UCL : Sporting Lisbon vs Manchester United
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Paulo Bento “We’re Ready To Hit Manchester United”
Sporting Clube Coach Paulo Bento is well aware of the might of tomorrow’s visitors Manchester United, but is also sure that his men are up to the task of facing off against the Red Devils at Alvalade – and getting a positive result…
“We’re convinced that we’re able to play a great game. We know that this is a difficult competition but also know that we are capable of downing the biggest clubs if we keep our heads and play our game. The rival tomorrow is just about as big as they get, but we have self-confidence”, stressed Paulo Bento.
The Leões (Lions) tactician was also adamant that although they may not be able to enjoy as much ball possession as they usually can count on at home, they will have to resist the temptation to just parry attacks. “We can’t afford to lay back and watch; we must always be intervening.”
“We know that we can’t expect to run the game throughout the full ninety minutes but we are fully aware that we can’t let Manchester do what they like during ninety minutes. We have to hit them, in the good sense of the word, and when they are hitting us we need to enjoy the defensive game with an eye for any counter-attacks.” -
According to Straits Times the match is 1am
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R U SURE? 1 AM??Originally posted by omgukilledkenny:According to Straits Times the match is 1am 
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Reds have pitch concerns
Sir Alex was afforded his first glimpse of the Estadio Jose Alvalade's pitch when the Reds trained at the ground on Tuesday night.
Nineteen United players spent an hour on the turf, running through light ball-work, a half-field simulation match and attacking exercises before finishing with a thorough stretching session. The grass, however, appeared patchy in places and came away from its roots on a number of occasions.
"The pitch isn't great," the manager said. "It's cutting up badly and they have a problem with that. I think one half of it is worse than the other.
"We played here for the opening of the stadium in 2003 and we had terrible problems with the pitch on that day. I don't think they've ever sorted the problems. They've renewed the turf this summer but they're still having the same problems."
United squad at training on 18 September: Van der Sar, Kuszczak; Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Pique, Evans; Ronaldo, Eagles, Scholes, Carrick, Gibson, Anderson, Nani; Giggs, Rooney, Tevez, Saha -
ill be awake at 1am, if match not yet start then i go down 7-11 buy stuff.
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match isnt at 1am. sky sports pre game show will be 1hr 30mins this time for the opening of the UCL.
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Means 2.30am? kk haha then ill sleep till 2.30 am hahaha!Originally posted by Pitot:match isnt at 1am. sky sports pre game show will be 1hr 30mins this time for the opening of the UCL. -
2.30 am makes more sense...since it ends at 4.45...
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Manchester United are seeking their 100th victory in the Champions Cup/Champions League.
Sporting Lisbon and Man United have met each other only twice in European Cup football.
In the 1963-64 Cup Winners' Cup, Sporting eliminated United in the quarter-finals.
After United won their home leg 4-1, Sporting bounced back big by them United 5-0 in the return, and went on to win the Cup, their only European trophy ever.
Sporting Lisbon beat MTK Budapest in the final of the 1963-64 Cup Winners' Cup. They are participating in the Champions League for the fourth time, and have never survived the group phase.
Manchester United have won the Champions Cup/Champions League twice (1968, 1999), the Cup Winners' Cup once (1991), the European Super Cup (1991) and the Intercontinental Club Cup (1999).
They're about to embark on their 13th Champions League campaign, which makes them joint record holders with FC Porto. It is also their 12th successive Champions League campaign, which is the best streak ever.
Sporting have not won any of their last five Champions League matches, losing the last two.
Manchester United have lost their last two Champions League away matches.
Carlos Paredes and Marat Izmailov are the most experienced Champions League players in the Sporting squad with 16 Champions League matches each. Derlei is the Champions League top scorer at Sporting with three career goals.
Gary Neville (98 ), Ryan Giggs (95) and Paul Scholes (95) are three Manchester United players that are ranked amongst the 10 players with most Champions League appearances.
Giggs is the Champions League top scorer in Manchester United's squad with 23 Champions League goals. -
Tonights ref is Herbert Fandel , the guy who sent off Roy Keane in UnitedÂ’s 2-1 defeat to Porto in 2004 and also red-carded Paul Scholes when the Reds were beaten by Roma in Italy last season.
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Match starting!
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Saha for Nani!
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the pitch is like f*ck. there's no punch upfront. I'll take off the no-impact nani and pair saha upfront with rooney. giggs left, ronaldo right and carrick + scholes back to centre. Notice carrick always drifts inside and there's no support for brown when he goes up.
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The pitch is like a mine field!
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Ya..Nani is ineffective today. Better sub him off in case this crazy ref sends him off.Originally posted by trendz:the pitch is like f*ck. there's no punch upfront. I'll take off the no-impact nani and pair saha upfront with rooney. giggs left, ronaldo right and carrick + scholes back to centre. Notice carrick always drifts inside and there's no support for brown when he goes up. -
A draw would be a good result. Cos Man u hardly win away matches in CL... Therefore a draw wouldn't be all that bad... Just win their 3 home matches and draw those away ones...
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Anyways, the VDS save was really good.
Havent actually seen him make many spectacular saves in the United jersey.
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yay..job done.
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Emotional night for Ronaldo...
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Match-winning goal
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HUMBLE ... Ronaldo keeps his celebration simple after scoring against former club
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Liédson: Van der Sar Made The Difference
The Sporting number 31 was frustrated by the excellent performance by Edwin Van der Saar who he felt avoided Manchester United walking off with a defeat. "Van der Sar made two great saves tonight that stopped us from enjoying a completely different result." -
Well, just like last few matches, not a convicing win
but if not for Van Der Sar, we would have lost this match -
Well at least we'r consistent...four 1-0 wins in a row.Originally posted by Dead_Man_Inc:Well, just like last few matches, not a convicing win
but if not for Van Der Sar, we would have lost this match -
yeahOriginally posted by omgukilledkenny:Well at least we'r consistent...four 1-0 wins in a row.
hope to see exciting match against chelsea this weekend