Manchester United will continue on their quest to defend their European Championship. This time, they’ll face Porto, an old nemesis that knocked them out en route to their own title in 2004.
Manchester United are coming off an emotional, last-gasp victory against Aston Villa, so it will be interesting to see how much they have left in the tank for this match. They’ll want to win comfortably, thereby rendering the return leg academic. However, with the way they have struggled recently, I’m sure they’ll take any victory, no matter the circumstances. Dimitar Berbatov and Rio Ferdinand will be game-time decisions, as they look to recover from ankle and groin injuries, respectively. The good news for United, though, is that they’ll have Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes, and Nemanja Vidic back from Premiership-imposed suspensions. That could give United a huge advantage, especially with their depleted defense looking very ordinary lately and Carlos Tevez coming off two tough matches in the space of a week.
As for Porto, they took care of business over the weekend, easily dispatching of Guimaraes by a score of 3-1 despite missing their top European goalscorer, Lisandro Lopez, due to suspension. They’ll get Lopez, as well as midfielder Freddy Guarin back for this match, which should only help them as they hope to pick off a goal or two at Old Trafford. With the way United’s defense has been breached lately, Porto’s Big Three of Lopez, Hulk, and Lucho González could surprise a lot of people, especially Sir Alex Ferguson.
PREDICTION
Anyone tuning in for a repeat of the weekend’s rollercoaster ride at Old Trafford is going to be disappointed.
Porto and Manchester United will be a cagey affair, in which I expect the extra class of the Champions League holders to tell.
A narrow victory for the Red Devils will leave everything still to play for when the sides meet at the Estadio do Dragao in two weeks time.