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United prepare to face fiery foes

Lille players dispute Manchester United's goal with referee Franck De Bleeckere during their Champions League match at the Felix Bollaert stadium in Lens on Feb. 20. PHOTO: AFP

Old Trafford will be a hotbed of emotion when Lille face Manchester United in the Champions League last 16, second leg today.

United hold a 1-0 lead from the first leg in northern France and are overwhelming favorites to progress to the quarter-finals for the first time since 2003.

But it was the nature of that 1-0 victory which has lit a fire under the return leg in England with Lille still feeling an acute sense of injustice.

Wily United winger Ryan Giggs snatched victory for the visitors with a clever quickly taken free-kick while Lille were still trying to organize their defensive wall.

The Lille players felt so outraged they started to walk off the pitch in what, according to their boss Claude Puel, was an acceptable form of protest, apparently common in the French league but unseen outside of France.

United are almost certain to be missing star England forward Wayne Rooney, who injured his knee against Liverpool on Saturday, while Sweden forward Henrik Larsson should make his penultimate appearance in a red shirt before his loan period ends and he returns to Sweden with Helsingborgs.

Lille also have injury problems with playmaker Yohan Cabaye and top scorer Mathieu Bodmer both out of the return leg but they will at least welcome back right winger Kader Keita.

Arsenal

In London, Arsenal are desperate to save their season but need to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven to do so.

Arsenal trail United by 20 points in the league and in the last 10 days they lost in the final of the League Cup to Chelsea and were knocked out of the FA Cup by Blackburn.

Europe, much like last season, remains their only hope for silverware, something not lost on French manager Arsene Wenger.

"If we lose to PSV it will be a big blow but it will not stop the club going forward. This team is a machine that nothing can stop progressing. I am convinced of that because of what I have seen of the youngsters," he said.

"The average age of the team that played in the League Cup final was 19. The future is very positive. That is why we have to be strong when we don't win," Wenger said.

Talisman Thierry Henry has only a 50 percent chance of being fit for the game but with what is at stake, Wenger is expected to take a gamble on his striker.

Real Madrid

Another side with injury difficulties is Real Madrid who travel to Bavaria to face Bayern Munich with a slender 3-2 lead from the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid.

But the galacticos lost midfielders David Beckham and Jose Antonio Reyes for a month after both went down with knee injuries in Sunday's 1-1 league draw against Getafe.

Real do welcome back Raul, who scored a brace in the first leg, but Bayern are confident, knowing that a 1-0 win will be enough to take them through on the away goals rule.

Real coach Fabio Capello is convinced he has enough at his disposal to see his team through.

"With this spirit and quality we can play a good game in Munich. We are only thinking about going through to the quarter-finals," he said.

Bayern have injury doubts over Brazilian defender Lucio and midfielder Hasan Salihamidzic after the pair pulled up in training on Monday.

But French international defender Willy Sagnol is confident collectivity will reign over individual flair in Munich.

"Real Madrid's individual quality speaks for itself, but our team spirit is stronger," he said.

The last of the four games takes place in Milan with AC Milan hosting Scottish champions Celtic in a tie delicately poised after a 0-0 first leg draw.

Celtic's Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura has warned his teammates against the Italians' dirty tricks, though, having seen them first hand when playing for Reggina in Italy.

"I'm not one to dive, but their strikers will be looking for penalties," Nakamura was quoted as saying in the Gazzetta dello Sport. "If the strikers go past you, all it takes is the slightest touch and they will hit the floor."

"This is where Scottish and Italian football differs. You don't often see diving in Scotland, and if somebody does the crowd shout `cheat,'" he said.
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