København ready for 'greatest game'

FC København's UEFA Champions League aspirations hang by a thread as they prepare to welcome Manchester United FC to the Parken Stadium knowing they have to take something from the game to keep alive their chances of progress from Group F.

'Greatest game'
The Danish champions are bottom of the section with just one point and without a single goal, having suffered a 3-0 defeat at United a fortnight ago. However, their only home match so far ended in a creditable goalless draw with SL Benfica, and Ståle Solbakken hopes his players will be inspired on Wednesday night. "It's the greatest game in København's history," said the coach. "That will give extra strength to the players and it will be a much closer contest than at Old Trafford. Although we played quite well, we were up against maybe the best attacking team in Europe, so we're in for another tough contest."

Rooney danger
Solbakken, whose men beat Vejle BK 3-0 on Sunday, made light of the fact United will be without Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Louis Saha through injury, pointing instead to the danger posed by Wayne Rooney. The English international ended a ten-game goalless streak with a hat-trick in Saturday's 4-0 win at Bolton Wanderers FC, and Solbakken hinted he might deploy a five-man midfield to keep the 21-year-old in check. "We all know what he is capable of," said the Norwegian. "The goals have started to come for him again, and with Saha and Giggs out he will be even more vital to United, so we will keep an extra eye on him of course."

'Fantastic player'
Rooney's renaissance is likely to mean a busy evening for Jesper Christiansen, and he admits it will take an exceptional defensive display to stop United. "It's important we don't concede early, but we still have to be aggressive going forward and believe we can create chances," the goalkeeper told uefa.com. "Rooney is a fantastic player whether he is scoring or not. He was the main link in their play at Old Trafford and we'll have to find a way of keeping him quiet."

Happy memories
The last time United visited Denmark in the UEFA Champions League they recorded a 6-2 victory at Brøndby IF en route to lifting the trophy in 1998/99. Sir Alex Ferguson insists another away success could prove to be a lucky omen again. "We have an opportunity with a new team to win the European Cup again and we could do it," he said. "There are half a dozen clubs who could win the competition this season, it's that open, but we're one of them."

'Exceptional individual'
Ole Gunnar Solskjær was among the goalscorers against Brøndby, and Sir Alex is full of praise for the way the Norwegian forward has returned after a two-year injury lay-off to score eight goals this season. "He's an exceptional and amazing individual," added the manager. "I'm now thinking he can get me 20 goals this season."

Probable teams
København: Jesper Christiansen; Lars Jacobsen, Brede Hangeland, Michael Gravgaard, Oscar Wendt; Michael Silberbauer, Tobias Linderoth, Hjalte Nørregaard, Martin Bergvold/William Kvist, Atiba Hutchinson; Marcus Allbäck.

Manchester United: Edwin van der Sar; Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidić, Gabriel Heinze; Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick, John O'Shea, Cristiano Ronaldo; Wayne Rooney, Ole Gunnar Solskjær.