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| photo by Jeffrey Beall | via PhotoRee |
United attempts to book a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League tonight with a victory over Rangers at Ibrox. In addition to trying to secure the three points, tonight will represent a crucial return to the partnership between Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney, a partnership which has been little seen of late, but one which United fans are keen to see rekindled.
Tonight we'll also get to view the long unseen but never forgotten Ryan Giggs, who comes back to the starting lineup after a long spell out with a tweaked hamstring. Although the United offense and midfield are full of veterans, the defense features newboy Chris Smalling and youngster Jonny Evans, who has been benched for quite some time due to early season performance issues.
For Rangers, sadly from a purely American point of view, Maurice Edu is out tonight. The Scottish side stack the back, essentially playing five defenders in an effort to repeat the clean sheet earned at Old Trafford last the two sides met.
United look more lively from the start, Berbatov offering a header at the eight minute mark, but the ball is hit directly at the goalkeeper. Both Nani and Berbatov have shouts for penalties early on, although both are denied by a referee who sees nothing wrong with either challenge, with only Nani's bloody mouth serving as evidence of his maltreatment at the hands of the home side.
