Manchester United gaffer David Moyes will have his first
opportunity to gets his first taste of UEFA Champions’ League group stage
action when his side face Bayer Leverkusen tomorrow evening.
The Old Trafford outfit head into Tuesday's encounter against the
Germans opposition ready to compete at the business end of the Champions League
for an 18th successive season, and with their sights set on a fourth title.
Although, it is business as usual for the Premier League
champions, the match represents new territory for their new manager David Moyes.
He has taken on the toughest of tasks after replacing Alex
Ferguson in the Old Trafford dugout, the veteran Scot having retired after
guiding United to Champions League success twice, firstly in 1999 and then in
2008.
Ferguson could not make it a hat-trick of titles last season as
they were knocked out in the Round of 16 by Real Madrid, but Moyes still faces
a huge challenge to emulate the achievements of his predecessor.
And he will start his bid with very little European experience to
draw on, having only enjoyed the briefest of forays into the competition in the
past when his Everton side were knocked out of the third qualifying round by
Manuel Pellegrini's Villarreal in 2005.
If he is to make a flying start this year, he must reverse an
underwhelming home run in Europe that has seen United win only three of their
last nine matches on their own patch, although they have only ever lost twice
at Old Trafford against German opposition in 12 encounters.
In terms of his selection plans, Moyes faces a dilemma over the
fitness of Wayne Rooney, after the England striker played the full 90 minutes
of United’s 2-0 win against Crystal Palace on Saturday wearing a special
headband to protect a head wound that ruled him out of international duty.
Meanwhile, in the opposing dugout on Tuesday will be a fellow
rookie in the competition in the shape of Sami Hyypia, a former player of
United’s Premier League rivals Liverpool and a winner of this trophy as a
player with the Anfield club back in 2005.
He was part of the side, led by Rafael Benitez, that came from 3-0
down to beat Milan on penalties.
Since Leverkusen last played United in 2002-03 they have only
qualified for the group stage twice and on both occasions they progressed to
the last 16.
However, they make the journey to Old Trafford having never won in
the country after two draws and six losses on English soil.
While United only added Marouane Fellaini to their first-team
squad as the transfer window slammed shut, Leverkusen made no fewer than 10
additions to the group available to Hyypia, while a further 13 players departed
during a busy close-season.
Their new-look squad appears to have gelled well as they sit in
third place in the Bundesliga after five matches, with Hyypia once again likely
to look to in-form duo Sidney Sam and Stefan Kiessling to lead their charge,
with both having scored four times already this campaign - including in
Saturday's 3-1 win over Wolfsburg.
