Real seek third win, United anxious for first
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Shanghai Daily, October 18, 2011
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Wayne Rooney (L) and Nani of Manchester United in action during a first team training session, ahead of their UEFA Champions League Group C match against Otelul Galat0,i at Galati Stadium on October 17, 2011 in Galati, Romania. |
Real Madrid host Olympique Lyon aiming to continue their perfect start in the Champions League today but some of the other heavyweights are still playing catch-up.
Last season's runners-up Manchester United lie third in Group C, still without a win and lagging behind Basel and Benfica after taking just two points from their first two games so victory is of paramount importance against Romanian club Otelul Galati in Bucharest.
Inter Milan, winners of the trophy in 2009-10 did manage a win in the last batch of Group B fixtures but their opening night loss to Turkish club Trabzonspor means they cannot afford a slip in northern France against Lille.
Manchester City, the new rich kids on the Champions League block, have even more ground to make up when they host Spain's Villarreal in Group A, having picked up just one point in their opening two matches against Napoli and Bayern Munich.
Defeat would leave Roberto Mancini's Premier League leaders struggling to make the knockout round.
Nine-times European champions Real Madrid face familiar foes in their Group D fixture in the Santiago Bernabeu.
They have played Lyon eight times in the competition since 2005 and it was only last season that Real finally began to assert some authority over the French when they knocked them out 4-1 on aggregate in the first knockout round.
Until then Lyon had enjoyed the upper hand, including knocking out Real the season before on aggregate.
Lyon are second in the group, two points behind, with Ajax Amsterdam and Dinamo Zagreb, who meet in Croatia, looking as though they are fighting for third place.
Bayern Munich have also made a great start and have a 100 percent record as they prepare to take on Napoli who have not conceded a goal in their last six European home games.
