Champions League winners, which will give a ray of hope for the Ukrainian side.

However, they are not in the best of form currently and they come into the match on the back of the defeat in their league. The last away match for Barcelona in the Champions League ended in a defeat against Arsenal, which would be disastrous for Guardiola this time around, despite the huge advantage that they have on the aggregate score.

Luiz Adriano will have to be in top form if Shakhtar Donetsk are going to have any chance in overturning this huge deficit.

Lionel Messi will be the man to watch against Shakhtar after his two goals against Almeria at the weekend.

Joe - livescoredaily.com - live scores