Man United out for Greek test
26 Feb 2014 5:16 AM IST
Not only does the competition represent United’s last realistic hope of silverware this season, but David Moyes’s side may need to win the Champions League just to qualify for next season’s tournament.
Nevertheless, with Arsenal and Manchester City having already lost their own last 16 first-leg matches, to Bayern Munich and Barcelona respectively, the tournament final in Lisbon on May 24 remains a long way off. ‘Only one team can win it, and it’s very hard,’ United striker Robin van Persie told Champions magazine.
‘It’s a trophy many players don’t win; once, if you’re very lucky. You have a couple of players who’ve won it more than once, but it’s a very special trophy everyone wants to win every year.
‘It seems to get harder every year to win it, because the teams are getting better and better. So it’s always hard if you want something everyone wants.’
Mata is cup-tied in the Champions League, but Moyes hopes to have defenders Rafael da Silva, Phil Jones and Jonny Evans available to face Olympiakos after the trio sat out the trip to Palace due to injury. United are unbeaten against Greek teams and Olympiakos have not reached the Champions League quarter-finals since 1999, although they have won at home to Arsenal twice in the last two seasons.
The Greek giants can nonetheless take heart from their breathtaking domestic form, having won 24 and drawn two of their opening 26 league games and reached the semi-finals in the Greek Cup.
Saturday’s 4-0 win at OFI Crete came at a cost, however, with experienced Argentine striker Javier Saviola forced off with a left thigh injury that has ruled him out of the game against United.
Serbian forward Marko Scepovic, Saviola’s replacement, scored a hat-trick, but he is ineligible to play against United, having turned out for Partizan Belgrade earlier in the tournament.
With top scorer Kostas Mitroglou having left for Fulham last month, Nigerian forward Michael Olaitan is expected to lead the line. Olympiakos coach Michel, the former Real Madrid midfielder, believes that his side’s performance against OFI proves that they are ready for the challenge of tackling United. ‘I’d love to see my team have the same concentration, the same passion and enthusiasm that we had (against OFI) in the match against Manchester United,’ he said.
‘We treat every match with the same seriousness and I believe we will also have a good performance tomorrow in the Champions League.’
United will look to seal a tough away tie in Greece knowing away goals would play pivotal in their quest for a quarter final berth.
The second leg of the tie will be played at Old Trafford and that will prove handy after Tuesday’s tie.
ST. PETERSBURG: Jurgen Klopp’s men go into the first leg of their last 16 tie on the back of a 3-0 humbling at Hamburg, but they face a side which has not played a competitive game since December.
Borussia Dortmund’s bid to improve on last season’s runner-up finish in the Champions League resumes at Zenit on Tuesday.
Dortmund topped Group F this time around, albeit only narrowly after Arsenal and Napoli also finished on 12 points. Zenit, meanwhile, has not played a competitive match since its final Champions League group game on December 11 thanks to Russia’s winter break.
Zenit defender Anatoliy Tymoshchuk feels the hosts are in good shape and will provide a fight against the visitors.’We worked so hard in training that we did not have time to shave,’ Tymoshchuk said. ‘Two training sessions a day. We are very well prepared. the sessions were well organised and the team worked on high-performance tasks set by the coaching staff. So we are ready for tomorrow’s match.’
Nevertheless, with Arsenal and Manchester City having already lost their own last 16 first-leg matches, to Bayern Munich and Barcelona respectively, the tournament final in Lisbon on May 24 remains a long way off. ‘Only one team can win it, and it’s very hard,’ United striker Robin van Persie told Champions magazine.
‘It’s a trophy many players don’t win; once, if you’re very lucky. You have a couple of players who’ve won it more than once, but it’s a very special trophy everyone wants to win every year.
‘It seems to get harder every year to win it, because the teams are getting better and better. So it’s always hard if you want something everyone wants.’
Mata is cup-tied in the Champions League, but Moyes hopes to have defenders Rafael da Silva, Phil Jones and Jonny Evans available to face Olympiakos after the trio sat out the trip to Palace due to injury. United are unbeaten against Greek teams and Olympiakos have not reached the Champions League quarter-finals since 1999, although they have won at home to Arsenal twice in the last two seasons.
The Greek giants can nonetheless take heart from their breathtaking domestic form, having won 24 and drawn two of their opening 26 league games and reached the semi-finals in the Greek Cup.
Saturday’s 4-0 win at OFI Crete came at a cost, however, with experienced Argentine striker Javier Saviola forced off with a left thigh injury that has ruled him out of the game against United.
Serbian forward Marko Scepovic, Saviola’s replacement, scored a hat-trick, but he is ineligible to play against United, having turned out for Partizan Belgrade earlier in the tournament.
With top scorer Kostas Mitroglou having left for Fulham last month, Nigerian forward Michael Olaitan is expected to lead the line. Olympiakos coach Michel, the former Real Madrid midfielder, believes that his side’s performance against OFI proves that they are ready for the challenge of tackling United. ‘I’d love to see my team have the same concentration, the same passion and enthusiasm that we had (against OFI) in the match against Manchester United,’ he said.
‘We treat every match with the same seriousness and I believe we will also have a good performance tomorrow in the Champions League.’
United will look to seal a tough away tie in Greece knowing away goals would play pivotal in their quest for a quarter final berth.
The second leg of the tie will be played at Old Trafford and that will prove handy after Tuesday’s tie.
ST. PETERSBURG: Jurgen Klopp’s men go into the first leg of their last 16 tie on the back of a 3-0 humbling at Hamburg, but they face a side which has not played a competitive game since December.
Borussia Dortmund’s bid to improve on last season’s runner-up finish in the Champions League resumes at Zenit on Tuesday.
Dortmund topped Group F this time around, albeit only narrowly after Arsenal and Napoli also finished on 12 points. Zenit, meanwhile, has not played a competitive match since its final Champions League group game on December 11 thanks to Russia’s winter break.
Zenit defender Anatoliy Tymoshchuk feels the hosts are in good shape and will provide a fight against the visitors.’We worked so hard in training that we did not have time to shave,’ Tymoshchuk said. ‘Two training sessions a day. We are very well prepared. the sessions were well organised and the team worked on high-performance tasks set by the coaching staff. So we are ready for tomorrow’s match.’
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