Sir Alex Ferguson is targeting a Champions League win over Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday to give Manchester United a smooth run to their Premier League crunch with Liverpool. Having seen his side slip to a shock defeat at Bolton on Saturday and fall three points adrift of Arsenal, who also have a game in hand, Ferguson knows United cannot afford to make any more mistakes in the foreseeable future.
While home games against Fulham next Monday and Derby immediately afterwards should allow the Red Devils to recover the winning habit, the trip to Anfield on December 16 now takes on huge significance. Although Ferguson still expects Liverpool to qualify for the latter stages of Europe's major competition, the Scot knows it will require two big wins over Porto and Marseille to get there.
In contrast, his own side are already through and if they beat Sporting will confirm top spot in Group F, rendering their trip to Roma, immediately before the Liverpool showdown, meaningless. ``The Liverpool game is one thing we have looked at,'' admitted Ferguson. ``We know Sporting Lisbon need to get a result as well which is why I am not playing too many younger players.
``It indicates our desire to make sure we win to give us the opportunity to play the way we want to against Roma.'' Ferguson took the unusual step of confirming ``two Portuguese players'' will play, which means Cristiano Ronaldo - the matchwinner on the previous meeting in Lisbon - and Nani will feature against their former club.
Meanwhile, furious Sporting Lisbon coach Paulo Bento ruled Miguel Veloso's future a topic of non-discussion ahead of Tuesday's encounter. The 21-year-old Portugal international has been heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford recently. With Ronaldo, Nani and former Sporting coach Carlos Queiroz already part of the United set-up, links between the two clubs are well established.
And, if recent speculation is to be believed, Veloso - a star performer at last summer's UEFA Under-21 Championships - will soon be on his way to the Premier League. However, the player's off-field moves are clearly a subject of irritation for Bento judging by the way he handled the debate on Monday evening.
Whereas Ferguson had earlier dismissed the rumours with a curt ``we look at a lot of people'', Bento reacted with much more aggression and at one stage looked ready to storm out of his pre-match media commitment. ``I don't want to talk about Miguel,'' he said. ``The more we talk about him, the less good it will be for him.
``Some of our good players have left us before, that is obvious. But if I was to take any notice of how many clubs are supposed to want him, there wouldn't be any more clubs left. ``I can't do anything about that. All I can do is pledge myself to helping Miguel on the pitch in the best way I can. ``I don't want to be negative. You have to think of Miguel's age and his overall welfare.''
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