Manchester United take on Villarreal in the Champions League on September 17 in an attempt to shake off the thumping from Liverpool at the weekend. The disappointment is exacerbated not so much by the 2-1 scoreline, but by the fact that the defending champions were completely outplayed and physically strangled by their Merseyside rivals.
According to Sir Alex Ferguson, as quoted on MUTV: United resembled a Conference side, we lost every tackle, we had no answer to Liverpools drive, so total and brutal was Liverpools domination.
And naturally, United are hoping that their new addition, Bulgarian striker Berbatov, will have an important contribution in the coming European clash. According to ex-United midfielder Mickey Thomas, Berbatov is yet to shine for United. The Bulgarian striker is lethal and possesses good control in critical situations, however against Liverpool he was isolated and received little support from his team mates, as the entire United team around him was crumbling apart.
In an interview published by the Manchester Evening News newsppaer, Thomas said that most of the balls given to Berbatov were long and difficult to control and United themselves "no longer had the strength to cope with Liverpool. He added that he was hoping those problems would be addressed in time when United take on the Spaniards.
Meanwhile, Villareal are going to have a familiar foe in their ranks when Champions League football returns to the Theatre of Dreams. Robert Pires, who used to play for Arsenal, is going to be harassing the United defenders once again after having passed fitness tests in Spain. Villarreal have won against Deportivo La Coruna this past weekend, which gives them a moral boost. However, Pires admits that the clash at Old Trafford is a completely different story and that the Spanish side will be very much the underdogs.
Manchester United will start the defence of their European crown against the Spanish side in their attempt to make European history become the first club to win the Champions League back-to-back. The last team to win the tournament, then called the European Champions' Cup, for two years running was John McGovern's Nottingham Forest nearly 30 years ago - the first and last time a British team had succeeded in lifting Europes prime trophy two years on a row.
Arsenal, for their part, will travel to Kiev to start their European campaign in their attempt to improve their continental record of England's Big Four, the Gunners have served their loyal supporters the largest share of disappointments. Yet, according to Arsenals official website, a successful start would be a draw in Kiev, as bluntly put by French manager Arsene Wenger.
Arsenal will be without midfielder Samir Nasri, the 21-year-old Frenchman who picked up a knock on his ankle. Furthermore, Mikael Silvestre, Gael Clichy and Emmanuel Eboue are all doubtful with various degrees of physical injuries, which are yet to be completely shaken off.
Wenger has claimed that Kiev would be a massive challenge so great a challenge in fact, that he would settle for a draw, which is rather unorthodox for the Arsenal helmsman to say before a game of such calibre. Then again, on the last three occasions the London side travelled to Ukraine, twice to Kiev and once to Donetsk, Arsenal conceded defeats on every single occasion.
Its a tough place to go, we will go there for a win, but if we only manage to scrap a point, it will be a success, Wenger told arsenal.com.
Arsenals campaign will pin them against Fenerbache and Porto, two more experienced European sides who have passionate home supporters and are tricky places for anyone visiting them on their own turf.
Scottish giants Celtic have the easiest start to their Champions League campaign and will entertain Danish side Aalborg in front of a sold-out Parkhead and 50 000 plus die-hard Scottish supporters.
The Danish side, however, are not to be intimidated by the atmosphere in Celtics manor and they insist that they have traveled from Denmark in search of a positive result, boosted by their win against Sampdoria in the UEFA cup last season and their dramatic performance at White Hart Lane against Tottenham when they went 2-0 up before losing to the Spurs.
The humble Danish side also faces in Group E Manchester United and Villarreal which makes their plight even more forlorn, but the brave Danes are not losing heart easily, even if Uniteds purchase of Berbatov at 30.75 million pounds is seven times the budget of the Danish club, according to Aalborg's director of football Lynge Jacobsen, as quoted by BBC.
Meanwhile, the weight of the strike force of Celtic is likely to rest on the shoulders of Greek hitman Giorgios Samaras, whose form since the beginning of the season for Celtic has been nothing short of brilliant. The Greek international has so far netted five goals, the last two coming against Motherwell on September 13, this in addition to his cutting edge form for Greece, where he has boosted his countrymen with goals in their away wins against Luxembourg and Latvia.
Celtic have not passed the last 16 stage in the past two seasons, whereas Aalborg, managed by Scott Bruce, are making their first appearance in the Champions League since 1995.
Other fixtures on September 17 are Porto versus Fenerbahce; Lyon versus Fiorentina; Steaua Bucharest versus Bayern Munich; Real Madrid versus BATE Borissov, the team that kept Bulgarian runners-up Levski Sofia out of the tournament with a defeat in the third qualifying round; and finally Juventus, making a return to European football following the Calciopoli scandal, who take on Uefa Cup holders Zenit St Petersburg.
