Manchester United news and links

• United defender was left ‘bent over like a hunchback’
• ‘If I’m honest, I didn’t make it clear to the gaffer’

England’s captain Rio Ferdinand has admitted that he hid the extent of his back problem from Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, and that the injury left him “bent over like an old hunchback” and struggling to walk.

Ferdinand is now back in the United line-up and seemingly through the worst of the injury after pioneering treatment, but he admits it took him a long time to come clean to the club about just how bad the problem was.

The turning point was the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in October, when Fernando Torres got away from him easily to put Liverpool in front at Anfield.

Ferdinand told the News of the World: “The day after a game I would waddle into the club like a duck, bent over like an old hunchback. I would be hobbling around, unable to train for four or five days. I would be OK to play the next game, but I must have missed 60-70% of training.

“If I’m honest, I didn’t make it clear to the gaffer and the club physios that my injury was that serious. I just had an incredible desire to play football and had never had to deal with an injury of this scale before.

“But I was summoned into the manager’s office after the Liverpool defeat. He told me: ‘Last season, Torres would not have scored that goal against you.’ As soon as he said that, you sit up and take notice. When the manager tells you something like that, it hits home. So we made a decision to rest it completely before I could return to the team.”

Ferdinand received a course of spinal injections to tackle the problem and has been given an orthopaedic cushion to aid his posture when sitting.

“I’m training at full pelt now,” he added. “Now I just need a run of games to get match fit. I’m still using the cushion, it helps my posture. I look daft when I’m sat on it in a restaurant – it makes me look really tall. But it has certainly helped.”

• United defender was left ‘bent over like a hunchback’
• ‘If I’m honest, I didn’t make it clear to the gaffer’

England’s captain Rio Ferdinand has admitted that he hid the extent of his back problem from Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, and that the injury left him “bent over like an old hunchback” and struggling to walk.

Ferdinand is now back in the United line-up and seemingly through the worst of the injury after pioneering treatment, but he admits it took him a long time to come clean to the club about just how bad the problem was.

The turning point was the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in October, when Fernando Torres got away from him easily to put Liverpool in front at Anfield.

Ferdinand told the News of the World: “The day after a game I would waddle into the club like a duck, bent over like an old hunchback. I would be hobbling around, unable to train for four or five days. I would be OK to play the next game, but I must have missed 60-70% of training.

“If I’m honest, I didn’t make it clear to the gaffer and the club physios that my injury was that serious. I just had an incredible desire to play football and had never had to deal with an injury of this scale before.

“But I was summoned into the manager’s office after the Liverpool defeat. He told me: ‘Last season, Torres would not have scored that goal against you.’ As soon as he said that, you sit up and take notice. When the manager tells you something like that, it hits home. So we made a decision to rest it completely before I could return to the team.”

Ferdinand received a course of spinal injections to tackle the problem and has been given an orthopaedic cushion to aid his posture when sitting.

“I’m training at full pelt now,” he added. “Now I just need a run of games to get match fit. I’m still using the cushion, it helps my posture. I look daft when I’m sat on it in a restaurant – it makes me look really tall. But it has certainly helped.”

Wayne Rooney has been outstanding but great credit must also go to his colleagues

Cristiano Ronaldo was an unstoppable force the season he scored 42 goals for Manchester United, just as Wayne Rooney is proving to be this season. With Sir Alex Ferguson’s none-too-tacit encouragement, United’s leading scorer is being backed to pass Ronaldo’s mark – he currently needs 10 more goals to equal it, or nine if you count the one he scored in the Community Shield – yet in a real sense it is academic whether Rooney takes his goal tally into the forties or not.

United have already scored more league goals this season than in the whole of the last one. After 30 games they have 70 goals, and you have to go back to 2001-02 to see that total bettered. Last season’s final total was 68, and the season before that, the one where Ronaldo chipped in with 31 league goals as part of his overall contribution of 42, they ended on 80. So if Rooney or anyone else in a red shirt can add 10 or more goals from their last eight league matches, beginning with Liverpool at home today, the idea that they are still missing Ronaldo will be statistically exploded.

Liverpool won 4-1 at Old Trafford last season with Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard traumatising the home defence, yet, even if the pair are now back in harness and returning to full fitness, it is no secret that Rafa Benítez relies on his golden duo to an almost unhealthy extent. What United have proved in spades since the turn of the year is that they are no longer reliant on Ronaldo. The team have moved on.

The season United most missed Ronaldo was the last one, when they still had the player in body but hardly in spirit. A pale shadow of the previous season’s incarnation, Ronaldo still managed a highly creditable 25 goals, but United’s final league total was the lowest it had been since the meagre 58 in 2004-05, the season after he arrived when, operating very much as a winger, he contributed five goals.

The most remarkable thing about Ronaldo’s 42-goal season was that it represented a prodigious total for a winger, although by that stage Ferguson was giving him free rein to come inside, and sometimes selecting him in central positions. While nothing ought to be taken away from Rooney’s scoring record this season, it is much more natural for a centre-forward to score the majority of the goals, especially one frequently employed as the sole striker. Rooney has proved he is capable of carrying the United attack on his own, and is clearly enjoying exploiting the space and responsibility left vacant by Ronaldo’s departure. It is not all down to Rooney, though such a lion-hearted performer deserves a lion’s share of the credit.

After a necessary period of adjustment Antonio Valencia and Nani have stopped looking like over-promoted bit parts and begun to deliver. Park Ji-sung has been in excellent form and United have benefited enormously from the depth of experience they possess in midfield as well as the still under-utilised Dimitar Berbatov, though it is the quality of service from the flanks that is helping Rooney have such an outstanding season.

Nani’s part in Rooney’s second goal against Milan, the one that killed the home leg just after half-time, could hardly have been bettered by Ronaldo. There was an electric burst of pace down the left then the subtlest of passes inside to put the ball in the exact place where Rooney wanted it and the Milan defence did not. Much of Rooney’s new-found heading ability is due to the quality of the crosses Valencia has been putting in. As Ferguson said of the goals against Milan at San Siro, the crossing was so good it would have been harder for the striker to miss.

Valencia seems to have taken a while to settle, perhaps not finding it easy to step up from Wigan and certainly not relishing comparisons with Ronaldo, but, without ever being a like-for-like replacement for his singular predecessor, he is now doing precisely what Ferguson says he expected him to do. He brings strength, skill and a certain amount of style to the United wing and, while he may never threaten any goalscoring records, he knows how to make goals for others.

Statistics based on the last couple of seasons show that Valencia tackles more than Ronaldo used to, and more successfully, crosses more, and more successfully, and creates around twice as many chances. He does not shoot as often and does not score as many goals but that simply makes him a more conventional winger. He is still a very good one.

Risky as it is to make forecasts after last season’s upset, while both United and Liverpool have exceptional strikers, United’s support cast appears to offer more attacking promise.

Wayne Rooney has been outstanding but great credit must also go to his colleagues

Cristiano Ronaldo was an unstoppable force the season he scored 42 goals for Manchester United, just as Wayne Rooney is proving to be this season. With Sir Alex Ferguson’s none-too-tacit encouragement, United’s leading scorer is being backed to pass Ronaldo’s mark – he currently needs 10 more goals to equal it, or nine if you count the one he scored in the Community Shield – yet in a real sense it is academic whether Rooney takes his goal tally into the forties or not.

United have already scored more league goals this season than in the whole of the last one. After 30 games they have 70 goals, and you have to go back to 2001-02 to see that total bettered. Last season’s final total was 68, and the season before that, the one where Ronaldo chipped in with 31 league goals as part of his overall contribution of 42, they ended on 80. So if Rooney or anyone else in a red shirt can add 10 or more goals from their last eight league matches, beginning with Liverpool at home today, the idea that they are still missing Ronaldo will be statistically exploded.

Liverpool won 4-1 at Old Trafford last season with Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard traumatising the home defence, yet, even if the pair are now back in harness and returning to full fitness, it is no secret that Rafa Benítez relies on his golden duo to an almost unhealthy extent. What United have proved in spades since the turn of the year is that they are no longer reliant on Ronaldo. The team have moved on.

The season United most missed Ronaldo was the last one, when they still had the player in body but hardly in spirit. A pale shadow of the previous season’s incarnation, Ronaldo still managed a highly creditable 25 goals, but United’s final league total was the lowest it had been since the meagre 58 in 2004-05, the season after he arrived when, operating very much as a winger, he contributed five goals.

The most remarkable thing about Ronaldo’s 42-goal season was that it represented a prodigious total for a winger, although by that stage Ferguson was giving him free rein to come inside, and sometimes selecting him in central positions. While nothing ought to be taken away from Rooney’s scoring record this season, it is much more natural for a centre-forward to score the majority of the goals, especially one frequently employed as the sole striker. Rooney has proved he is capable of carrying the United attack on his own, and is clearly enjoying exploiting the space and responsibility left vacant by Ronaldo’s departure. It is not all down to Rooney, though such a lion-hearted performer deserves a lion’s share of the credit.

After a necessary period of adjustment Antonio Valencia and Nani have stopped looking like over-promoted bit parts and begun to deliver. Park Ji-sung has been in excellent form and United have benefited enormously from the depth of experience they possess in midfield as well as the still under-utilised Dimitar Berbatov, though it is the quality of service from the flanks that is helping Rooney have such an outstanding season.

Nani’s part in Rooney’s second goal against Milan, the one that killed the home leg just after half-time, could hardly have been bettered by Ronaldo. There was an electric burst of pace down the left then the subtlest of passes inside to put the ball in the exact place where Rooney wanted it and the Milan defence did not. Much of Rooney’s new-found heading ability is due to the quality of the crosses Valencia has been putting in. As Ferguson said of the goals against Milan at San Siro, the crossing was so good it would have been harder for the striker to miss.

Valencia seems to have taken a while to settle, perhaps not finding it easy to step up from Wigan and certainly not relishing comparisons with Ronaldo, but, without ever being a like-for-like replacement for his singular predecessor, he is now doing precisely what Ferguson says he expected him to do. He brings strength, skill and a certain amount of style to the United wing and, while he may never threaten any goalscoring records, he knows how to make goals for others.

Statistics based on the last couple of seasons show that Valencia tackles more than Ronaldo used to, and more successfully, crosses more, and more successfully, and creates around twice as many chances. He does not shoot as often and does not score as many goals but that simply makes him a more conventional winger. He is still a very good one.

Risky as it is to make forecasts after last season’s upset, while both United and Liverpool have exceptional strikers, United’s support cast appears to offer more attacking promise.

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez feels Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia dived to win a penalty which turned the game as the hosts came back to win 2-1 at Old Trafford.

Manchester United play host to Liverpool looking to bring an end to a torrid sequence of results against their bitter rivals.

Liverpool have won the last three Premier League meetings involving the two sides, a run which includes their emphatic 4-1 victory at the Theatre of Dreams last season.

Owen Hargreaves has been told to concentrate on United for the next two months before thinking about the World Cup with England.


The £18m midfielder made a successful 45-minute comeback in the Reds’ reserves on Thursday night after being out for 18 months.

Nemanja Vidic will not be haunted by his Liverpool nemesis at Old Trafford on Sunday insists Sir Alex Ferguson.


The Reds’ Serbian defender has suffered the unenviable record of being sent off in the last three matches against Rafa Benitez’s side.

Ferdinand is desperate to improve on recent results against Liverpool.

The Manchester United striker’s ever-improving goalscoring record shows a peculiar long-term failure against Liverpool

Wayne Rooney is fast becoming the irresistible choice for footballer of the year. He already has 32 goals for the season and anyone who wants to pick holes in him should do so knowing he did not get to the top of his profession without having the ability to swat away criticism in the way the rest of us deal with a troublesome fly. But there is still one anomaly when it comes to recognising him as the “complete striker” – and it is nothing to do with the argument about what he can or cannot do with his left foot.

The statistics of Rooney’s career are so impressive it is worth a double-take that the man who is already over halfway towards Sir Bobby Charlton’s scoring record for England has gone 15 hours and 50 minutes of match-time without finding the net in his games for Manchester United against Liverpool.

In total there have been 11 and Rooney has scored once, going all the way back to January 2005 and a 1-0 win at Anfield in which, true to form, he celebrated directly in front of the Kop. That was his first experience of this famous sporting enmity but in the next 10 games the recurring theme has been of a player struggling to make an impact, drifting in and out of the action and, at times, allowing the opposition fans’ hostility to affect him.

Is it coincidence or something more deep-rooted? Rooney is not the golden boy of English football by default and there is inevitably a temptation to dismiss his modest record against Liverpool as a glitch. But then you look at his figures against Everton and a pattern starts to emerge, one that has not escaped the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson. Rooney has one goal in nine appearances against the club where he began his career and, as Liverpool visit Old Trafford tomorrow, the question is this: why does the footballer who is doing more than anyone to steer United towards a fourth successive league title struggle against the Merseyside teams?

Ferguson, for one, does not believe it is a quirk of numbers and was sufficiently concerned to contemplate leaving out Rooney when his team went to Anfield last October. In the end he trusted in his player but Liverpool won 2-0 and, once again, Rooney spent long spells on the edges of the game. Rooney’s allegiances are no secret – “I grew up as an Everton fan hating Liverpool,” he declared last season, “and that hasn’t changed” – but there is a sense at Old Trafford that he can be his own worst enemy when it comes to playing the Merseyside teams, Liverpool in particular.

The issue has been discussed behind the scenes at Old Trafford, where Ferguson has voiced concerns that his most penetrative player may be getting too wrapped up in all the different emotions that come from playing against teams from the city where he grew up and his huge and possibly distractive desire both to inflict a little bit of misery on Liverpool and to show the Everton supporters who now revile him what they are missing.

The encouraging part for United is that, five months since losing at Anfield, Rooney is a different player, revelling in the most prolific form of his life and scoring so regularly you would not bet against him doing away with the notion that Liverpool are threatening to become his bogey club, just as Cristiano Ronaldo successfully dealt with the criticism levelled at him over several seasons that he never turned it on in the big matches.

But when it comes to Rooney being on the same pitch as Fernando Torres the Spaniard is ahead by some distance. Ferguson once told a room of football writers that he had abandoned trying to sign Torres from Atlético Madrid after deciding he was “not composed enough in front of goal”, which will have to be remembered as one of his least distinguished judgments. Torres has scored in his last two games against United and single-handedly consigned Nemanja Vidic’s candidacy for footballer of the year to the dustbin when Rafael Benítez’s team won 4-1 at Old Trafford last season.

The ordeal was so great for Vidic he has never fully recovered. Torres had unmasked the Serb’s weakness: that he is prone to getting too close behind attackers and susceptible if they spin off at pace. Gabriel Agbonlahor, of Aston Villa, has also shown how it can be done and that, when he is caught out, Vidic has a tendency to bring down opponents, as was evident in the Carling Cup final.

As yet Rooney has not caused Liverpool’s defenders anything like the suffering to which Torres has subjected Vidic. Taking into account his time at Everton, his overall record against the Anfield club is one goal in 15 games. Rooney might be having the season of a lifetime but, for once, he might not be the most feared striker on the pitch at Old Trafford tomorrow.

Over 80% of Manchester United fans and 70% of Liverpool supporters believe their respective clubs would be better run if they were co-operatively owned.

Fans who drink alcohol on the streets around OT may face prosecution.

Liverpool have found better form as they seek a top-four finish, but they may be at least as motivated by the thought of harming Manchester United’s prospects of the title. The 4-1 win at Old Trafford a year ago came in the middle of the current run of three consecutive victories over Sir Alex Ferguson’s side. United, however, seem to be finding stability, particularly because the centre-backs Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic are both fit once again, although Jonny Evans remains a doubt with a knee injury. Kevin McCarra

Venue Old Trafford, Sunday 1.30pm

Tickets Sold out

Last season Manchester United 1 Liverpool 4

Referee H Webb

This season’s matches 21 Y77, R3, 3.81 cards per game

Odds Manchester United 7-10 Liverpool 5-1 Draw 14-5

Manchester United

Subs from Foster, Kuszczak, Giggs, Rafael, J Evans, Gibson, Obertan, Diouf, Fabio, C Evans, Hargreaves, Berbatov, Park

Doubtful J Evans (knee), Giggs (wrist), Hargreaves (match fitness), Rafael (thigh)

Injured De Laet (ankle, 3 Apr), Brown (foot, 25 Apr), O’Shea (thigh, 25 Apr), Owen (hamstring, Aug), Welbeck (knee, Aug), Anderson (knee, Sep)

Suspended None

Form guide WWWLDW

Disciplinary record Y39 R4

Leading scorer Rooney 25

Liverpool

Subs from Cavalieri, Aquilani, Kyrgiakos, Rodríguez, Benayoun, Ngog, Spearing, Degen, El Zhar, Kelly, Ayala, Pacheco

Doubtful Aquilani (virus)

Injured Aurélio (thigh, 28 Mar), Skrtel (ankle, 24 Apr)

Suspended Riera (club discipline)

Form guide WLWDLW

Disciplinary record Y49 R5

Leading scorer Torres 15

Match pointers

• Manchester United have lost their last three Premier League meetings with Liverpool – the only team to beat United four times in a row was Liverpool between 2000 and 2002

• Liverpool have hit the woodwork more times (14) than any other side this season

• Nemanja Vidic has been sent off in his last three league appearances against Liverpool

• Tomasz Kuszczak and Fernando Torres could both be playing on the day after their respective birthdays

• Wayne Rooney has scored 12 goals in his last seven league games at Old Trafford

Viv Anderson warns United against underestimating Bayern Munich.

Backing Howard Webb to show a red card on Sunday yields decent returns.

Darren Fletcher is confident Manchester United will not get ahead of themselves by believing they are assured of a Champions League final berth.


United managed to avoid favourites Barcelona in the quarter-final draw and also landed in the other half to Arsenal and Inter Milan.

Darren Fletcher says United have been handed a tricky quarter-final.

Sir Alex Ferguson hits out at the Football Association for its handling of incidents involving Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard.

• More than 1,000 pubs and clubs have signed for 3D TV
• Sky to show five other Premier games in 3D this season

Sky has confirmed it will launch Europe’s first 3D television channel with coverage of the Premier League match between Manchester United and Chelsea on 3 April. Sky 3D will show at least five more Premier League games live in the UK before the end of the season, as well as the Football League play-off finals at the end of May.

Although relatively few members of the public have bought 3D TVs so far, BSkyB revealed that more than 1,000 pubs and clubs across the UK and Ireland have signed up for the service.

Leading manufacturers such as Sony, Samsung, LG and Panasonic have recently confirmed plans to launch 3D-compatible sets in the coming months.

“It’s fitting that one of the biggest games of the season will be the launch pad for our pioneering Sky 3D service,” said Brian Lenz of Sky. “With 3D, seeing really is believing, so it’s great news that over 1,000 pubs across country will be able to show the magic of 3D to their customers.”

Sky 3D plans to add other sports programming as well as films, documentaries, entertainment and arts programmes later in the year.

The channel will be introduced at no extra cost for subscribers to Sky’s top channels and HD pack.

In January, Sky became the first broadcaster in Europe to air a 3D sporting event by carrying Manchester United’s 3-1 win at Arsenal in nine pubs across London, Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Dublin.

A Ji-Sung Park header earns Manchester United a 2-1 win against Liverpool and returns them to the Premier League summit.

Manchester United will face Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals, while Arsenal are drawn against Barcelona.

Reds boss says United have a good chance, but Bayern are tough opponents.

Ryan Giggs returns to the Manchester United squad for Sunday’s Premier League clash with old rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford.


Giggs has missed seven games since breaking his arm at Aston Villa last month but has returned to training without a problem and is expected to start against Rafael Benitez’s men.

Easter Saturday game will be first of at least six Premier League games this season to be shown in 3D

BSkyB is to launch its 3D satellite TV offering with the Premier League clash between Manchester United and Chelsea on Easter Saturday, 3 April.

The pay-TV company, which in January ran a test by airing Man Utd’s Premier League match against Arsenal in 3D in a handful of pubs, has signed up more than 1,000 pubs and clubs in the UK and Ireland to air the game. Sky is ultimately hopes many of the tens of thousands of pubs that subscribe to its digital satellite service will upgrade to 3D.

Following the match, Sky said it will show at least five more Premier League games in 3D before the end of the season on 9 May. It will also air the play-off finals of the Coca-Cola Football League at the end of May in 3D.

Sky will also provide “a showreel showcasing the best of Sky 3D” to run on its new 3D channel, which the company says is the first of its kind in Europe, during the daytime.

The 3D channel will initially be available at no extra cost to the million-plus Sky high definition TV subscribers who also pay for its premium sports and movies services.

Later in the year, Sky 3D will offer a range of movies, sport, documentaries, entertainment and arts content.

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• Arsenal face champions; United play old foes Bayern Munich
• English sides to meet in final if they overcome tough opponents

Arsène Wenger thinks Arsenal still have a 50-50 chance of reaching the Champions League semi-finals despite being drawn against the team no one wanted – Barcelona – in the quarters.

Barcelona are the holders, the bookmakers’ favourites at 7-3, and play the decisive leg at home. “I believe we will not be favourites,” admitted Wenger, “but for me it will be a 50-50 game. That’s how we have to take it. Of course they are a good side, so are we.”

In the other fixtures, Manchester United face Bayern Munich, who have lost just twice in this year’s Bundesliga, a fixture Sir Alex Ferguson called “very tough”. In an all-French game Lyon face Bordeaux, and José Mourinho’s Internazionale play CSKA Moscow, who look the weakest of the remaining sides. The two English sides will meet in the final if they progress.

Arsenal’s secretary David Miles admitted they had been landed with the team everyone wanted to avoid. “I’m sure the other clubs felt the same thing,” Miles said. “But, having said that, the draw gives us what it gives us, we can only play, and hopefully beat, what’s in front of us. We owe Barcelona one and we’ll certainly be up for it.”

Barcelona’s sporting director Txiki Begiristain said: “This will be the most spectacular of all the quarter-finals in terms of football. These are two teams that play open football and the match will be a duel to keep hold of the ball.

“We are two teams who don’t shut up shop and play long ball football, and this tie will be nice for the fans. It will be a good spectacle and we’ll see if we are a little stronger than them. In any case, the best news is knowing that we will be playing the return leg at home. We are strong at home and we’ve shown that.”

United are second favourites at odds of 3-1 with Ladbrokes, after being handed a repeat of their famous “football, bloody hell” final of 1999, when they scored twice in the dying moments to pickpocket Bayern.

Germany’s biggest club currently sit top of the Bundesliga, though they were twice beaten by Bordeaux in the group stages.

Ferguson is wary of an under-rated Bayern side. “The history of playing Bayern in past European ties tells you it’s going to be a very difficult tie for us,” he said. “It’ll be a fantastic atmosphere. They have a great stadium and good pitch and we’re up against a good, experienced team.”

Bayern chairman’s Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said his side’s draw was “tough but attractive”. He explained: “Manchester are a team who are ranked right at the top. We will have to push ourselves to our limits and possibly even beyond to go through. Manchester are the favourites, but that is where the attraction lies: to try to beat a favourite.”

There will definitely be a French side in the last four after Lyon and Bordeaux were paired together.

The Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas told Eurosport: “It will be a peculiar tie, but it will mean there will be a French side in the last four for the first time since Monaco [in 2004].”

“I’m a little bit disappointed,” said the Bordeaux president Jean-Louis Triaud. “We talked a lot about it before, about the possibility of this. We were chatting with Jean-Michel Aulas before the draw and agreed we did not want to face each other. Our advantage is that we will play at home for the return leg. Their advantage will be that they have much more experience than us at this level.”

Inter are favourites against CSKA Moscow, arguably the weakest side left in the competition. But their chief executive Ernesto Paolillo was taking nothing for granted. “This isn’t an easy tie,” he said. “It would be wrong to underestimate it for two reasons. First CSKA Moscow are at the start of their season. So they are rested and fresher than any other team at the moment. Secondly, they play on a synthetic pitch, which favours less technical teams because players have less control of the ball.”

Luís Figo was pleased his old side Inter had avoided United and Barça. “You cannot choose, they’re all good teams with quality, but theoretically you don’t want to play against Manchester or Barcelona.”

Eight teams from six different countries reached the quarter-finals, the most varied group since 1998-99.

Quarter-final draw

Lyon v Bordeaux

Bayern Munich v Manchester United

Arsenal v Barcelona

Internazionale v CSKA Moscow

First leg 30 and 31 March; second leg 6 and 7 April.

Semi-final draw

Bayern Munich or Manchester United v Lyon or Bordeaux

Internazionale or CSKA Moscow v Arsenal or Barcelona

First leg 20 and 21 April; second leg 27 and 28 April.

Manchester United have been drawn against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.


Bayern Munich will play the first leg at home in a tie that brings back memories of the 1999 tournament victory for the Reds.

United’s route to the Champions League final has been mapped out.

Sir Alex Ferguson has accused the Football Association of running a “dysfunctional” disciplinary system.


Less than two months after Rio Ferdinand was eventually banned for four games following a video review of his attack on Hull striker Craig Fagan, United find they must face Steven Gerrard during Sunday’s encounter with Liverpool, even though the Anfield skipper appeared to commit two indiscretions recently that could have resulted in further action.

There’s plenty at stake for both sides in Sunday’s Old Trafford crunch clash.

The Daily Mail asks the question on everyone’s lips: Rooney or Messi?

Giggs, Rafael and Evans are all fit for Sunday’s clash with Liverpool.

Nemanja Vidic has told Manchester United he doesn’t want to quit the club this summer.


The Serbian international is a target for Barcelona and Real Madrid with the Spanish giants prepared to pay £20m to lure him to La Liga.

Ji-sung Park says United are ready to end a three-game losing run to Liverpool.

Follow the events in Nyon as they unfold as United await last eight fate.

Fletcher says it’s time to get back to winning ways against Liverpool.

• I would prefer to avoid Manchester United, says Barça director
• United could be motivated by revenge, says Txiki Begiristain

Barcelona sporting director Txiki Begiristain has singled out Manchester United as the team to avoid in tomorrow’s draw for the Champions League quarter-finals.

The European Champions have faced Sir Alex Ferguson’s men three times in the past two years, with United knocking them out at the semi-final stage two seasons ago before Barça triumphed in the final last year.

Begiristain admits he would be wary of United’s desire for revenge should the two be pitted against each other again.

“We are strong and, if we want to be champions, we have to beat everyone,” he told Barça TV. “At this moment all the rivals are very strong but I would prefer to avoid Manchester United.

“I would not like to meet the club who were our opponents in the final last season because of the motivation they could have.

“I’m not scared about facing teams like Arsenal or Manchester United, because they would be great spectacles.

“The French have teams that play well too and we have the experience of facing Lyon last year.”

Barcelona cruised through to the quarter-finals with a convincing 5-1 aggregate victory over Stuttgart thanks to last night’s 4-0 second-leg triumph at the Nou Camp.

Begiristain hopes they have the fortune to be drawn to play the second leg at home. “The ideal would be to face the second leg of the tie in our stadium,” he added. “Last year we had bad luck and we played the return legs in Munich and London [against Chelsea].”

After 18 months and countless false dawns, Owen Hargreaves made his long-awaited United return on Thursday night, playing 45 minutes for the reserves.


And the England international immediately set his sights on helping United win a record fourth successive Premier League title.

In an MUTV exclusive, Owen Hargreaves reflects on his Reserves comeback.

Ex-opponents from United and Liverpool preview the big game for ManUtd.com.

Owen Hargreaves completed 45 minutes for United Reserves against Burnley.

Goals from Brandy and Evans keep United going strong at the top of the table.

Executive and Season Ticket holder application information…

Any right-thinking Red, pro or anti the Glazers, should condemn the treatment of oliver Gill on Sunday - and hope it was an isolated incident.


The son of chief executive, David Gill, and a United academy graduate, was treated to jeers as his name was announced as a substitute against Fulham.

Mickey Thomas inspired a comeback win over the then champions in April 1980.

Michael Carrick has urged Manchester United to hit the accelerator pedal as the Premier League finishing line comes into view.


United entertain old rivals Liverpool on Sunday knowing if they win all eight remaining games, an unprecedented fourth successive title - and a record 19th overall - will be theirs.

United sign three-and-a-half year deal with African telecomms company.

Manchester United have announced their third major sponsorship deal in a week.


Following on from high-profile partnerships with Telekom Malaysia and Turkish Airlines, United have added a seven-figure contract with African telecoms giant MTN that will see the company become their exclusive South African telecommunications partner for the next three-and-a-half years.

Vote for United’s end of season awards and you could win a fantastic prize.

Opposing fans help us to preview Sunday’s showdown with Liverpool.

Any right-thinking Red, pro or anti the Glazers, should condemn the treatment of oliver Gill on Sunday - and hope it was an isolated incident.


The son of chief executive, David Gill, and a United academy graduate, was treated to jeers as his name was announced as a substitute against Fulham.