Champions League Preview: Challenging Test for Manchester United

After a rousing Manchester United performance over the weekend, the spotlight falls to Wednesday night's Champions League first-leg round of 16 games against French champions Olympique Lyonnais.

By resting Christiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, and Carlos Tevez against Arsenal, manager Alex Ferguson has clearly prioritized the Champions league this year. He said that the game against Lyon was a much bigger game for the team at this point in the season, and the team should perform better in Europe than it has done.

After losing their first two games, Lyon scraped through, finishing second in group E behind Barcelona, having to beat Glasgow Rangers away in their last match. They have reached the knock-out stages in the last five years and the quarter-finals in 2004, 2005, and 2006. 

Despite the relative gap in wealth and prestige between the teams, Lyon has modeled itself by finding, producing, and selling young players for enormous profit, yet maintaining their dominance at home. They are domestic champions six times running.

When Lyon played United in 2004, the team had Michael Essien and Florent Malouda, both of whom signed for Chelsea, and Eric Abidal, now with Barcelona. In that game, United managed an away draw after falling two behind before half time, and won 2-1 in the return leg at Old Trafford.

This time around they boast exciting new talent in the form of 20-year-old French international striker Karim Benzema who has netted 16 times this season and with teammate Hatem Ben-Arfa, who has been linked with a 40 million pound summer move to United. 

They have also maintained the services of Brazilian playmaker and free-kick specialist Juninho, as well as Gregory Coupet, Fabio Grosso, and Sydney Govou.

United cruised to the knock-out stage after winning group F ahead of Roma with 16 points. The team returns Ronaldo and Tevez to bolster their attacking line, and Giggs will probably retain his place despite a dominant display by Nani. Nani, in the absence of Ronaldo, tormented Arsenal’s back four on Saturday.

Paul Scholes may miss out after sterling performances from Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick.

Playing in Europe is never easy. The Red Devils have lost five of their last six away legs in the knock-out stages, and won only four of their last 17 away games in the tournament. Against a team of Lyon’s quality, United will hope for a win but be satisfied with an away draw.

Boasting a solid defensive record of .67 goals conceded per game, the Red Devils will probably defend from deep and look to counter Lyon using their quick passing game and all round speed.

With Rooney, Ronaldo, and Tevez all playing well, United boast one of the most potent attacking front lines in world football. They will certainly create chances and most likely get at least one away goal. That should be enough come the return leg at Old Trafford on March 4.