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Manchester United Champions League campaign thus far has failed to capture the imagination of the Old Trafford faithful. A stuttering start in Europe and as of yet no vintage football has seen the competition take a back seat to our domestic programme.

Manchester United will be hoping to be the first team this season to beat Benfica this season.  The  Portuguese giants have not lost in 20 games in all competitions, which includes the 1-1 draw with United in Lisbon.

In Javi Garcia and Nicolas Gaitan, they have two dangerous players who have both been linked with moves to United in recent months.  The experience and class of Pablo Aimar cannot be brushed aside either. Make no mistake this wont be a routine game for United tonight.

With both teams locked on eight points at the top, it is very likley that this is the game that decides who eventually finishes top of Group C and will be given "advantage" when the knock out draw takes place next month.
Winning the group would mean avoiding the "big teams" such as Real Madrid and Barcelona in the next round should they finish top in their respective groups.

Ferguson said: "It is a big game and a game we recognise as a real European game, with the history of Benfica and ourselves. The number of great games we have had in the past, of course, always sticks in your memory.

"In the first game against them back in September, I thought we did really well and I was pleased with our performance.

"Possession-wise it was good and I thought we deserved the result until the last 15 minutes, when Benfica threatened quite a bit.

"It is a really interesting game for both teams. We both want to win so it should make it quite an open match and, hopefully, we will get the result we want."

Wayne Rooney missed training with a knock yesterday and defender Jonny Evans sat out with a tight hamstring but both will be fit for tonight according to Ferguson.
I wouldnt be surprised to see Rooney not included tonight, yes hes our most important player but I dont think we should risk him (if injured) for the sake of one game. Look at Bayern a couple of seasons back when we rushed him back.

Rumours doing the rounds this morning are that on the bench for United could be 18-year-old Ravel Morrison.
Morrison tweeted last night "tomorrow could be a very good day" and those that are within the loop at United have suggested its time to start featuring the youngster.

Morrison is a  highly-rated midfielder, who is a product of United's youth system.
Ravel has made only one appearance for the club's first team before — in the Carling Cup but greater inclusion in 1st team matters could deter him from his off the field shenanigans.

Im predicting a close game and certainly cant see a run-away winner tonight.
United looked out of sorts at the weekend against Swansea but in the true vein of champions got the result, and thats something that I think we will see again tonight.
Im going for a 2-1 to United.

_Manchester United find themselves about 1/3 of the way through the 2011/12 Premier League Season.
What started out with a bang for the Red Devils is now starting to turn into something of a whimper and in recent games a severe dip in performance from the United boys.
Here at MUFC Blog we will take a look at each player that has played a significant part thus far and see how they have/havent progressed

Danny Welbeck
Im really pleased Danny has been given the chance to shine this season. Watching him for the youth team and reserves he reminded me a bit of Andy Cole, gliding over the pitch with pace and a terrific finisher inside the box.
Its clear his season loan at Sunderland did him the world of good and hes proven that he can score goals for United on all stages.
Injury has been cruel to Welbeck, just as he was getting into the swing of it and in the goals he suffered an injury during the Arsenal match which ruled him out for quite a period.
Now hes back to full fitness and being handed starting roles its clear that Sir Alex sees him as the future of the club, last seasons top scorer, Dimitar Berbatov, has had to take a back seat to the quicker, younger and more energetic Welbeck.
He still has some way to go before I'd class him as a genuine United player but so far so good and I really hope this local Manchester la

Wayne Rooney
Finally back to his best, well almost!
A great start to the season, scoring and providing goals has to a certain extent died out a little. In recent weeks Rooney has been deployed into a midfield role and although it has looked at times like a square peg ina  round hole it has worked to a certain degre.. Worryingly hes also looked our best midfielder in these games! Theres little doubt Rooney is looking more like his oldself and much better than he did this time last year. 12 goals from 13 starts proves this and when Rooney doesnt play well neither does the team. Easily our most important player and his amazing form at the start of the season was the driving force behind our fantastic start.
The likelyhood is that we will have Wayne all to ourselves for the rest of the season now due to his international ban and Capellos'  experimenting, this will only be a good thing.
Season Rating: 8.5/10

Javier Hernandez
A season thats been rather stop start for our little pea and rather frustrating has seen him in some quarters rather foolishly written off.
The in-famous "2nd season syndrome" has apparently kicked in, Ive even heard some reds suggest that Hernandez isnt what they thought he was and is a 1 season wonder. Idiots.
Truth be told its not been a vintage start for Chicharito but as stated earlier hes had concussion to deal with as well as that nasty leg injury suffered against Ashley Cole.
All in all Hernandez has managed to score 4 goals from 7 starts, not an amazing record but one that isnt a cause for concern.
We've seen he still posses his pace, fantastic finishing and his wonderful off the ball runs, he will beback to his best no doubt about it.
Only criticisms I have are that he needs to learnt to stay onside more regulary and get more involved in games, too many times this season Ive seen him isolated upfront and not have a sniff of action.
Season Rating: 7/10

Nani
A genuine world class talent of that there is no doubt but yet remains to frustrate at times.
Out of all our players in the squad, Nani is probably the only 1 that can make something out of nothing, he has the tricks, the pace and a great shot on him and when he doesnt perform thats when the fans can get on his back as they know whats in his arsenal.
Nani, like the majority of our team, started the season with some top class performances but has gone back into his shell in recent weeks, failing to deliver crosses when the time was right, picking the wrong options and just generally not taking games by the scruff of the neck.
In my opinion, as much as he denies it, Nani is wanting to be our new Ronaldo, he wants to entertain the United crowd and score the kind of goals Ronaldo did, all we want is for Nani to be himself, like he was at the begining of the season.
He seems to be cutting out his theatrics which can only be a good thing but now over these winter months he has to knuckle down and bring to the table what he did during the 1st month or so of the season.
Season rating: 7.5/10

Phil Jones
"The new Duncan Edwards" has been one of the most popular phrases when it has coem to describing young Phil Jones in a united shirt so far this season.
Jones has played a key roll thus far and probably featured in more games than he thought he would because of the injuries to Rio & Vidic at the back. It remains unclear what position he was signed to fill for United, our midfield misses a "bite" and that something Jones posses but like I said because of injuries hes been playing at the back.
Positionally at the back Jones does leave a lot to be desired. If you watch him closely you will see hes out of position for a lot of chances that we concede, but his powering tackles and last minute sliding blocks seem to paper over it.
Jones of course is far from the finished article and its obvious the best is yet to come from him. Im hoping over the comign weeks to see Jones in midfield so we can asses where is future is in terms of position.
One thing does remain clear that he has the potential to go on to be a United great.
Season Rating: 7.5/10

Chris Smalling
Played for the most part of the season out of position at right back, Chris Smalling has put in some valiant displays.
A lot of reds have said hes been superb at right back but i think thats going a bit over the top turht be told, dont get me wrong hes been for the most part solid but I wouldnt put him down to be our next right back for the future.
After a great debut season Smalling, a bit like Hernandez, might be accused of "2nd season syndrome" but so far so good for the young Englishman.
When Rio or Vidic (at times both) have been out injured putting in Smalling at the back hasnt been a worry, hes rose to the occasion and truth be told we havent missed either as much as one may think.
Without a doubt Smalling has a great Manchester United future ahead of him and isnt that far off from becoming a name that features regulary on the Starting XI sheet.
Season Rating: 7.5/10

Manchester United find themselves about 1/3 of the way through the 2011/12 Premier League Season.
What started out with a bang for the Red Devils is now starting to turn into something of a whimper and in recent games a severe dip in performance from the United boys.
Here at MUFC Blog we will take a look at each player that has played a significant part thus far and see how they have/havent progressed.

David De Gea
Regular visitors to this site will know that I was a bit unsure of De Gea when we splashed the cash on him in the summer, actually reword that, not so much unsure on the signing but making him our number 1 from the off without a proven fallback if things were to go wrong. Luckily, so far at least De Gea is proving his critics wrong and has been arguably one of our most consistent performers since finding his feet.
As expected De Gea did take a few games to get used to the English game and has made only a couple of gaffs which again was inevitable.
Sir Alex is bedding him in slowly, pulling him from some games to give the impressive Lindegarrd some minutes too.
Although I dont feel as comfortable at the back as I once did during the Schmeichel/Van Der Sar days it is comforting to know we have 2 top drawer keepers on our books with their best days ahead of them.
Season Rating 8/10

Rio Ferdinand
A player whos taken his eye of the ball is a good way to describe Rio's form this season. In and out of the team due to injury, Rio has found himself with more time on his hands to talk the proverbial dog dirt on twitter and promote his ghastly t-shirts and "Brand Rio" time that would probably be better spent focusing on what he has to do to keep fit and on the ball.
Rio has been a fantastic signing for us and easily one of the best defenders to ever play for MUFC and its unfortunate that injury has now finally caught up with him. Hes lost a yard or 2 of pace that a center half needs in the modern game and as stated earlier doesnt seem quite "on the ball" with events around him. With Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and to an extent Johnny Evans all threatening to take Rios place for good its only a matter of time before United part ways with the former Leeds man.
Rumours are Spurs would be interested to take Rio off our hands and I think we would be foolish not to sell up during the summer. Keep him for the duration of the season, giving his invaluable experince to the youngsters but then im afriad next season give youth a chance.
Season Rating: 5/10

Tom Cleverley
What a fantastic start to the season for young Tom Cleverley, clearly having beneffited from his season long loan at Wigan he returned to United and grabbed his opportunity with both hands.
Unfortunatley Injury has played a part and robbed us of Tom Cleverleys talents for a significant chunk of the season thus far.
When Cleverley came on against the Bitters in the Community Shield he changed the game, he added a much needed energy to the midfield and kept the ball moving, palying delightful 1 touch passes, very much in the mould of barcas "Tiki-Takka" style.
The most impressive thing about Cleverley is his ability to bring out the best in players around him, Anderson for example looks like a world beater when playing next to Tom and im sure its no coincidence that the best football we played was when Cleverley was picked in the center alongside Anderson, the downside being both players attacked and didnt offer much protection to the back 4.
For me the return of Cleverley cant come quick enough.
Season Rating: 8/10

Anderson
This was a do or die season for Anderson, for many United fans they had given him this last chance saloon opportunity, having joined the club back in 2007, Anderson is/was nowehre near fulfilling his potential.
The start of the season it seemed the penny had finally dropped with him, he had become a goal threat, he was finishing 90 minute games without looking shattered and most impressivley he was comanding games from midfield. Sir Alex's lack of midfield investment seemed justified. Then Cleverley got injured. Welcome back old Anderson.
With Anderson hes always been massivley inconsistent, something you can maybe get away with in other areas of the park but certainly not in the center of midfield. Alarmingly it looks as though Anderson has put weight back on, his huffing and puffing has returned and he is giving away possesion carelessly and needlessly. Can all this be put down to the absence of Cleverley? no of course it cant but its not helping. He doesnt look comfortable playing alongside Carrick or Fletcher.
I really want Anderson to succeed, ill never forget the way he smashed home that penalty in Moscow and got the fans roaring on the team in the shootout. He looks a fun type of guy to be around in the dressing room too, but thats not enough to be a key player at United and I have to agree with other United fans that this really is his last chance to impress.
Season Rating: With Cleverley 8.5/10 Without Cleverley: 5/10

Ashley Young
I was a bit dubious about the signing of Young during the summer, whilst I thought he was a decent premiership player I didnt think he was quite good enough for a top team like United. How wrong could I be?
Ashley Young has been a breath of fresh air down the left wing for us, he attacks, tracks back, scores goals and assists. Hes everything you want in a winger.
Another aspect of him signing is that its allowed Nani to move to the right wing where he is far more dangerous and a bigger threat or at least was at the beginning of the season.
I know a couple of Villa fans that told me in the summer we were getting a steal with Young and to ignore the scousers that were saying Downing was the better player, a huge sigh of relief so far going by both of their performances.
Season Rating: 8.5/10