Manchester United v. Bayern Leverkusen
Tuesday April 30, 2002
After being held at home in the first leg, Manchester United know they must get a positive result at Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday to make the final of the Champions League at Hampden Park, Glasgow. However, can they do it?
Captain Roy Keane's recovery from a hamstring problem is a timely boost for the English champions and United will look to their inspirational midfielder for the hunger and determination that will be needed if they are to progress. Not only will his passing and tackling help The Reds, but he will also ensure that every other United player does his job and especially monitor Juan Veron?s (likely to fill Beckham?s void) movements to make sure he is as effective off the ball as he is on it. So although United will still be without Gary Neville, his brother Phil should ably deputise, whilst Blanc and Johnsen have been passed fit to play. Barthez, Silvestre, Solskjaer, Giggs and Scholes will all also be ready to play following their rest for the Ipswich game.
United are looking to Keane to repeat his heroics from Turin three years ago when he almost single-handedly carried the Reds to a famous victory over Juventus when they run out at the BayArena.
Ferguson believes his skipper is equal to this challenge and claims he is even more important to the club than either Bryan Robson or Eric Cantona were.
"I think it's a well-known fact that he's the most influential player we have had at our club ever probably," said the United manager.
"I think Robson had the qualities we're talking about with Roy.
"Some players come along maybe once in a lifetime and I've been fortunate to have the both of them.
"Bryan Robson was different from Roy in some aspects, but they shared the one common denominator and that was the driving force within themselves. They made other players play.
"Eric was more of a talisman and he also was the catalyst for what we were trying to achieve at that time.
"We needed someone maybe just to stick their chest out and tell everyone we were a very good team and he did that."
Keane's performance in the Stadio delle Alpi, when he put aside the disappointment of a booking which ruled him out of the final to inspire United to one of their finest European nights, is indelibly marked on Ferguson's mind.
"It was selfless," he said. "I think he was booked in the 17th or 18th minute of the match.
"He knew he couldn't play in the final, but put in a performance.
"It's difficult to say one performance took us to the final, particularly because they all played so well on the night, but the inspiration of how he went about his business without letting it affect him, told you something about the man's character.
"I think it was a most fantastic performance and it always registers in my mind.
"It was a once-in-a-lifetime performance from Keane considering the consequences surrounding his non-appearance in the final."
Ironically a booking would rule Keane out of the final again and Ferguson hopes referee Kim Milton Nielsen, who famously sent off David Beckham in France 98, handles the game sensibly.
Nicky Butt, Laurent Blanc and Ruud van Nistelrooy are walking the same disciplinary tightrope and Ferguson said: "You can only play with honesty and hope that the referee understands the nature of the importance of the game.
"You can't ask players to go out and be restricted because of the yellow-card situation."
Following the disappointment of Wednesday's 2-2 draw at Old Trafford in the semi-final first leg, United are in confident mood, even though their last win in Germany was in 1965.
The Manchester United fans? level of expectation is now so high that they expect to win at least one trophy every year. An empty trophy cabinet will be seen as a failure and as this year?s Champions League is United?s best chance of silverware this season, the away leg at Bayer Leverkusen could define whether Man U?s season has been a success or not.
United 4-4-2 (probable): Barthez - P. Neville, Blanc, Johnsen, Silvestre - Veron, Keane, Scholes, Giggs - Solskjaer, Van Nistelrooy.
Leverkusen have an injury concern over Ballack but Toppmoller will be able to pick his side from an otherwise full strength squad. What is also a worry to Leverkusen fans will be the team?s form. The club will want to see a reward for their season?s efforts but last weekend they lost away to Nuremburg which means that they have not only lost their last two league games but have also surrendered top spot in the Bundesliga to Dortmund. After all the good work done by Toppmoller, it would be a shame, yet still a quite likely scenario if Leverkusen ended the season trophy-less.
Leverkusen have a very good home record both domestically and in Europe. In the Bundesliga, they have played sixteen games in the BayArena, won thirteen, drawn one and lost just two whilst scoring 44 goals (an average of just under three goals per game) and only conceding 12 (less than a goal per game). In fact in all competitions this season, Leverkusen have only failed to score at home once. In European competition though, Leverkusen have scored in all their home games and scored at least three goals against Juventus, Deportivo and Liverpool.
A big concern for Bayer going into this match is the staggering amount of players they have that will be forced to sit out a prospective final if they pick up a yellow card. No less than nine Leverkusen regulars will be sweating bullets at every mistimed tackled, those being: Jens Nowotny, Diego Placente, Michael Ballack, Lucio, Thomas Brdaric, Zoltan Sebescen, Oliver Neuville, Boris Zivkovic and Ze Roberto.
Bayer 4-5-1 (probable): Butt - Placente, Lucio, Nowotny, Zivkovic - Ze Roberto, Basturk, Ballack, Ramelow, Schneider - Berbatov.
Bayer crashed to a shock 1-0 defeat away to lowly 1 FC Nurnberg on the weekend, which means that, after nine weeks of leading the league, Klaus Toppmoeller's side no longer hold their destiny in their own hands going into the last round of the season - that privilege now belongs to Borussia Dortmund.
Bayer director Reiner Calmund has admitted: "We shouldn't be carried away as Manchester United can always get a result, no matter where they play."
Bulgaria striker Dimitar Berbatov fears that Manchester United could break Bayer Leverkusen hearts in the Champions' League semi-final second-leg at the BayArena. "Manchester United are Red Devils and they could easily shatter our dreams," he told our correspondent. "We're so close to heaven, but we also know that United could turn it into hell." The 21-year-old played as a lone striker in the first leg, but received plenty of support from midfielders Michael Ballack, Yildiray Basturk and Ze Roberto as the visitors dominated the English champions for long periods. "So far, the tactics that Toppmoller has used have been spot on," he claimed. "The performance at Old Trafford was one of our best of the season, but we will have to reproduce that to go through. "United are probably the best team in Europe. They have some tremendous players like Roy Keane, Juan Veron, Ruud van Nistelrooy and David Beckham, and they'll do everything to try to beat us. But I'm confident that we will be ready," he added.
Leverkusen Recent Matches :
04/06/2002 Leverkusen-1. FC Koeln Bundesliga 2-0
04/09/2002 Leverkusen-Liverpool Champions League 4-2
04/13/2002 SV Hamburg-Leverkusen Bundesliga 1-1
04/20/2002 Leverkusen-Werder Bremen Bundesliga 1-2
04/24/2002 Man Utd-Leverkusen Champions League 2-2
04/27/2002 Nurnberg-Leverkusen Bundesliga 1-0
Leverkusen UEFA CL Recent Matches :
08/08/2001 Red Star Belgrade-Leverkusen 0-0
08/21/2001 Leverkusen-Red Star Belgrade 3-0
09/18/2001 Lyon-Leverkusen 0-1
09/25/2001 Leverkusen-Barcelona 2-1
10/10/2001 Leverkusen-Fenerbah?e 2-1
10/17/2001 Barcelona-Leverkusen 2-1
10/23/2001 Fenerbah?e-Leverkusen 1-2
10/31/2001 Leverkusen-Lyon 2-4
11/29/2001 Juventus-Leverkusen 4-0
12/04/2001 Leverkusen-Deportivo 3-0
02/19/2002 Leverkusen-Arsenal 1-1
02/27/2002 Arsenal-Leverkusen 4-1
03/12/2002 Leverkusen-Juventus 3-1
03/20/2002 Deportivo-Leverkusen 1-3
04/03/2002 Liverpool-Leverkusen 1-0
04/09/2002 Leverkusen-Liverpool 4-2
04/24/2002 Man Utd-Leverkusen 2-2
Man Utd Recent Matches :
04/02/2002 Deportivo -Man Utd Champions League 0-2
04/06/2002 Leicester-Man Utd Premier League 0-1
04/10/2002 Man Utd-Deportivo Champions League 3-2
04/20/2002 Chelsea-Man Utd Premier League 0-3
04/24/2002 Man Utd-Leverkusen Champions League 2-2
04/27/2002 Ipswich Town-Man Utd Premier League 0-1
Man Utd UEFA CL Recent Matches :
09/18/2001 Man Utd-Lille 1-0
09/25/2001 Deportivo-Man Utd 2-1
10/10/2001 Olympiakos-Man Utd 0-2
10/17/2001 Man Utd-Deportivo 2-3
10/23/2001 Man Utd-Olympiakos 3-0
10/31/2001 Lille-Man Utd 1-1
11/20/2001 Bayern Munich-Man Utd 1-1
12/05/2001 Man Utd-Boavista 3-0
02/20/2002 Nantes-Man Utd 1-1
02/26/2002 Man Utd-Nantes 5-1
03/13/2002 Man Utd-Bayern Munich 0-0
03/19/2002 Boavista-Man Utd 0-3
04/02/2002 Deportivo -Man Utd 0-2
04/10/2002 Man Utd-Deportivo 3-2
04/24/2002 Man Utd-Leverkusen 2-2
Head to head :
04/24/2002 Man Utd-Leverkusen 2-2
My money is on. . .
Half-time/Full-time Manchester United/Manchester United +400
Good Luck!
Tuesday April 30, 2002
After being held at home in the first leg, Manchester United know they must get a positive result at Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday to make the final of the Champions League at Hampden Park, Glasgow. However, can they do it?
Captain Roy Keane's recovery from a hamstring problem is a timely boost for the English champions and United will look to their inspirational midfielder for the hunger and determination that will be needed if they are to progress. Not only will his passing and tackling help The Reds, but he will also ensure that every other United player does his job and especially monitor Juan Veron?s (likely to fill Beckham?s void) movements to make sure he is as effective off the ball as he is on it. So although United will still be without Gary Neville, his brother Phil should ably deputise, whilst Blanc and Johnsen have been passed fit to play. Barthez, Silvestre, Solskjaer, Giggs and Scholes will all also be ready to play following their rest for the Ipswich game.
United are looking to Keane to repeat his heroics from Turin three years ago when he almost single-handedly carried the Reds to a famous victory over Juventus when they run out at the BayArena.
Ferguson believes his skipper is equal to this challenge and claims he is even more important to the club than either Bryan Robson or Eric Cantona were.
"I think it's a well-known fact that he's the most influential player we have had at our club ever probably," said the United manager.
"I think Robson had the qualities we're talking about with Roy.
"Some players come along maybe once in a lifetime and I've been fortunate to have the both of them.
"Bryan Robson was different from Roy in some aspects, but they shared the one common denominator and that was the driving force within themselves. They made other players play.
"Eric was more of a talisman and he also was the catalyst for what we were trying to achieve at that time.
"We needed someone maybe just to stick their chest out and tell everyone we were a very good team and he did that."
Keane's performance in the Stadio delle Alpi, when he put aside the disappointment of a booking which ruled him out of the final to inspire United to one of their finest European nights, is indelibly marked on Ferguson's mind.
"It was selfless," he said. "I think he was booked in the 17th or 18th minute of the match.
"He knew he couldn't play in the final, but put in a performance.
"It's difficult to say one performance took us to the final, particularly because they all played so well on the night, but the inspiration of how he went about his business without letting it affect him, told you something about the man's character.
"I think it was a most fantastic performance and it always registers in my mind.
"It was a once-in-a-lifetime performance from Keane considering the consequences surrounding his non-appearance in the final."
Ironically a booking would rule Keane out of the final again and Ferguson hopes referee Kim Milton Nielsen, who famously sent off David Beckham in France 98, handles the game sensibly.
Nicky Butt, Laurent Blanc and Ruud van Nistelrooy are walking the same disciplinary tightrope and Ferguson said: "You can only play with honesty and hope that the referee understands the nature of the importance of the game.
"You can't ask players to go out and be restricted because of the yellow-card situation."
Following the disappointment of Wednesday's 2-2 draw at Old Trafford in the semi-final first leg, United are in confident mood, even though their last win in Germany was in 1965.
The Manchester United fans? level of expectation is now so high that they expect to win at least one trophy every year. An empty trophy cabinet will be seen as a failure and as this year?s Champions League is United?s best chance of silverware this season, the away leg at Bayer Leverkusen could define whether Man U?s season has been a success or not.
United 4-4-2 (probable): Barthez - P. Neville, Blanc, Johnsen, Silvestre - Veron, Keane, Scholes, Giggs - Solskjaer, Van Nistelrooy.
Leverkusen have an injury concern over Ballack but Toppmoller will be able to pick his side from an otherwise full strength squad. What is also a worry to Leverkusen fans will be the team?s form. The club will want to see a reward for their season?s efforts but last weekend they lost away to Nuremburg which means that they have not only lost their last two league games but have also surrendered top spot in the Bundesliga to Dortmund. After all the good work done by Toppmoller, it would be a shame, yet still a quite likely scenario if Leverkusen ended the season trophy-less.
Leverkusen have a very good home record both domestically and in Europe. In the Bundesliga, they have played sixteen games in the BayArena, won thirteen, drawn one and lost just two whilst scoring 44 goals (an average of just under three goals per game) and only conceding 12 (less than a goal per game). In fact in all competitions this season, Leverkusen have only failed to score at home once. In European competition though, Leverkusen have scored in all their home games and scored at least three goals against Juventus, Deportivo and Liverpool.
A big concern for Bayer going into this match is the staggering amount of players they have that will be forced to sit out a prospective final if they pick up a yellow card. No less than nine Leverkusen regulars will be sweating bullets at every mistimed tackled, those being: Jens Nowotny, Diego Placente, Michael Ballack, Lucio, Thomas Brdaric, Zoltan Sebescen, Oliver Neuville, Boris Zivkovic and Ze Roberto.
Bayer 4-5-1 (probable): Butt - Placente, Lucio, Nowotny, Zivkovic - Ze Roberto, Basturk, Ballack, Ramelow, Schneider - Berbatov.
Bayer crashed to a shock 1-0 defeat away to lowly 1 FC Nurnberg on the weekend, which means that, after nine weeks of leading the league, Klaus Toppmoeller's side no longer hold their destiny in their own hands going into the last round of the season - that privilege now belongs to Borussia Dortmund.
Bayer director Reiner Calmund has admitted: "We shouldn't be carried away as Manchester United can always get a result, no matter where they play."
Bulgaria striker Dimitar Berbatov fears that Manchester United could break Bayer Leverkusen hearts in the Champions' League semi-final second-leg at the BayArena. "Manchester United are Red Devils and they could easily shatter our dreams," he told our correspondent. "We're so close to heaven, but we also know that United could turn it into hell." The 21-year-old played as a lone striker in the first leg, but received plenty of support from midfielders Michael Ballack, Yildiray Basturk and Ze Roberto as the visitors dominated the English champions for long periods. "So far, the tactics that Toppmoller has used have been spot on," he claimed. "The performance at Old Trafford was one of our best of the season, but we will have to reproduce that to go through. "United are probably the best team in Europe. They have some tremendous players like Roy Keane, Juan Veron, Ruud van Nistelrooy and David Beckham, and they'll do everything to try to beat us. But I'm confident that we will be ready," he added.
Leverkusen Recent Matches :
04/06/2002 Leverkusen-1. FC Koeln Bundesliga 2-0
04/09/2002 Leverkusen-Liverpool Champions League 4-2
04/13/2002 SV Hamburg-Leverkusen Bundesliga 1-1
04/20/2002 Leverkusen-Werder Bremen Bundesliga 1-2
04/24/2002 Man Utd-Leverkusen Champions League 2-2
04/27/2002 Nurnberg-Leverkusen Bundesliga 1-0
Leverkusen UEFA CL Recent Matches :
08/08/2001 Red Star Belgrade-Leverkusen 0-0
08/21/2001 Leverkusen-Red Star Belgrade 3-0
09/18/2001 Lyon-Leverkusen 0-1
09/25/2001 Leverkusen-Barcelona 2-1
10/10/2001 Leverkusen-Fenerbah?e 2-1
10/17/2001 Barcelona-Leverkusen 2-1
10/23/2001 Fenerbah?e-Leverkusen 1-2
10/31/2001 Leverkusen-Lyon 2-4
11/29/2001 Juventus-Leverkusen 4-0
12/04/2001 Leverkusen-Deportivo 3-0
02/19/2002 Leverkusen-Arsenal 1-1
02/27/2002 Arsenal-Leverkusen 4-1
03/12/2002 Leverkusen-Juventus 3-1
03/20/2002 Deportivo-Leverkusen 1-3
04/03/2002 Liverpool-Leverkusen 1-0
04/09/2002 Leverkusen-Liverpool 4-2
04/24/2002 Man Utd-Leverkusen 2-2
Man Utd Recent Matches :
04/02/2002 Deportivo -Man Utd Champions League 0-2
04/06/2002 Leicester-Man Utd Premier League 0-1
04/10/2002 Man Utd-Deportivo Champions League 3-2
04/20/2002 Chelsea-Man Utd Premier League 0-3
04/24/2002 Man Utd-Leverkusen Champions League 2-2
04/27/2002 Ipswich Town-Man Utd Premier League 0-1
Man Utd UEFA CL Recent Matches :
09/18/2001 Man Utd-Lille 1-0
09/25/2001 Deportivo-Man Utd 2-1
10/10/2001 Olympiakos-Man Utd 0-2
10/17/2001 Man Utd-Deportivo 2-3
10/23/2001 Man Utd-Olympiakos 3-0
10/31/2001 Lille-Man Utd 1-1
11/20/2001 Bayern Munich-Man Utd 1-1
12/05/2001 Man Utd-Boavista 3-0
02/20/2002 Nantes-Man Utd 1-1
02/26/2002 Man Utd-Nantes 5-1
03/13/2002 Man Utd-Bayern Munich 0-0
03/19/2002 Boavista-Man Utd 0-3
04/02/2002 Deportivo -Man Utd 0-2
04/10/2002 Man Utd-Deportivo 3-2
04/24/2002 Man Utd-Leverkusen 2-2
Head to head :
04/24/2002 Man Utd-Leverkusen 2-2
My money is on. . .
Half-time/Full-time Manchester United/Manchester United +400
Good Luck!
