Don't count out Basel, warns Gross

By Michael Harrold

FC Basel coach Christian Gross insists his side should not be ruled out of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final equation after earning a spirited draw against Group D winners Manchester United FC at Old Trafford.

Mission impossible?
Basel, who had looked on course for victory, were left reeling by Juventus FC's injury-time winner at home to Deportivo La Coruña in the night's other Group D encounter. Juve's win means Basel must now beat the Italian champions 4-0 or by five clear goals next week to advance to the last eight, a scenario Gross believes is not beyond his side after seeing Manchester United forced on to the back foot for much of Wednesday's match.

Gross gets it right
"Football is a game that always produces surprises," Gross said. "It's not necessarily the end. Today was a fantastic performance at Old Trafford and the team showed great confidence." Gross got his tactics right early on as Basel took the game to United. Boosted by the return of Julio Rossi, Murat Yakin and Mario Cantaluppi, Basel played with confidence and dominated possession in the first half.

Starved of possession
With Rossi dropping back into midfield to support the livewire Hakan Yakin and Cantaluppi, United were starved of possession and it was not long before their defence was carved open. Rossi forged the opening down the right before laying the ball off to Bernt Haas to cross for Christian Giménez to score.

Players were 'tired'
The goal encapsulated the first half - sloppy defensive work from United and sharp, aggressive play from the Basel forwards. Unfortunately for Basel they were unable to make their first-half superiority tell a second time and after the break United fought their way back into the match. "The performance wasn't as good as in the first half because they were tired," Gross conceded.

Cavalry charge
Basel had run out of steam - and just as United were preparing to bring on the cavalry. Safe in the knowledge that his side were already through to the last eight, the United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, left Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooij and Paul Scholes on the substitutes' bench, and by the time Beckham and Scholes were called upon, United were pushing for the winner following Gary Neville's deflected equaliser on 53 minutes.

'Satisfied'
Ferguson was delighted his weakened side had avoided defeat, even if the draw meant United had missed out on a club-record sixth straight Champions League victory. "I was satisfied," Ferguson said. "We picked up the tempo in the second half and we deserved the result. It was hard to choose a side to do us justice to make sure no one can point fingers at us.

Lots of positives
You saw what happened in Cyprus when we played Maccabi Haifa [FC, a 3-0 defeat]. We got a lot of criticism and we didn't want that." Neville added: "It's important that we didn't lose. We were disappointed to give a goal away, but we can take a lot of positives from the match."

Fletcher impresses
One will be the performance of 19-year-old Darren Fletcher who impressed on his senior debut. A makeshift United side may not have broken out of first gear, but with Fletcher playing alongside 18-year-old Kieran Richardson in midfield, Old Trafford may have stolen a glimpse of the future. "He's a very promising talent," Ferguson said of Richardson, with Neville adding that it was "one of the best debuts I've seen for a long time".