Champions League Tuesday

Two goals from Dimitar Berbatov and another virtuoso performance from Wayne Rooney helped Manchester United stroll to a 3-0 victory. With the handicap bet, that means we got a decent result last too

Manchester United and Celtic have met plenty of times in the Champions League in recent seasons and the two clash again at Old Trafford on Tuesday. They do so as English and Scottish champions respectively but the gulf in class is sizeable and the home side are fancied to take a giant step towards another appearance in the knockout stages of Europe’s elite competition.

Following dropped points against Newcastle and defeat at Anfield in the Premier League United were already playing catch up domestically in their attempts to retain their crown. A goalless draw against Villarreal in their opening match as defending European Champions raised even further questions about their ability to cope without Cristiano Ronaldo, the winger having missed the start of the season through injury, but they have started to purr in the past month or so and in Wayne Rooney possess the country’s form player.

Rooney has put in some sparkling displays of late for both United and England and while Sir Alex Ferguson has a headache in midfield, where Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves are all unavailable, going forward they have started to find their stride again. Dimitar Berbatov has waltzed into the starting eleven, looking like he has been playing at Old Trafford for years, while Ronaldo, still not quite at his brilliant best, will always be a threat. Fergie can also welcome back Carlos Tevez from international duty on Tuesday, should he wish, and his attacking options appear endless with Nani also pushing for a starting role.

Following that stalemate with Villarreal United dismantled Aab in Denmark and victories in their double header against Gordon Strachan’s side will all but secure their place in the last sixteen. A win at Parkhead is far from certain, Celtic have a wonderful home record in Europe, but were the hosts to display the ruthlessness in front of goal they did when disposing of West Brom on Saturday then there can only be one outcome.

Strachan has not been helped in the build up to Tuesday’s fixture with the loss of both Giorgios Samaras and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and that leaves the Scot with very few options in attack. Scott MacDonald is a threat but its asking a lot of a player not really suited to leading the line to occupy Ferdinand and Vidic for 90 minutes and their best hope of coming away with anything from the game will be to try and frustrate.

United are just 1.33 to win the match but I think they’ll do so with something to spare and the odds against on offer about them defying a 1.75 goal handicap looks more than fair. Celtic have failed to keep a clean sheet in the SPL this season on visits to Inverness, Kilmarnock, Motherwell and Dundee Utd and that offers little hope. They may well find the net themselves but the hosts will surely have too much for a team with such a woeful away record at the highest level and should be backed to oblige comfortable with confidence.