Manchester United v Barcelona April 28 2008
Manchester United host Barcelona in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final clash with the scores level at 0-0.
United's recent dip in form has coincided with the most crucial part of their season and they will still be smarting from Saturday's defeat to Chelsea and the attendant chaos and bad press that erupted in the wake of that game.
While the Red Devils are still on course for the double, the fact that they were comprehensively outplayed in the first leg at the Nou Camp will weigh heavily on the minds of Sir Alex Ferguson and his players.
Some worrying news comes in the form of the fact that Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic both sat out training on Monday morning. The absence of the key pair from the session at Carrington casts doubts about their availability for Tuesday's match.
Rooney took a knock to his hip before scoring the equaliser at Stamford Bridge while Vidic suffered a facial injury.
A four-man group comprising Rio Ferdinand, Owen Hargreaves, Michael Carrick and Wes Brown trained away for the rest of the squad at the beginning of the session.
With United looking to book a place in the final in Moscow, they will be banking on Rooney to recover in time. The England striker took his tally for the season to 18 goals at Chelsea.
Serbian centre-back Vidic, who missed the first leg because of a stomach infection, saw just eight minutes of action against the Blues. He was stretchered off after taking a knee in the face following a tussle with Didier Drogba.
Darren Fletcher is looking to retain his place in the side after making his comeback from a knee injury in the defeat to Avram Grant's men.
Barcelona will have skipper Carles Puyol available for selection after serving his suspension. However, Rafael Márquez will miss the clash with a ban of his own.
Giovani Dos Santos has been ruled out of the match with a head injury, so Edmílson will deputise in the squad.
Gaby MIlito, Andrés Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Xavi and Samuel Eto'o will all feature after being rested over the weekend.
Manchester United: Van der Sar, Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Silvestre, Evra, 0'Shea, Ronaldo, Scholes, Anderson, Hargreaves, Carrick, Giggs, Park, Fletcher, Rooney, Tevez, Kuszczak, Pique, Welbeck.
Barcelona: Valdés, Pinto, Puyol, Thuram, Milito, Silvinho, Abidal, Zambrotta, Deco, Touré Yayá, Gudjohnsen, Edmilson, Xavi, Iniesta, Bojan, Etoo, Messi, Henry.
Manchester United key man: Edwin van der Sar
Last week we said that Ronaldo, when on form, was the key. Doubts over his big-match temperament remain, especially in the wake of his penalty miss and subsequent disappearance in the first leg. With Barca having nothing to lose by playing attacking football, the key man this time around is more likely to be Van der Sar, as the Dutchman is in for a potentially very busy evening.
Barcelona key man: Thierry Henry
He may be struggling with injury, lacking his usual edge and a shadow of his former self, but Henry showed in the closing ten minutes of the first leg that he is still a very dangerous striker. Expect him to get a longer run-out this time around and really cause some problems for the Red Devils' defence.
Prediction: Man United 1 Barcelona 1
For all his lip service to attacking football and open play, when the chips are down Ferguson's inherently cautious and conservative tactics race to the fore. United will look to play a game of containment that could backfire very badly as Barca only need to score once to swing the tie completely in their favour.
The problem for the Catalans is that the game takes place at Old Trafford, meaning United are all-but guaranteed a penalty at some point during the clash as well as all the injury-time they need while nothing short of the brutal decapitation of a striker will earn Barcelona a spot-kick of their own.
Remember that you can watch this game live on ITV1 and itv.com at 7.30PM on Tuesday.