Football story by Boris Webb, Wed, 23 Nov 2005 18:32:00 GMT


LONDON - Manchester United left themselves a mountain to climb after visiting Villarreal held them to a 0-0 draw in the penultimate match in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League last night.

Poor finishing was the main reason that United find themselves in this position. Both Wayne Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy had plenty of chances, but were unable to convert any of them and Villarreal's goalkeeper Barbosa was hardly tested on the night.

This draw means that United now have to win at Benfica in the Stadium of Light in a fortnight's time. Six Alex Fergusson was understandably upset at the result, but refused to blame his star strikers, “With a 0-0 draw it's easy to say, 'They didn't score, they didn't create a lot', but that was not the case tonight. We now have a big job against Benfica but it's not an unusual one for us," he said after the match.

Fergusson was confident about his team's chances in a stadium where Manchester United's greatest player, George Best made his mark. Best is now fighting for his life in hospital and his chances of survival diminish with each passing day. Perhaps Fergusson had that in mind when he said that his team was capable of pulling it off. "They will all have to attack, and even though Lille will probably try to defend in Villarreal, they'll have to win, too," he said. "For us it will be an open match in a great stadium," he said, referring to the fact that all four teams have an equal chance of progressing to the second round.

It was a bizarre night for United when finishing form deserted their premier strikers. Wayne Rooney and van Nistelrooy tried their level best, but in a midfield bereft of Beckham and charismatic playmaker Roy Keane, there was no answer to Villarreal's holding game.

Darren Fletcher and Alan Smith let the ball go easily and Senna and Pablo Sorin took their chances. But to be fair to United, the Spanish team rarely looked like scoring and whatever chances came their way were few and far between. Fergusson maintains that it is too early to write United off, “For the last two years the Champions League has been full of surprises," he said. "Lyon could win it this year by steering clear of the big names. It could be an unusual competition."

Match statistics:
Referee: De Santis, M

Manchester United
Edwin Van der Sar, Wes Brown (Gary Neville), Rio Ferdinand, John O'Shea, Mikael Silvestre, Darren Fletcher (Ji-Sung Park), Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Alan Smith (Louis Saha), Ruud van Nistelrooy

Villarreal
Mariano Barbosa, Rodolfo Martin Arruabarrena, Juan Manuel Pena, Gonzalo Javier Rodriguez, Rodrigues Javi Venta, Garcia Roger (Hector Font), Marcos Antonio Senna, Juan Pablo Sorin, Alessio Tacchinardi (Jose Joaquin Moreno Verdu Josico), Luciano Figueroa (Martorell Xisco Nadal), Romero Jose Mari

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