Champions League Preview – Manchester United vs. Aalborg BK

By: Taylor Rockwell | September 30th, 2008

Matchday Two: Tuesday, September 30
Kickoff: 20:45 (2:45 PM EST)
Location: Energi Nord Arena, Aalborg, Denmark

United will look to get back to winning form in the Champions League against last year’s Danish Superligaen champs. It also looks to be the 4,308th game that will see Anderson play well, and yet still fail to score.

Not trying to be disrespectful to mighty Aalborg, but I know precisely nothing about the club or the city… hello Wikipedia…

Did you know…?
… that in 1516, Aalborg was granted a monopoly on salted herring?
… that Aalborg is said to be the first town to ever be captured by paratroopers due to their spotty resistance to the Germans in 1940? Yup, they were!
… that the city’s football team will also fall quickly to a vastly superior invading force sometime around 2:56EST?

Aalborg BK

The Danes have struggled despite their hard fought 0-0 draw with Celtic on Matchday 1. Significant losses to rival opposition (3-0 to FC Kopenhagen and 2-0 to AGF Aarhus), as well as a meager victory over Division Two side Brønshøj BK could spell a stormy night for the home side. The reversal of Australian Michael Beauchamp’s red card should give Aalborg some hope… at least until the whistle sounds.

Last starting XI (vs. Brønshøj BK): Zaza, Bøgelund (46 Lasse Nielsen), Beauchamp, Olfers, Michael Jakobsen, Thomas Augustinussen, Kasper Risgård, Andreas Johansson, Caca (66 Marek Saganowski), Anders Due (76 Martin Pedersen), Jeppe Curth

Squad: Zaza, Stenild, Pedersen, Beauchamp, Bøgelund, Olfers, Due, Johansson, Augustinussen, Saganowski, Curth, Caca, Bræmer, Sørensen, Nomvethe, Risgård, Enevoldsen, Nielsen, Schwartz, Kristensen.

Manchester United

United will once again be without the services of central midfielders Michaek Carrick (his leg hurts), Michael Carrick (his tendonitis hurts), or Gary Neville (his age hurts). Van Der Sar should get the start in between the sticks, having seemingly recovered from the knee knack he picked up against Chelsea a few weeks ago. My new hero Manucho should be on the bench, and could pick up some frozen minutes tonight. Look for Ferguson to use this as an opportunity to get Berba on the score sheet… often.

Last starting XI (vs. Bolton Wanderers): Van Der Sar, Ferdinand, Neville, Vidic, Evra, Slave (Nani 80), Fletcher, Anderson (Scholes 71), Park, Tevez (Rooney 71), Berbatov.
Subs Not Used: Amos, Giggs, O’Shea, Evans.

Squad: Van Der Sar, Kuszczak, Amos, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, O’Shea, Evans, Rafael Da Silva, Slave, Nani, Fletcher, Anderson, Scholes, Giggs, Park, Tevez, Rooney, Berbatov, Manucho.

Recent Results:

Aalborg BK

26th September vs. Brønshøj BK (A) won 3-2 (Extra Time) (LANDSPOKAL CUP)

21st September vs. FC Copenhagen (A) lost 3-0 (SUPERLIGAEN)

17th September vs. Celtic (A) drew 0-0 (CHAMP LG)

13th September vs. AGF Aarhus (H) lost 2-0 (SUPERLIGAEN)

31st August vs. SønderjyskE (A) won 2-1 (SUPERLIGAEN)

Manchester United

27th September vs. Bolton Wanderers (H) won 2-0 (PREM)

23rd September vs. Middlesbrough (H) won 3-1 (CARLING CUP)

21st September vs. Chelsea (A) drew 1-1 (PREM)

17th September vs. Villarreal C.F. (H) drew 0-0 (CHAMP LG)

13th September vs. Liverpool (A) lost 2-1 (PREM)

Prediction
3-0 to United… Berba gets his head on one, Anderson shoots wide, Slave does his pouty face act, Slave nets a good goal, Rooney picks up a totally necessary yellow card, and… what the hell… Fletcher finishes out the scoring…. Until Manucho comes on and gets 4 more a la Solskjaer against Nottingham Forrest.