Manchester United News: Red Devils Must Maintain Form as Champions League Begins

Manchester United has started the Premier League season on a scorching pace. The Red Devils have won all four games by a combined score of 18-3, and Wayne Rooney has already scored eight goals. With Champions League play set to begin on Wednesday, United must stay in top form.

Over the course of the next two weeks, Manchester United will play two Champions League games, two Premiership games and one Carling Cup game. With that much football in such a short time frame, the risk of injury is high.

That means Manchester United's nearly unmatched depth will be forced into action. Being able to plug in replacements, whether as starters due to injury or substitutes, without the team missing a beat in the process is the hallmark of a championship team.

Having dominated Premier League squads with relative ease so far, it would be easy for the Red Devils to overlook Benfica from Portugal's Primeira Liga.

Benfica are undefeated in four league games this season and have already eliminated Trabzonspor and Twente Enschede to reach the Champions League Group Stage. So they are in good form right now and can't be taken lightly, even by a team as hot as Manchester United.

Manager Sir Alex Ferguson will probably try to get some of his starters rest in the Carling Cup clash against Leeds United, which comes on the heels of a huge game against Chelsea.

The game against Leeds will be a chance for players like Dimitar Berbatov, who is currently on the outside looking in at playing time, to show the coaching staff they can help the team win.

Ferguson couldn't have imagined the offseason youth movement going so well, so quickly. Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck both got off to great starts. Welbeck went down with a hamstring injury, but Javier Hernandez stepped right in and filled the void seamlessly.

While Rooney continues to be the team's main offensive threat, it will be players like Welbeck, Hernandez and Cleverley who will need to step up once the games get more important near the end of the season.

Rooney illustrated last season against Barcelona in the Champions League Final that he can't do it alone. Ferguson decided his best option during the summer transfer window was to build from within to help his world-class striker.

Big wins early in the season are nice and will help build confidence in players and supporters alike, but if the team can't maintain its current form in the high-pressure matches late in the season, the blazing start will be quickly forgotten.

For a team like the Red Devils that consistently goes deep into the Champions League, Carling Cup and FA Cup on top of their Premier League schedule, it's tough to maintain a high level of play all season. Especially for the young players who haven't faced that grueling of a schedule in their careers.

So it will be up to Ferguson to make sure everybody gets the requisite rest, because no matter how awesome they play against Bolton in September, it won't matter if they don't bring that same intensity and ability against Barcelona, Real Madrid or Manchester City in April and May.