UEFA Champions League group standings matchday 5 and 6. #mufc

Just a quick update here.   The group standings after the latest round of games in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League are as follows:

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Champions League standings, United win but injuries continue to pile up. #mufc

Tonight was another slightly subdued performance from an injury hit squad.  Manchester United now have more players injured than any other Premier League team.  I can't understand why but for the last couple of seasons the reds have had on average 5 players injured for most of the season.   I have no idea why the injuries that are causing Sir Alex to rotate the squad as much as he does seem to be a constant problem.  Some will claim that it's the intensity of United's training sessions, others will say it's the number of fixtures but whatever is at fault, there seems to be no respite.

The list has now grown to 8 players injured I believe, after Michael Owen was sadly substituted early on in the home 2-0 win against Otelul Galati.  He helped create space for Antonio Valencia to score the opener after making a darting run to the near post following a great cross from Phil Jones.  Thankfully Rafael Da Silva is back in training after recovering from a shoulder injury which kept him out for around 10 weeks.

Injury list so far:

Tom Cleverley: ankle sprain. Ashley Young: Ankle or foot injury. Federico Macheda: Arm or elbow injury. Ryan Giggs: Hamstring sprain (thigh injury). Darron Gibson: Ankle or foot injury.
Bebe: Anterior cruciate ligament tear (knee injury).
Michael Owen: Quadriceps sprain (thigh injury). So tonight saw another One of Fergie's mish-mash teams that always seem to get the job done, a lot has to be said for the way Uniteds players slot in alongside each other in some surprising combinations.  Tonight all the Rooney for Centre Midfield fans will have gotten to see how Wazza performs in that role.  For me he was man of the match and boy did we need him because his midfield partner; Anderson was below par this evening.  In general there was some very sloppy passing from others too, but some of the balls across the space in front of the back four must have given David De Gea nightmares. But this time of year is usually when United begin to pick up the tempo for the christmas run-in and I'm confident we will continue to win games.  On a positive note we are still in contention for all competitions and have almost qualified top of our Champions League group without breaking too much of a sweat. Here are the current UEFA Champions League standings after matchday 4:
If we can shrug off our injury woes and win the next group game we will win the group so I'm not too bothered.  We face Sunderland on Saturday at Old Trafford and the team sheet is anybodys guess! Here's my guess:

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UEFA Champions League group standings matchday 3 2011/12 #mufc

After matchday 3 and 4 here are the UEFA Champions League 2011/12 group standings for all 8 groups.

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UEFA Champions League matchday 2 standings and images. #mufc

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Well last night was matchday 2 of 2011/12 UEFA Champions League group stage, I was at Old Trafford and the game went well in the first half although we didn't create as many chances as we should and defensively we were too laid back. Danny Welbeck continued his amazing form and work-rate, he really has the Rooney work ethic like no one else at United.   The second half was poor however and the boys from Basle managed to score 3 goals! I was in shock to be honest and really couldn't understand how we let this happen.  I often saw Rio and Phil Jones 20 yards apart which is not cool for your centre halves.  It was just too easy for Basle to get back in the game.  Their fans were having a party over in the East stand.  Ashley young saved us anyway so we managed a point in Fergie time.

Elsewhere in the competition Manchester City got a rude awakening in Munchen or Munich as us Englanders say, spanked all over they were lucky to only concede 2 goals from the 23 shots Bayern aimed at their net. In what can only be described as idiocy true to form; Carlos 'Im leaving' Tevez refused to go on the pitch to help out his teammates!   I'm sure we'll be singing his song again at weekend when Norwich come to Old Trafford.    'Who's that tw*t from Argentina?'...........

Here are the standings after matchday 2

Full video highlights at UEFA.com

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United trade squad recovery for a point in Europe. #mufc

Manchester United travelled to Europe looking for a bigger return but after rotating and resting, managed to gain just 1 point.  The reds looked a little staid in their output, Carrick and Fletcher not linking play well.  The defence of United was solid and as is common over the last few seasons in Europe and never really looked too flustered.  Benfica pressed hard for most of the game and broke through with a top quality strike after some lovely footwork from their forward man.

Well I watched the game at home and it was a bit rubbish to be honest, we didn't look like scoring and Wazza looked a bit frustrated at times.  I can understand why as the midfield I felt, wasn't composed or positive enough.  Too many balls were hoofed up to an isolated Wayne Rooney.  Park and Valencia really couldn't get forward in wide areas as the midfield couldn't find them in space. There weren't many overlapping runs from our full-backs either. The result was less than 5 crosses into danger areas.  This may not have been so bad but our short passing and movement in the centre of the pitch was lacking.

Anyway it didn't depress me as much as writing all that!  On the plus, Rooney grafted hard as ever whilst Lindegaard was solid showing excellent distribution. Jones, Smalling and Evans were also reliable at the back even though Evans was turned for the Benfica goal.


After the first round of games here are the group standings.

UEFA Champions League 2011/12 group stage standings.

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