Manchester United FC v LOSC Lille Métropole MATCH PRESS KIT Old Trafford, Manchester Wednesday, 7 March 2007 - 20:45CET First knockout round, second leg - Matchday 8 Contents 1 - Match background 7 - UEFA information 2 - Match facts 8 - Match-by-match lineups 3 - Squad list 9 - Competition facts 4 - Head coach profiles 10 - Team facts 5 - Match officials 11 - Competition information 6 - Domestic information 12 - Legend Match background LOSC Lille Metropole visit Manchester United FC in the second leg of their first knockout round tie needing to dent one of the competition's most formidable home records if they are to progress to the last eight. Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Lille must win at Old Trafford where their hosts have lost just once in their last 27 UEFA Champions League games. • Ryan Giggs' 83rd-minute free-kick was the difference between the teams when they met in Lens on 20 February - and inflicted a first UEFA Champions League home defeat on Claude Puel's side. • The result leaves Lille needing to repeat their heroics of Matchday 6 when a 2-0 win at AC Milan – courtesy of Peter Odemwingie and Kader Keita - carried them into the knockout rounds for the first time. That was Lille's first away win in the UEFA Champions League in nine attempts, including this season’s 1-1 draw at RSC Anderlecht and 1-0 defeat at AEK Athens FC. • It is eleven years since the only occasion a side recovered from a first-leg home defeat in the UEFA Champions League. Then holders AFC Ajax achieved the feat in their 1995/96 semi-final against Panathinaikos FC, bouncing back from a 1-0 reverse with a 3-0 triumph in Greece. Since then there have been 14 failed attempts at a fightback. • United, seeking a first quarter-final place since 2002/03, won all three home fixtures in the group stage, scoring three goals each time. After opening their campaign with a 3-2 defeat of Celtic FC, they secured further victories against FC København (3-0) and SL Benfica (3-1). The last team to win at Old Trafford in the competition were AC Milan, 1-0 victors at this stage in 2004/05. • If United can maintain their advantage in the tie, they will avenge last season's results against Lille who drew 0-0 at Old Trafford on 18 October 2005 and two weeks later beat the English team 1-0 in France. Their failure to defeat Les Dogues ensured United finished the 2005/06 group stage bottom of their section with third-placed Lille progressing to the UEFA Cup. • Including last season's Old Trafford stalemate, United have never lost at home against French opposition, winning six and drawing three. For their part Lille’s record on English soil reads one win, one draw and one defeat. Last updated 06.03.2007 11:15:54CET www.uefa.com Page 1 Manchester United FC v LOSC Lille Métropole MATCH PRESS KIT • The French side were narrow losers on their first visit to Old Trafford, going down to an 89th-minute David Beckham goal in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League group stage. Defenders Grégory Tafforeau and Rafael Schmitz were the only current Lille players to appear that night, the latter as a substitute. Wes Brown, Giggs, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes all started for United with Ole Gunnar Solskjær featuring as a substitute. • Lille's only other trip to England came in the 2002/03 UEFA Intertoto Cup semi-final where they won 2-0 at Aston Villa FC to secure a 3-1 aggregate success. • United's first home match against visitors from France was actually played on the south coast of England. Plymouth provided the venue for the Red Devils' 2-0 win over AS Saint-Etienne FC in the 1977/78 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round after crowd trouble in the first leg meant United had to stage the return at least 300km from Old Trafford. • In his playing days with AS Monaco FC, Lille coach Puel won in England, Scotland and Wales. He appeared in a 2-1 victory at Dundee United FC in the 1981/82 UEFA Cup, an identical success at Swansea City FC in the 1991/92 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and a 1-0 win at Leeds United AFC in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup. Against both Dundee United and Leeds, however, the ties were lost on aggregate. • The winning team will advance to the 9 March draw in Athens for the quarter-finals and semi-finals. The Greek capital will also stage the final on Wednesday 23 May. Match facts Manchester United • The visit of SL Benfica in the final Group F game marked Sir Alex Ferguson's 200th match on the bench in UEFA club competition. • Four United players have featured in all seven UEFA Champions League matches to date: Edwin van der Sar, Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney. Only Van der Sar has played all 630 minutes so far. • Scholes and Van der Sar both made their 100th appearances in UEFA club competition against Benfica. Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs had already reached the landmark and have each played 107 European matches to date. • Neville and Giggs are both closing in on a century of UEFA Champions League appearances having featured in 97 and 91 'group stage to final' matches respectively. • Carrick, meanwhile, made his UEFA Champions League debut against Celtic on Matchday 1, which was also only his second appearance in UEFA club competition. Nemanja Vidić took his bow in the competition against Benfica on Matchday 2. • Scholes scored his 20th goal in the UEFA Champions League on Matchday 3 and has now also made 91 appearances in the competition. Ole Gunnar Solskjær, meanwhile, is one goal short of the same total having played 16 games fewer. • Alan Smith made his 50th appearance in UEFA club competition in the 1-0 defeat at FC København on Matchday 4. • Loan signing Henrik Larsson is the top UEFA club competition scorer in the United squad with 46 goals in 92 European appearances. The Swedish striker has, however, managed only six goals in 27 UEFA Champions League games. Last updated 06.03.2007 11:15:54 CET www.uefa.com Page 2 Manchester United FC v LOSC Lille Métropole MATCH PRESS KIT • Louis Saha is one of five players who has scored four goals in the first seven games; Didier Drogba, Fernando Morientes, Kaká, Raúl González and Ruud van Nistelrooy are the top scorers with five goals each. • Cristiano Ronaldo has set up three goals in the first seven matchdays, two fewer than Juninho Pernambucano who has provided the most assists in the competition. Saha is one of 28 players who has two assists to his name. • Saha has had 12 shots on goal, one fewer than Kaká, who had the most in the first seven matchdays. Ronaldo has managed nine attempts on goal. • Rooney has missed the target on 13 occasions, one fewer than Thierry Henry. Saha has had eleven shots wide, while Ronaldo has missed the target eight times to date. • Rooney has been caught offside six times, eleven fewer than Mohamed Tchite, who is no longer involved in the competition. • Scholes has committed 14 fouls, ten fewer than Brandão, who is no longer involved in the competition. • Ronaldo is the most fouled player in the United squad, have been impeded 14 times, ten fewer than Artem Milevskiy, Ronaldinho and Francesco Totti. • United have had 88 shots on goal, 13 fewer than Lille who have had the most of any team in the last 16. • United have scored eleven goals in the competition, but have yet to find the net inside the first 29 minutes of any game. • Vidić and Evra were both booked in the first match against Lille, and the latter is now one caution away from a one-match suspension. Scholes is also facing a similar threat after two yellow cards in the group stage. • Tomasz Kuszczak will be 25 on 20 March. • United made it eight wins in nine games on Saturday as John O'Shea's added-time winner earned a 1-0 victory against Liverpool FC at Anfield. The Irish international struck from close range after goalkeeper Pepe Reina had failed to deal with Ronaldo's free-kick. United were by then down to ten men following Scholes' 85th-minute red card. • Sir Alex said: "Liverpool will feel unlucky and they deserve to. We had a lot of narrow escapes and they upset our rhythm. It was a massive victory. If you are looking for the luck of champions, then we have certainly had that in the last two matches. We broke away late on against Fulham [FC] and scored and now we've done it here. We've had that bit of luck in the last two weeks but you need luck if you are to win titles." • Sir Alex could be without Solskjær for a month following knee surgery last week, but United were otherwise at full strength for the visit to Anfield. Neville came back into the side having been rested since the Lille match, while in attack Rooney was partnered by Larsson, who was making his final Premiership appearance before returning to Helsingborgs IF. Rooney limped off with 18 minutes left after suffering a gashed leg following a high challenge from Jamie Carragher. • The victory against Liverpool was the first time United had won both league games against their north-west rivals for three seasons.