Marseille v Manchester United
A somewhat patched-up Manchester United head to France and the Stade Vélodrome to face a Marseille side who despite their own injury problems will fancy their chances of a first leg victory over Alex Ferguson’s men.
United are short the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs, Anderson and Jonny Evans so some shuffling of the decks will be required. The standard European away formation of five in the middle of the pitch will most likely be used and Wayne Rooney must have sighed sadly at the news that Giggs in particular wasn’t available. A stint on the left awaits Wayne.
Marseille were dealt a blow at the weekend when striker Andre-Pierre Gignac was ruled out through injury. Loic Remy also faces a fitness test but there was some good news with the return to fitness of the mercurial Mathieu Valbuena.
United have reduced getting an away result in Europe to an art form. It is rarely pretty but nearly always effective. They will hold, keep it tight and hope to nick a goal. Marseille need a fast start and at least a lead going to Old Trafford.
Possible teams
Marseille: Mandanda, Kaboré, Diawara, Heinze, Tawio, Cisse, Gonzalez, Cheyrou, A Ayew, Valbeuna, Rémy.
Manchester United: Van der Saar, Rafael, Vidic, Smalling, Evra, Nani, Fletcher, Carrick, Scholes, Rooney, Berbatov.
Match odds: Marseille 5/2 Manchester United 11/10 Draw 23/10
Inter Milan v Bayern Munich
Two genuine European giants and of course the finalists from last year will do battle to progress past the first knock-out phase this year. Both have struggled to recreate last year’s heroics with Inter in particular having a very poor start to the season.
Bayern have not been much better but the return of talismanic duo Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery has transformed them recently. Mario Gomez is also expected to be fit for the clash in the San Siro and Bayern will take heart from what Gareth Bale in particular was able to do to Inter in this season’s group stage. Robben and Ribery are capable of similar damage.
Inter will be missing their big January acquisition Giampaulo Pazzini as he is cup-tied so Gordan Pandev will more than likely partner Samuel Eto’o upfront. While they have improved immeasurably since Leonardo took over, they still look a side who has had their appetite for silverware sated.
Bayern have the revenge factor and more importantly the pace to hurt Inter. Should they score tonight, Inter’s defence of the Champions League could be a relatively short one.
Possible teams
Inter Milan: Caeser, Maicon, Lucio, Ranocchia, Chivu, Zanetti, Motta Kharja, Stankovic, Pandev, Eto’o.
Bayern Munich: Kraft, Lahm, Timoshchuk, Badstuber, Pranjic, Schweinsteiger, Gustavo, Robben, Muller, Ribéry, Gomez
Match Odds: Inter Milan: 5/4 Bayern Munich 11/5 Draw 9/4
We’ll run a minute-by-minute report of tonight’s football action
