Date: Tuesday, February 25 Venue: Karaiskakis Stadium, Athens Kick-Off: 19:45 Manchester United might be out of all domestic cup competitions, but they're still in with a shot of winning the Champions League, starting tonight against Olympiakos.
Team News
Manchester United will be without defensive duo Jonny Evans and Phil Jones for their Champions League last-16 first leg encounter with Olympiakos. Jones (hip) and Evans (calf) have not travelled while midfielders Nani (hamstring) and record signing Juan Mata (ineligibility) have also stayed at home. However, striker Danny Welbeck is fit again after injury. Olympiakos's top-scorer Javier Saviola misses out with a thigh problem. Kostas Mitroglou signed for Fulham in the January transfer window, and Marko Scepovic is cup-tied, meaning a rare start for 21-year-old Michael Olaitan. Former Manchester United goalkeeper Roy Carroll is expected to be on the bench against his old club.
Key Stats
Olympiakos are unbeaten in their domestic league and hold a 20-point lead at the top from PAOK. The Greek side qualified for the last-16 from a group containing Benfica, Paris St-Germain and Anderlecht. Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney is the all-time leading British scorer in the Champions League with 29 goals. United boss David Moyes has picked a different starting XI in every one of his 40 matches since taking over last summer.
Likely Line-Ups
Olympiakos Roberto, Bong, Siovas, Manolas, Salino, Samaris, Maniatis, Fuster, Domínguez, Campbell, Olaitan Man Utd De Gea, Smalling, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Fellaini, Carrick, Valencia, Januzaj, Rooney, Van Persie
Match Preview
Following last week's defeats of Man City and Arsenal by Barcelona and Bayern Munich, it looks as though only two English clubs are capable of making the Champions League quarter-finals. And one of those could be Manchester United, with this competition representing their only realistic chance of silverware this season after being eliminated from all domestic cup competitions and finding themselves 15 points adrift of leaders Chelsea in the Premier League title race. United are still favourites to progress against Olympiakos and will be hoping to make up for a disappointing domestic campaign by moving one step closer to May's final in Lisbon. But manager David Moyes is not expecting an easy ride against the Greek champions, and warned:
"It will be far from easy. Olympiakos came through a difficult group with Benfica, Paris St-Germain . They have a great home record so it will be a difficult night."
Olympiakos are unbeaten in their domestic league and hold a 20-point lead at the top from PAOK. However, it would still be a major upset if United didn't win here, regardless of recent form. I'm backing the Red Devils to go through over two legs, beginning with a narrow victory at the Karaiskakis Stadium. Prediction: 0-1 stats -- bbc
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
