AaB Aalborg vs Manchester United Champions League: Preview, Live Score

Manchester United will travel to Energi Nord Arena in Denmark to face the Danish Superliga champion AaB Aalborg on Tuesday (30 September 200) in Champions League 2008-2009. The defending European champions did not have a good start in their title defense campaign of Champions League as they were held to a goalless draw by Villarreal at home. AaB Aalborg, on the other hand, got off to a good start in their second entrance to Champions League group stage as the Danish club came out with a point away at Celtic thanks to a goalless draw. In the upcoming match, AaB Aalborg will have home advantage against Manchester United.

Match: AaB Aalborg vs Manchester United, Group E, Champions League 2008-2009

Date: 30 September 2008

Venue: Energi Nord Arena, Aalborg

Kick off: 19:45 BST (British Standard Time)

Live on TV: ITV 4 TV channel

Manchester United had a very successful last season with a prestigious double of Premier league and Champions league titles. However, the Red Devils did not have a good start this season. With 8 points from five matches, Manchester United occupies the 9^th place in the league table. In fact, they could score only 6 goals from five outings against 4 goals being conceded. However, Manchester United is now set to put their title defense campaign in both premier league and in Europe back on track.

Alex Ferguson men defeated Bolton Wanderers 2-0 on Saturday in a league encounter with goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. Cristiano Ronaldo did not take part in United’s Champions league opener against Villarreal, but the Portuguese star is all set to feature in the starting line up of Manchester United for the AaB Aalborg showdown. Ronaldo’s presence must boost up the confidence level of the Red Devils, as the Portuguese winger has the ability to dominate over the opposition with his pace and tactical skill.

However, Wayne Rooney must play a crucial role for the defending European champions because Rooney is perhaps the most consistent performer of Manchester United. Moreover, Ferguson has a few more quality options in record signing Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez who is known as big-match hero. Actually, Manchester United has very long squad with a lots of quality players in each and every positions. However, midfielder Michael Carrick might miss the trip to Aalborg with his foot injury that kept him out for the Bolton encounter as well.

AaB Aalborg also started the season with the tag of defending champion, but just after eight rounds, they found themselves two points above the relegation zone in Danish Superliga this season. So, you can understand that AaB Aalborg did not have a better domestic start than Manchester United. The Danish club lost five out of eight outings so far in the league with two victories and a draw. AaB Aalborg now occupies the 10^th place with 7 points under their belt. However, they pulled of an extra-time 3-2 victory over Bronshoj BK in Danish Cup competition.

However, manager Bruce Rioch, former manager of Arsenal and Bolton Wanderers, is somebody who, Ferguson believes, is able to make his boys fired up against Manchester United.

Mirror reported:

"Aalborg were lucky to get a draw at Celtic but they will be at home against us - and my old mate Bruce Rioch will have them fired up.

"They are playing Manchester United, they will have a sell-out crowd and the whole town will be up for it. Danish clubs are always battlers."

Despite their poor domestic run, AaB Aalborg, has impressed everyone with their performance in the Champions league opener against Celtic. So, Manchester United would make a big mistake if they take the Aalborg lightly, considering their current domestic form. Manchester United and AaB Aalborg never met each other previously. However, Sir Alex Ferguson knows very well about Danish clubs as he recently said that Danish clubs are battlers. On the other hand, Bruce Rioch also knows about English football as well as Manchester United as he had to meet Ferguson boys during his managerial spell with Bolton Wanderers and Arsenal in premier league.

A victory in the game is badly needed for United if they want to keep the pressure off their shoulder before meeting Celtic and Villarreal. No doubt, AaB Aalborg is the weakest side in Group E on pen and paper. So, anything less than a victory against AaB Aalborg will be considered as a failure for Manchester United. AaB Aalborg, on the other hand, has nothing to lose from the match, but has everything to win in their way. So, I think, the Danish side might show spirited performance in front of their home crowds.

Online Live Score and Updates

Here, I am giving some names of online live score websites from where you can get the online live score and updates of the match:

Live Score

Goalzz

Live Football Scores

Goal.com

Footie Scorez

On pen and paper, Manchester United seems to be favorite against AaB Aalborg. However, I guess, AaB Aalborg would play all out against Manchester United, knowing the fact that they hardly have anything to lose to defending champions Manchester United. Rather, they can win everything, even if they can share point with Manchester United. Herein lies the indication of an exciting showdown between AaB Aalborg and Manchester United.