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Red Devils try to hit 2 goals with 1 victory

Comment: 0 November 22nd, 2011 by: admin

MANCHESTER United will try to achieve two goals when they battle Benfica on Tuesday at Old Trafford.

First is to stop the unbeaten start of the Portuguese side this season and second is to clinch a place in the knockout stage of the Champions League.

The latest chapter in the decades-old rivalry between both teams will be crucial since a victory for either side will almost certainly guarantee them of ruling Group C.

In the two outfits’ clashes in Lisbon earlier in the group, United charged back to force a 1-1 tie as Benfica stayed without a loss in 20 fixtures across all competitions this year.

United are going into the fray buoyed by five straight triumphs which were matched by five clean sheets which underscores that their defence are now clicking since their 1-6 swamping from Manchester City last month.

‘Keeping clean sheets has been an integral part of our success,’ said United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, whose team’s latest success came via 1 -0 win over Swansea in the Premier League the past weekend.

Ferguson added that triumph enabled his men to regain their focus, which had been lacking from their early games this season.

‘The concentration we showed is exactly the concentration we need back in the team,’ he said.

While their defence is slowly regaining strength, United will be under pressure from midfield in their tiff against Benfica.

Ferguson experimented using Wayne Rooney at central midfield against Romanian team Otelul Galati earlier this month and the ploy did wonders for the squad.  However it also exposed that United lack a solid playmaker who can run the game from that area like the now-retired Paul Scholes once did for the team.

Against Benfica, Ferguson is expected to field in Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick and Park Ji-Sung at midfield. Another option would be the 19-year-old Phil Jones.

United beat Benifca at Wembley in 1968 to nail their first European crown.

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