Group H
Manchester United
SC Braga – 2011/2012: 3rd in Portugal’s Primeira Liga
Galatasaray – 2011/2012: Turkish champions
CFR 1907 Cluj – 2011/2012: Romanian champions
Alexander Büttner Anders Lindegaard Anderson Antonio Valencia Ashley Young Ben Foster Betting Blog Busby Babes Carlos Tevez Chants Chris Smalling Competition Contributing Writer Cristiano Ronaldo Current Players Danny Welbeck Darren Fletcher Darron Gibson Da Silva Twins David Beckham David De Gea David Moyes Dimitar Berbatov Domestic Cups Edwin Van der Sar Eric Cantona Europe FA Fans Federico Macheda FIFA Football News Forum Gabriel Obertan Gary Neville Injuries International Interviews Javier Hernandez Ji-Sung Park John O'Shea Jonny Evans Just For Fun Kits Legends Live blog Louis Saha Manchester United News Match Day Match Reactions Michael Carrick Michael Owen Nani Nemanja Vidic Nick Powell Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Owen Hargreaves Past Players Patrice Evra Paul Scholes Phil Jones Poll Pre-Season Rants Reclaim Our Club Rio Ferdinand Rivals Robin van Persie RoM's Best Articles RoM At The Audi Cup Roy Keane Ryan Giggs Shinji Kagawa Shop Sir Alex Ferguson Site News Sponsored Post Staff Stats Tomasz Kuszczak Tom Cleverley Transfers/Rumours UEFA United > England Video Wayne Rooney Wes Brown Youth Zoran Tosic
© 2006-2013 Republik Of Mancunia: A Manchester United Blog by Scott the Red | Privacy Policy
Man Utd News 24/7
COME ON UNITED
thank god we didn’t get Benfica!
lets hope, now the younger boys have some experience, that we will build a solid foundation in the group stages
Us and Braga, City with Madrid, so far, so good
Ha real shit
Ha real shit
@ keyser
that news put a big smile on my face. lets be honest, etihad still won’t sell out vs madrid
Galatasaray with us as well, this is forming as an easy group, again. We cannot afford to fuck up like last season
Haha. Now lets hope for PSG or Juve in Group D
Emptihad, the place where roaches nest
real madrid
ajax
man shitty
Another supposed ‘easy’ group but there’s no such thing as easy in the champions league as we learnt last season. Hope we play our maximum best and respect every team.
No team in the champions league are pushovers.Just hope the lads can step up to the plate and exorcise the demons of last season
we should do well huh
Cluj the last one in our group, Dortmund avoided, niceeee
group d with madrid, city, ajax and dortmund should be a killer
Here’s hoping
…and they go straight with Shitty, Virus, and Ajax
fuckin hell! Missed Juve or it really would have been the ‘champs’ together
lol borussia were always gonna be in cities group
good to hear city got fucked over
Cities arse must be stinging.
Can’t complain about that!
Great group for us. City are going to do it the hard way. Ha ja
this certainly isn’t a good draw for us, we have to travel some long distances
Would have preferred to see Dortmund or Montepellier in our group.
SAF is desperate for CL glory, the last 2 finals have been poorly approached, yes Barca were the best, but we didn’t make them sweat. Didn’t do a club of our size and history any justice.
Both times in 09 and 11 we was the easiest team they faced past the Knockout stages.
I hate this draw. No matches worth travelling to and to have to go to Turkey, I pity the diehards.
I hope United legally can give Galatasary the three points and not have to play the game there. We will surely beat the others and have room to give away three points.
I would have prefered meeting Madrid or Barca than play those murderous animals.
Group D is certainly the group of death.Shitty fans waxed lyrical about being in poy two now they get what they wished for.
VIVA RONALDO! RUNNING DOWN THE WING! SENT CITEH PACKING! VIVA RONALDO!
Hope we get a good start this season in Europe!
Galatasaray is a terrible destination.
Ronaldo shocking in his sheets when found out about playing against Sinclair.
Doing a live vote for best player at the CL draw. Come on Ronnie!
Some so called pundits are already thinking borrusia dortmund will be a walkover for city, they’ll be in for pain as the germans possess outstanding young talents (rues, mario gotze, mats hummels, kuba blacyszckowski, lewandowski, neven subotic,Łukasz Piszczek)
Cue the headlines tomo’United get the easiest group in champions league amongst EPl teams represented’Brace yourselves lads.
Cannot understimate the group , remember last year?
I don’t think we should be makeing last season mistak,we really need to see a very strong team this season.glory!glory!!man udt.
C’mon Ronaldo kill the bitters at Emptihad.
Another europa league for shity
Dreadred – galatasaray is always tricky, turkish fans make an intimidating atmosphere. I think we have to make sure we control the game, be experienced and professional.
Anyway, i don’t consider this an ‘easy’ group. There will be difficult games but the key is to get to work hard and graft for the 9months, can’t take any game for granted. We need to kick on from the start and never take our foot off the gas.
I got a dilemma here-would you rather have shitty eliminated at group stages and lefy to concentrate on the league or have them get to the quarters?This might be a double edged sword i reckon.
9 Points i mean.
@Goat
“I hope United legally can give Galatasary the three points and not have to play the game there.”
You’ve got serious issues, mate
Looking forward to all Manchester United games + Real Madrid vs Man City and Chelsea vs Juventus
Not my cup of tea. At all. Two very long trips and the big possibility of us turning on the auto pilot again. We needed a tougher group imo.
What happen last year? Fuck the weed better then I thought!
@ reds galore
to be honest, i would rather they were eliminated from / lost every competition they are in
Madrid will have majority of fans when they come to town.This will be a blockbuster and how fitting would it be if balo sulks and refuses to come on as a sub aftet Ronnie has had a brace.?Cant wait…
Goat – giving galatasaray 3 points is called fixing the game, united would be thrown out of the competition. I think you’re underestimating the teams that united will face, they may seem as relative unknowns but we all know these teams have quality players that could potentially do damage, we can’t fuck about. Memories of last season won’t let the manager allow that, every team has to respected or you’ll fall flat on your face.
Sky Sports News analysis of the group draws is shocking. They seem to be hanging on the point that United didn’t get out of their group last year, but they forget that City didn’t either. They have a far more difficult group now, whereas we have arguably an easier group. City won’t take a point from Madrid, the only thing they could hope for is Madrid get qualification wrapped up quickly and play second rate players against them for the second game they play, other than that, 0 points.
The question is, can City go to Dortmund and win? I would have hated to see us draw Dortmund, who are only in pot 4 because they don’t have strong champions league history of recent years. City won the league and only got into pot 2 while Arsenal were ion pot 1 because of that exact reason. Dortmund will be City’s undoing in that group.
Iniesta wins, I’m okay with that.
And Ronaldo gets fucked again, big surprise.
A trip to the Türk Telekom Arena will be rough. Galatasaray fans live and die for their club, and they will let you know it… as loud as possible.
samuel – I have to agree. From arrival at the airport in Turkey, our young players are in for a shock. Ryan Giggs to start.
A really great draw for us, and we can easily pull through but we need
Not to underestimate the underdogs, we mustn’t be complacent, the team must give their all
We should be going through this times around I’m really optimistic about that
This is our chance to send a message, and show the world that the last seasons early exit was just a blip
Look at the matchdays:
Matchday 1 is followed by Liverpool away
Matchday 2 is followed by Newcastle away
Matchday 3 is followed by Chelsea away
Matchday 4 is followed by Villa away
Matchday 5 is followed by QPR home
Matchday 6 is followed by City away
Hopefully the trips to Romania and Turkey will be on Matchdays 4 and 5. Anything else will be a pain in the ass.
Thing is if shitty make it to quarters,it gives them confidence to go the whole hog.Some might think its impossible,but after what i saw with chelsea then i agree with you matt.id rather they are sent packing earlier.
Ronnie’s reaction to Iniesta winning leaves some bad taste in the mouth.
Man up, Cristiano, you’d still destroy Shitty and we’ll give you an award ourselves
Braga tend to be strong defensively, got a contingent of brazilians so will be good going forward. Galatasaray have vociferous fans, they’ll make it difficult but you simply have to control the game and hit them with a sucker punch at crucial stages of the game, cluj are not well know but eastern european teams can be tricky. All in all, i expect the manager to play a full strength team for the matches and fight for every points, our home form is important.
Iniesta way cool!
Cluj…..I went there 2 years ago with primal scream… If anybody’s thinking of going… Don’t. What a shit hole, long slog to get there as well. Good draw for the lads all the same. Viva , show em who’s STILL the boss
Wow, good group I must say. Will make for some fantastic European nights. Those turks are fucking crazy at home, the place will be absolutely rocking. Can’t wait for some CL footy. No messing about this time lads. Kill’em early and often. Let’s get ourselves in comfortable position and never look back.
Goat – your ’3 points lost; no travel’ is probably an excellent idea in hindsight.
By hindsight I mean looking back to our previous visits to that region.
Gingham riot gear to hit the shelves shortly.
Costas
You raise a very good point with that scheduling.I hope the gaffer goes for early qualification then maybe we can rotate and rest players for league matches
samuel – united WE stand
I do mean give up the three points with the agreeance of UEFA either by them saying yeah its not a good idea English fans get stabbed in Turkey or we do a big song and dance and fake a broken aeroplane and we miss the fixture and they tut and hand them the three points.
Im not underestimating Braga or Cluj, they are garbage and only a match for mid table Premier League teams. If we drop points against them its not because we under estimate them it because we are lazy and take it for granted. But by no means should we be thinking of dropping points against them or Galatasary at home. Last year wasnt a case of underestimating the opposition, it was a case of lazy shitty play you’d expect from the reserves and out of their depth – hence Fergusons pissed and replacing members of the squad.
I just think English football fans and Turkey doesnt mix.
Dread – whether sir Giggs will have the legs to patrol that midfield away in turkey remains doubtful. A mixture of youth and experience i would imagine. Whoever is picked, they’ll benefit from experiences like that.
Looking at Costas’ fixture list, deary me, if nothing else, will make for some shorn fingernails and heart murmors. Tough sledding but we’re quite capable. God willing, we can stay off the treatment table a little more this season!!
what did iniesta just win?
The galatasaray match is fucking doing my head
They may not pull a fantastic performance, but their fans will suck all the energy of our players
We must go there with a hammer
Bebe can put them to swords
DreadedRed
Careful we’re treading a fine line here, we are just about to be called racists and genocidalists. I know history has taught us problems will happen as they have EVERY time we or other Premier League clubs have been there but we live in a world where if Hitler said “Sorry I was wrong” we’d all be watching him on tele with his own talk show. Easy fellah!
don’t mean to sound like an ungrateful asshole but I miss the days when our groups were genuinely exciting. i actually envy City their group, they will raise their game to get out of the group (which i think they will) and be the better for it. would love to have played Madrid in the groups!
Easy as pie… Let’s blood the youngsters in, tinker with the team and rest some of our more important players for the though league games. What could possibly go wrong?
This reinforces the notion that players will all get games.We still have carling and fa cup.I believe with a bit of luck we could do the double this season heck even treble as long as our players cut off the complacency.Another thing is that its long since we last won the fa cup.What a nice feeling it would be to get to that number after 11.
Manchester United have away games after 5 of the 6 Champions League matches. (Liverpool, Newcastle, Chelsea, Aston Villa & Man City).
I tell you, that’s going to require more from the team
We have those tough fixtures after an away CL game, that should be bad
Hopefully we will have a full squad by that time
Goat – understandable about turkey and english fans but won’t the the fair play regulation and other champions league teams have their eyebrows up regarding some form of cooperation about handing them 3 points?. Personally, i would rather united contest for points in the way it should be and it may not be a case underestimating but more about complacency, i think you have to turn up in these games, it’s imperative or a suprise will be on cards.
“After a champions league game”
Not an away, sorry
Knowing well the amount of players we seem to be having in the treatment room,im pleased we avoided teams like madrid in the preliminary stages.Id rather we go as far as semis and lock horns then even with asquad crippled by injuries,than suffer the same fate in the group stages.
Costas – the away games after every champions league game is wrenching but if we get the job done and that’s a big IF as we don’t know what we’ll face as teams roll out, then i think we need to rest players and get players fit for a longer period this season.
I don;t know why but I would have loved Juventus or PSG instead of Gala. It would have been great to see us playing some exciting opponents.
As far as going to turkey goes I don’t think it is bad. I am glad we didn’t face Dortmund. They are a real dark horse who will thrash you on their day. I don’t want any complacency from our boys. Let us go for the win. I am glad we need not go to russia or Ukraine. It would have been awful. Let us play some exciting football and finsh the group on top.
Eh… Teams in the same pot can’t be dawn against each other reds galore…
What the fuck!? This group is such a fix! Uefa are out to get United, they’ve stitched us up.
Swear I could hear the “woe be on us” cries all the way from the blue slice (yes slice, nowhere near half) of Manchester all the way in Singapore. We’ve been suffering that all the past years while Chelsea and Arsenal almost always gets the cake.
dangerfield
Im with you there my friend. I would much prefer to play decent teams that have a bit of history thats what makes European nights special. There certainly isnt any kick in playing Braga, Cluj and Galatasary. I actually envy City on this one even though the councill house will be woefully empty and they wont make an occasion of it.
@Samuel
That’s the thing. It would be ideal if we get the job done early. This time more than ever. We don’t want to play a crucial 6th game 3-4 days before we play City. The fixtures aren’t out yet, but I doubt we will avoid a big trip before Chelsea, Liverpool or Newcastle. Fergie has said he will play a strong side, but rotation will have to come into play. I just hope he avoids the mistakes he made last year in that department.
We really need Smalling back and get him up to speed.Smalling would do well with Vida in league,then we can have Rio and Evans/vida in champs league.I always trust Fergies judgement and i believe signing Buttner was a result of analysing the games we will play this season.Im just glad we got depth in the team though the midfield is still a worry
Goat – every time I put my hand in the fire, it gets burned.
I’m clear that fire burns and going to Turkey for football hurts about as much.
It’s not going to be easy for anyone to brand us, apart from being right, our hides are too scarred and tempered for that.
samuel – we won’t be able to arrange the non-playing concession of points, you’re right.
Our cash reserves are a bit low.
ash – European nights will surely get exciting in the last 16 onwards? You do not want to peak during the group games, get knocked out there and then or get rolled tumbling out in the last 16, group stages is about stepping up and getting the job done.
DreadedRed
I have no idea what you were saying my friend but it made me hard
samuel – united WE stand
You havent forgot the group stages of 99 have you, Barca and Bayern Munich. Thats football.
Hopefully matchday 1, 3 and 6 will be favourable to us, Liverpool, Chelsea & City are places we need to be at our very best
Jol said: “… there have been many clubs interested in Dimitar. Maybe you saw a few things on the internet, they all tried to get him but we were able and capable of getting him. Hopefully everything is good and that means we are doing the business.”
= not signed, but negotiating.
Ha, berba had a medical at fulham today
So saying, please don’t include him if fantasising on united possible line-ups for the season
He’s gone mate, let’s forget him
Costas – exactly, wily scot’s rotating skills will have to come in handy here. Players will have to showcase why they deserve to be regulars whilst they get their chance hence why i believe the manager strengthening the team will hopefully benefit united this season. It won’t be easy but the main point is to keep players fit for a longer period, i also think we need to employ more ruthlessness against teams, efficiency gets the job done which would mean we don’t have to risk key players. It’s all about a good balancing act between the competitions. Hopefully united get it right.
We need to beat these teams without breaking a sweat, and we should be able to. It’ll be hard enough to win the league as it is so we can’t be farting around like we did last season with Europe, losing key players and looking like arse.
Just go with it goat, the program has begun, don’t fight it, just relax …
Dread – exactly, united can’t afford to fuck about. Getting knocked out twice in the group stages within two season could do untold damages, that’s why i think the manager will get them fired up from the start to the end, concession of points is a no go.
Glad we have an easy group. We have away league fixtures against City and Chelsea after European matches. In fact, I believe all 6 of our games after champions league are away!
samuel and Costas
The gaffer is one old dog that does learn new tricks. He won’t make the same mistake.
Ten points in the bank, then the youngsters can spell the key players for the League.
SAF just said ” “We have the experience of playing against Galatasaray in the past and we will always remember the ‘Welcome to Hell’ banners. So it’s always a difficult type of match”
Welcome to the hell ??? Of Course , we are red devils !!! so , Istanbul , we are coming !!!
Maniscream watch it mate you probably have no clue what you’re talking about. Cluj is the 2015 European Youth Capital of Culture and the 2020 European Capital of Culture and an amazing city. I will be there and personally welcome any true Reds who are coming for the match!
We’ll never die.
ex manutd .com, the balance of that SAF quote (thanks Proverb)
“We have the experience of playing against Galatasaray in the past and we will always remember the ‘Welcome to Hell’ banners, so it’s always a difficult type of match.
“We have drawn Portuguese clubs a number of times over the past few years – the likes of Benfica, Sporting [Lisbon] and Porto – so we have the experience of playing in Portugal on many occasions. Braga are one of the improving teams in that country.
“Obviously, we’ve never played Cluj before but, after the experience of last year, we don’t want to make any stupid errors this time. We will play our strongest team to make sure we get through.”
FC bragas stadium, one of a kind
I would say
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/418624_414444135281177_1214935149_n.jpg?dl=1
Utd’s Champions League fixtures. : Sept 19 Galatasaray (h); Oct 2 Cluj (a); Oct 23 Braga (h); Nov 7 Braga (a); Nov 20 Galatasaray (a); Dec 5 Cluj (h)
You will be die Citeh ..!
The team better not fuck this up, Barcelona have a relatively easy group but I guess it is Manchester United that most people have a problem with.
Regarding Ronaldo’s reaction to Iniesta winning the award, I thought it was more about him being disappointed, Messi smiled because it was his teammate and friend. I don’t think Iniesta deserved it to be honest just because he had a great Euro 2012. Ronaldo and Messi had a better season than him and I could name 20 players who had a better season than Iniesta so I can see why he is frustrated.
Proverb..
Thanks for schedule mate..!
No guarantees, no games won before we take the pitch. We must DEFEAT these teams and make a statement. Early points in the bag = less pain and more rest for EPL matches later.
We must not take these teams lightly. Our mental preparation must be the same as if we are playing a Madrid or Bayern. Xerdan Sharqui, formerly of Basel now newly at Bayern Munich, said that during the pregame warmups Basel could sense that we took them lightly and thought we had already won. That inspired them to keep coming after us. We know the results of that!
We must be professional, clinical and control the tempo. This is our preparation. What City or others do is beyond our control. We handle OUR business and let other teams fear US!
@Samuel
I think the defence will be the key. United have navigated straight forward group stages in the past, but there was littke tinkering going on with the back 4. Hope we don’t ask a lot out of Nemanja and Rio, but they will have to play the first 3-4 games.
We know the dates now, so to update my post:
Galatasaray at home is followed by Liverpool away
Cluj away is followed by Newcastle away
Braga at home 3 is followed by Chelsea away
Braga away is followed by Villa away
Galatasaray away is followed by QPR home
Cluj at home is followed by City away
The big plus? We have home games before Liverpool, Chelsea and City. This is immense.
Galatasaray has a really good team this year. They got a new stadium and just like SAF said it will be hell. But I disagree with the people that think they will get stabbed etc. its not that bad anymore its 2012 not 1994.
@ Costas
Very true about the CL matches at home prior to EPL clashes. That will aid our cause.
I might get on Blue Moon later for a laugh. There has got to be some MASSIVE naysing going on there regarding their draw. And therein lies the lesson in UCL draws. Past and sustained UCL success rewards you with a higher coefficient for the draws. Thus City’s and Dortmund’s league triumphs weight little. PSG just plain got lucky.
You were in a really easy group last year and failed to qualify.
andy
You weren’t in a group last year, and you aren’t in one this year either.
Right now you’re struggling to score at home to Hearts.
As Galatasaray, we have a very strong team this year. it will be a good match in istanbul. u are all welcome! as connor said, its not 94 anymore! i think manu and us will be at the first 2.
@ Andy
How pathetic are you? I would pity you if I wasn’t so busy laughing.
We got an easy group again, if we dont qualify this time SAF can retire. City’s group hard again, dont think they will make it
I think Citeh will manage just fine ! ( No harm in me trying my Bobby Manc mind games )
In the real world i can only hope we do not become over cautious .
great for berba deserves to start every game not sit in a bench.
good draw for us but going with what happened last season, we cant afford to be complacent. It will be interesting to see what Istanbul have for us this time.
@samuel
you are so damn right samuel.. i just agree with you that english football fans and turkish ones doesnt really mix.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cTiM5IO-JTU#t=1229s
If we don’t get past this group I’ll eat my shoes off
in 1993 we had a 28.000 people in hell and its 2012 we have 54.000 people in hell.
we will welcome you to the double up hell. waiting manu.
You have experienced to be in our hell in 1993 but it was in our old stadium , with 25.000 fans.
Today we have greater stadium (TT ARENA ) with 55.000 crazy fans and you will see our new hell , you will feel the intimidation on your HEART ! Come on red devils , we wait you with great atmosphere.
THIS IS ARENA , NO WAY OUT !
We welcome you to our new Hell!
http://www.ahmetyerli.com.tr/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/turk-telekom-arena-sampiyonluk-kutlamalari.jpg
If we manage to get last seasons form back with Felipe Melo and Selcuk Inan. there is no chance we will lose this game.
Mark my words: Be aware of Selcuk Inans freekicks. His name might sound unknown in Europe but after Champions league everyone will rate him as N1 freekick taker. He takes them like penalties.