2008–09 Manchester United F.C. season

Manchester United

2008–09 season
Co-chairmen	Joel & Avram Glazer
Manager	Sir Alex Ferguson
Premier League	1st
FA Cup	Fourth Round
Carling Cup	Semi-finals
Community Shield	Winners
UEFA Champions League	First knockout round
UEFA Super Cup	Runners-up
FIFA Club World Cup	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: Cristiano Ronaldo (8) All: Wayne Rooney (12)
Highest home attendance	75,512 vs Newcastle United (17 August 2008)
Lowest home attendance	53,729 vs Middlesbrough (23 September 2008)
Home colours Away colours Third colours

The 2008–09 season is Manchester United's 17th season in the Premier League, and their 34th consecutive season in the top division of English football. Should Manchester United win the Premier League 2008–09 title, they will join Liverpool as the most successful club in terms of English top-flight titles with 18. The team will also be aiming to become the first in over 19 years to win consecutive UEFA Champions League titles, Milan being the last team to achieve this in 1990.

In December 2008, the club became the first English side to win the FIFA Club World Cup, after Liverpool had failed to do so in 2005, when they beat LDU Quito 1–0 in the final.

Pre-season and friendlies

After losing assistant manager Carlos Queiroz to the Portugal national football team, Manchester United began their pre-season schedule on 12 July 2008 with a trip up to Pittodrie Stadium to play against Alex Ferguson's former team, Aberdeen. The fixture was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Dons winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, for which Ferguson himself was the manager. Manchester United won the match 2–0, with a penalty from Michael Carrick and a header from Wayne Rooney.

The team then left for South Africa to play in the 2008 Vodacom Challenge. The tournament began with United drawing 1–1 with Kaizer Chiefs in Cape Town, before moving on to Durban to play against Orlando Pirates three days later; they won the match 1–0. On 24 July, the Kaizer Chiefs beat the Orlando Pirates in Port Elizabeth and were rewarded with a further fixture against Manchester United in Pretoria on 26 July. United won the match 4–0 to take the Vodacom Challenge, with goals from Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney, Tom Cleverley and Fraizer Campbell.

En route back from South Africa, United stopped off in Abuja, Nigeria, on 27 July, where they achieved a 2–1 friendly win over Portsmouth, with goals from Eagles and Tévez. Coincidentally, this was a "dress rehearsal" for the Community Shield on 10 August. It was also United's first trip to Nigeria, the location of the club's fourth-largest fan base, with 13.6 million supporters. Upon their return from Africa, the Manchester United team was involved in Ole Gunnar Solskjær's testimonial on 2 August 2008. The match, played at Old Trafford against RCD Espanyol, was won by United 1–0. The winner was scored in the 82nd minute by Fraizer Campbell. This match was followed by two more friendlies; first, a 2–0 win over Peterborough United, managed by Sir Alex's son, Darren, on 4 August at London Road Stadium, and then a 0–0 draw against Italian giants Juventus at Old Trafford on 6 August, before the Red Devils retained the 2008 FA Community Shield 3–1 on penalties against Portsmouth after the match finished 0–0 after 90 minutes on 10 August. It was United's second game against Portsmouth in the space of two weeks.

At the end of August, after the start of the Premier League season, United, as the winners of the UEFA Champions League 2007–08, travelled to Monaco for the 2008 UEFA Super Cup against UEFA Cup winners Zenit St. Petersburg. However, they went 2–0 down in the first hour of the game, and a Nemanja Vidić goal was not enough to save them from defeat. A Paul Scholes handball in the 90th minute resulted in his second yellow card of the game, meaning that he would miss the Reds' opening UEFA Champions League match against Villarreal.

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
12 July 2008	Aberdeen	A	2 – 0	Carrick 45' (pen.), Rooney 70'	22,192
19 July 2008	Kaizer Chiefs	N	1 – 1	Eagles 60'
22 July 2008	Orlando Pirates	N	1 – 0	Martin 23'	50,000
26 July 2008	Kaizer Chiefs	N	4 – 0	Giggs 40', Rooney 57', Cleverley 62', Campbell 86'
27 July 2008	Portsmouth	N	2 – 1	Eagles 50', Tévez 65'
2 August 2008	Espanyol	H	1 – 0	Campbell 82'	68,868
4 August 2008	Peterborough United	A	2 – 0	R. Martin 38' (o.g.), Gibson 68'	13,042
6 August 2008	Juventus	H	0 – 0		69,872
10 August 2008	Portsmouth	N	0 – 0 (3 – 1p)		84,808
29 August 2008	Zenit St. Petersburg	N	1 – 2	Vidić 73'	18,064

Premier League

Manchester United kicked off their defence of the Premier League title on 17 August 2008, playing against Newcastle United at Old Trafford. Newcastle got the first goal of the game through an Obafemi Martins header, but United hit straight back through Darren Fletcher two minutes later. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson handed debuts to both Rodrigo Possebon and Rafael da Silva during the game. This was followed up by a narrow 1–0 win over Portsmouth on 25 August. Papa Bouba Diop went close for Portsmouth after just 12 seconds, before United opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, Darren Fletcher's scuffed shot deflecting off Sol Campbell before being turned into the roof of the net by Sylvain Distin. United dominated most of the match, with Portsmouth rarely testing Edwin van der Sar in the Manchester United goal.

On 13 September, United travelled to Anfield to play Liverpool, who handed them their first loss of the Premier League season. United got off to a strong start with Carlos Tévez scoring in the third minute, but an own goal by Wes Brown in the 27th minute and a goal by Liverpool midfielder Ryan Babel in the 77th sealed United's fate. The game saw the debut of Dimitar Berbatov, who had signed from Tottenham Hotspur on 1 September, and the Bulgarian marked his first appearance by providing the assist for Tévez's goal. The defeat was United's first against Liverpool in the Premier League since 2002. Following the loss at Anfield, United faced the daunting task of travelling to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea. As in the previous game, United opened the scoring, with Park Ji-Sung scoring in the 18th minute after Chelsea's Petr Čech parried Dimitar Berbatov's shot into the Korean's path. United held on until the 80th minute, when Mikel John Obi's free kick found the head of Salomon Kalou, who headed in the equaliser.

United gave their league season a kick-start with a 2–0 win over Bolton Wanderers on 27 September. Bolton took the game to United early on in the first half, but the tide began to slowly shift back into United's favour; only the heroics of Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jääskeläinen kept the visitors in the game going into half-time, although Fabrice Muamba did shoot wide from eight yards out just before the whistle. The United breakthrough came 15 minutes into the second half, when referee Rob Styles awarded the home side a penalty, despite Jlloyd Samuel's challenge on Cristiano Ronaldo appearing to have been a fair one; Ronaldo converted the penalty himself. In the 71st minute, Paul Scholes came on for Anderson to make his 400th Premier League appearance, while Carlos Tévez was replaced by Wayne Rooney. Not long afterwards, Rooney doubled the Reds' lead and secured the win with an unstoppable shot after being played in by a Ronaldo back-heel.

The Red Devils then made the short trip up to Ewood Park the following weekend to take on Blackburn Rovers. Wayne Rooney declared himself fit after having picked up a knock against Aalborg BK in midweek, and was the orchestrator of most of United's attacks, including the one that led to the opening goal. Rooney took the return pass from his own short corner before swinging the ball into the Blackburn penalty area, where it was met by the head of Wes Brown and passed between the upright and the player who was supposed to be guarding it. The Blackburn players believed that the goal should not have been allowed to stand, as Nemanja Vidić impeded goalkeeper Jason Brown from getting to the ball, but referee Steve Bennett allowed it to stand. Rooney himself scored United's second goal halfway through the second half, latching on to Cristiano Ronaldo's pull-back and curling it past Brown from 12 yards. Carlos Tévez hit the post with a late strike, but the score remained at 2–0 at full time, pushing United up the table to 6th place.

After a week off for international duty, the Manchester United team returned to action on 18 October 2008 with a home match against West Bromwich Albion. The Baggies started off in a disciplined fashion, but they were unable to prevent the in-form Wayne Rooney from putting the ball in the back of the net after 21 minutes. However, the goal was ruled out by referee Mark Halsey after he deemed Rooney to have pushed a West Brom defender to the floor before shooting past Scott Carson. Neither team found the back of the net again before half-time, but Rooney soon scored a legal goal ten minutes into the second half. He picked up a long through pass from Dimitar Berbatov out on the left wing before cutting back into the penalty area and firing a near-post shot through Ryan Donk's legs and past the goalkeeper. The home side then scored two goals in quick succession, Ronaldo shooting through Carson's legs for the first before Berbatov stabbed home his first League goal for United following a cross from substitute Nani. Nani himself then added a fourth goal for the Red Devils in the 90th minute, celebrating in his usual flamboyant style. The win propelled United up to 4th place in the Premier League table, the first time they had been in the top four that season.

A trip to Goodison Park to play Everton followed on 25 October, with Alex Ferguson preferring to stick with Rooney and Berbatov up front, leaving Tévez on the bench. United had the run of the play in the first half, and after Darren Fletcher scored from a late run into the box in the 22nd minute, they began to treat the match as somewhat of an exhibition, with Everton hardly able to get a look in. However, United were unable to add to their tally and Everton came back with added resolve after the interval. United were rocked by Everton's new-found physicality, and the Liverpudlians equalised in the 66th minute through Marouane Fellaini, who headed home Phil Neville's cross after an uncharacteristic lapse in concentration from Rio Ferdinand. Ferdinand was again at fault a minute later, but Edwin van der Sar saved his blushes by saving from Yakubu in a one-on-one situation. Wayne Rooney was booked later for inciting the fans, and he was immediately substituted. The match finished at 1–1, a result that United will look on as two points dropped, but deserved for not having killed the game off earlier.

On 29 October, United hosted West Ham United. Unlike other opposing teams that season, the Hammers struggled to cope with the tempo set by the home side from the word "go", and Dimitar Berbatov almost opened the scoring after just two minutes, only to see his shot deflected over by Matthew Upson. The scoresheet did not remain blank for much longer, however, as Nani received the ball on the left wing after United had spent a prolonged spell inside the West Ham box, before crossing for Ronaldo who scored with a left-footed shot to the far post. Ronaldo doubled his tally 15 minutes later, although he would have found it more difficult to miss the target after Berbatov got past James Collins with a wonderful piece of skill on the goal line. United continued to threaten Robert Green in the West Ham goal, but they did not add to their tally.

United went into their 1 November match at home to newly-promoted Hull City two points behind their visitors in the league table, a position they would not have expected to find themselves in at the start of the season. Nevertheless, the Red Devils took the game to the Tigers from the kick-off, with Ronaldo opening the scoring after just three minutes. Laying the ball off to Dimitar Berbatov, the Portuguese controlled the Bulgarian's return ball 12 yards from goal before sweeping the ball in off the post with his left foot. Hull equalised in the 23rd minute, but Michael Carrick restored United's lead on the half-hour, also shooting in off the post with his left foot. Ronaldo extended the lead just before half-time, heading in from Nani's corner. The story after half-time was much the same, as Nemanja Vidić added a fourth from a corner that never should have reached him. However, Hull responded through Bernard Mendy, whose lob over Edwin van der Sar crossed the line before Vidić could hook it away. They opened the game up again in the 82nd minute, with Geovanni converting a penalty awarded after Rio Ferdinand brought Mendy down, but their response came too late and the match finished 4–3 to United.

Manchester United travelled to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium the following weekend for a lunchtime kick-off. The match started at a high tempo, with United's players harassing the Arsenal contingent at every opportunity. Such harassment led to the first chance of the game, when Manuel Almunia was forced into handling Mikaël Silvestre's underhit backpass with Wayne Rooney bearing down on him. However, the resulting indirect free kick was cleared and Michael Carrick hit the rebound wide. It was Arsenal who opened the scoring, though, with Samir Nasri's 22nd-minute shot deflecting off Gary Neville and past Van der Sar. Nasri scored again just after half-time, almost bursting the net after being played in by Cesc Fàbregas, while United never really looked like threatening the Arsenal goal. Towards the end of the game, Michael Carrick accidentally caught Manuel Almunia with his boot as the Spanish goalkeeper bravely dropped on a loose ball, resulting in Almunia requiring several minutes of treatment. He attempted to carry on, but was soon replaced by Łukasz Fabiański. Rafael pulled a goal back for United in the final minute, but it was too little, too late for the Red Devils who swapped places with Arsenal in the league table, dropping back to fourth.

The club's next fixture was a home game against Stoke City on 15 November, the 50th anniversary of Alex Ferguson's first appearance in professional football for Queen's Park. Despite being without the injured Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney, United took the lead just three minutes into the match, with Cristiano Ronaldo hitting a dipping and swerving free kick past Thomas Sørensen in the middle of the Stoke goal for his 100th goal for Manchester United. United's second goal came in stoppage time at the end of the first half; Michael Carrick ghosted through the Stoke City defence and, with four defenders in close proximity, hit a powerful left-footed shot into the top corner of the net. Just minutes into the second half, United scored their third goal after Dimitar Berbatov controlled Carlos Tévez's cross with the outside of his foot before volleying home. In the 84th minute, Danny Welbeck picked up the ball on the edge of the centre circle in Stoke's half, played a one-two with Manucho and unleashed a swerving shot from 30 yards for his first Manchester United goal in his Premier League debut for the club. Five minutes later, Ronaldo scored from another free kick to round off a 5–0 victory for the home side. The result moved United up to third place.

United then travelled to Villa Park play Aston Villa on 22 November. The tie ended a scoreless draw. The Reds' next match too them crosstown to City of Manchester Stadium to play Manchester City on 30 November. The lone goal of the match came to United when a Michael Carrick shot rebounded off City keeper Joe Hart and was put in the back of the net by Wayne Rooney, giving him his 100th club goal and his 83rd at United. With the victory United increased its win total in the Manchester derby to 60 as compared to City's 41. Six days later, United faced Sunderland at home, with United winning on Nemanja Vidić's goal in the first minute of second half stoppage time.

United's next match was against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on 13 December. Despite chances for both sides, Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes and Edwin van der Sar kept clean sheets for both sides. United then closed out the year with 1–0 wins over Stoke City at Britannia Stadium on 26 December and at home against Middlesbrough three days later, with Carlos Tévez scoring against Stoke and Berbatov scoring against Boro.

United started 2009 with a crucial 3–0 win over Chelsea, putting them 1 point behind Chelsea and 5 points behind Liverpool, but they do have two games in hand. Ferguson shocked the crowd by starting Ryan Giggs ahead of Michael Carrick in central midfield, and the move paid off as Giggs was instrumental in the win. Both teams attacked in the first half, but forced few saves from either goalkeeper for the opening 30 minutes. In the 45th minute Wayne Rooney nudged the ball onto the pitch from a corner kick, before sauntering off, allowing Ryan Giggs to stroll casually over as if he was supposed to take the corner all along. Then, as Chelsea's players arranged themselves, presuming the ball to be out of play, Giggs crossed to Ronaldo who headed the ball home. However, the goal was disallowed as the officials did not understand the trick. United retook the corner and scored through Berbatov's flick-on to Vidić who headed it in. Rooney stabbed the ball into the net after 63 minutes from a Evra cross and a Ronaldo backheel, while Berbatov completed the rout in the 86th minute from a cross from a Ronaldo free kick.

Following the win over Chelsea, United's next game was at home to Wigan. Rooney scored from less than six yards after just 54 seconds on a cross from Ronaldo, but hobbled off with a hamstring injury just a few minutes later. Tévez, who replaced Rooney, had a good chance after 20 minutes, rounding Chris Kirkland in the Wigan net, but his touch was too heavy and he failed to convert the chance. Wigan improved after the disasterous start, but neither side could find a goal and the match ended 1-0 to United. With this result, United climbed to 2nd (their highest position of the season so far) above Chelsea. They remained 2 points behind Liverpool, but having played one game fewer than the Merseysiders. This result also set a new club record of 9 consecutive clean sheets in the League.

The reads then travelled the short distance to Bolton's Reebok Stadium on 17 January. Both sides remained scoreless after 89 minutes, with Bolton keeper Jussi Jääskeläinen making several terrific saves, with Van der Sar challenged by a Fabrice Muamba long-range shot. Finally, Berbatov headed in a Tevéz cross in the 90th minute. With the win, United extended it's clean sheet record to 10, tying a record set by Chelsea in the 2004–05 season. Also with the victory, United gained 3 points, enough to reach the top spot of the Premier League table. This was the first time United had returned to the top spot since winning the 2007–08 Premier League title on 11 May 2008.

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance	League position
17 August 2008	Newcastle United	H	1 – 1	Fletcher 24'	75,512	10th
25 August 2008	Portsmouth	A	1 – 0	Fletcher 32'	20,540	5th
13 September 2008	Liverpool	A	1 – 2	Tévez 3'	44,192	9th
21 September 2008	Chelsea	A	1 – 1	Park 18'	41,760	15th
27 September 2008	Bolton Wanderers	H	2 – 0	Ronaldo 60' (pen.), Rooney 77'	75,484	8th
4 October 2008	Blackburn Rovers	A	2 – 0	Brown 31', Rooney 64'	27,321	6th
18 October 2008	West Bromwich Albion	H	4 – 0	Rooney 56', Ronaldo 69', Berbatov 72', Nani 90'	75,451	4th
25 October 2008	Everton	A	1 – 1	Fletcher 22'	36,069	5th
29 October 2008	West Ham United	H	2 – 0	Ronaldo (2) 14', 30'	75,397	6th
1 November 2008	Hull City	H	4 – 3	Ronaldo (2) 3', 44', Carrick 29', Vidić 57'	75,398	3rd
8 November 2008	Arsenal	A	1 – 2	Rafael 90'	60,106	4th
15 November 2008	Stoke City	H	5 – 0	Ronaldo (2) 3', 89', Carrick 45+1', Berbatov 49', Welbeck 84'	75,369	3rd
22 November 2008	Aston Villa	A	0 – 0		42,585	3rd
30 November 2008	Manchester City	A	1 – 0	Rooney 42'	47,320	3rd
6 December 2008	Sunderland	H	1 – 0	Vidić 90+1'	75,400	3rd
13 December 2008	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0 – 0		35,882	3rd
26 December 2008	Stoke City	A	1 – 0	Tévez 83'	27,500	3rd
29 December 2008	Middlesbrough	H	1 – 0	Berbatov 69'	75,294	3rd
11 January 2009	Chelsea	H	3 – 0	Vidić 45', Rooney 63', Berbatov 86'	75,455	3rd
14 January 2009	Wigan Athletic	H	1 – 0	Rooney 1'	73,917	2nd
17 January 2009	Bolton Wanderers	A	1 – 0	Berbatov 90'	26,021	1st

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Manchester United	21	14	5	2	34	10	+24	47
2	Liverpool	22	13	8	1	36	14	+22	47
3	Chelsea	22	13	6	3	42	13	+29	45

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

FA Cup

Manchester United entered the 2008–09 FA Cup at the Third Round stage, and were paired with Southampton at the draw on 30 November 2008. The match was played at St Mary's Stadium on 4 January 2009. The draw for the Fourth Round was held immediately before the match, and United were given the prospect a home draw against Tottenham Hotspur should they overcome Southampton. As it turned out, United ran out 3–0 winners, Danny Welbeck opening the scoring in the 20th minute of his FA Cup debut. Southampton then gave themselves little chance of getting back into the game when their 19-year-old striker Matthew Paterson was sent off eight minutes before half-time for a high challenge on Nemanja Vidić. Shortly after the interval, United were awarded a free kick, from which David McGoldrick was adjudged to have handled the ball in the wall. Match referee Mike Riley immediately awarded a penalty, which Nani converted to double United's lead. The Red Devils then continued to dominate the match, introducing Rodrigo Possebon, Darron Gibson and Wayne Rooney half-way through the half. The latter two then combined with nine minutes left, with Rooney cutting the ball back for Gibson to smash the ball into the back of the net.

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
4 January 2009	Round 3	Southampton	A	3 – 0	Welbeck 20', Nani 47' (pen.), Gibson 81'	31,901
24 January 2009	Round 4	Tottenham Hotspur	H

Carling Cup

The draw for the Third Round of the 2008–09 Carling Cup paired Manchester United with Middlesbrough. The match was played at Old Trafford on 23 September 2008, and resulted in a 3–1 win for the home side, who gave debuts to three young players, Ben Amos, Danny Welbeck and Manucho. In his first start for the club since returning from injury, Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 25th minute, heading home Ryan Giggs' corner. Adam Johnson equalised for Middlesbrough ten minutes into the second half, but in the 66th minute, Emanuel Pogatetz was sent off for a serious foul on Rodrigo Possebon, which left the Brazilian requiring lengthy treatment before being replaced by Darron Gibson. The disparity in the teams' numbers meant that another United goal was practically inevitable, and it came in the 79th minute via Ryan Giggs. The Welshman's goal lifted him into 10th in the club's all-time list of goalscorers. Because of Possebon's injury, a total of nine minutes of injury time were played, and, in the fifth of the nine, Nani added a third goal for United, securing their passage into the Fourth Round of the competition.

The Fourth Round draw paired United with Queens Park Rangers, with the match to be played at Old Trafford on 11 November 2008. Alex Ferguson rested many of his first choice players for the match, while Rodrigo Possebon also made his return to first team action following his injury in the previous round. United had the majority of the possession during the game, but misplaced passes from midfield let them down at the final hurdle on occasion. Park Ji-Sung nearly scored the opening goal on the hour mark, but his 30-yard effort rattled the woodwork. It took until the 73rd minute for QPR to have their first attempt on goal, but it amounted to nothing and, minutes later, Danny Welbeck was brought down in the box by Peter Ramage. Carlos Tévez stepped up to take the penalty, sending goalkeeper Radek Černý the wrong way to open the scoring. QPR's Samuel Di Carmine had a goal correctly ruled out for offside in the closing stages and United managed to hang on and progress to the last eight of the competition.

The draw for the Fifth Round of the Carling Cup took place on 15 November 2008, and United were drawn at home to Blackburn Rovers, with the match to be played on 3 December 2008. As usual, Alex Ferguson rested many of his bigger names, opting for a mixture of youth and experience for the game. The match started on a fairly even keel, with Blackburn defender Stephen Warnock testing goalkeeper Ben Foster early on. The match soon swung back the other way, but it took until the 35th minute for United to get on the scoresheet; Ryan Giggs sent over a cross, and Carlos Tévez beat Aaron Mokoena to the ball to head home. Tévez then linked up with Nani for the Portuguese winger to blast the ball past Paul Robinson for United's second in the 40th minute. Blackburn pulled a goal back shortly after half-time through Benni McCarthy, only for Tévez to double his personal tally from the penalty spot after he had been brought down by André Ooijer in the box in the 50th minute. Tévez's hat-trick came in the 54th minute, as he rounded off a brilliant team goal, orchestrated by Ryan Giggs and Anderson. Blackburn attempted to make a proper game of it as the match entered its final ten minutes, pulling two goals back through Matt Derbyshire and another one from Benni McCarthy, but a fourth goal for Tévez sealed a 5–3 win for United in the fourth minute of injury time, as he lashed the ball past Paul Robinson from the edge of the penalty area and sent the Red Devils into the Carling Cup semi-finals.

The semi-final draw, held on 6 December 2008, paired United with Championship side Derby County. As Derby were drawn out of the hat first, they were awarded the opportunity to play the first leg at their Pride Park home. The first leg was played on 7 January 2009, and Alex Ferguson continued his policy of selecting weakened sides in the Carling Cup, playing Tomasz Kuszczak in goal, Darron Gibson on the right of midfield and Danny Welbeck up front with Carlos Tévez, while Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney were on the bench. Despite there being a gulf of 35 league places between the two sides at the start of play, it was Derby who looked more up for the game having two shots blocked at short range in the opening stages, before Kris Commons opened the scoring on the half hour with a venomous strike from 25 yards. Unhappy at being a goal down, Ferguson turned to his big guns, Rooney and Ronaldo, just after the hour mark, and the latter hit a free kick just past the post in the closing stages. Rob Hulse almost doubled his team's lead shortly before the final whistle, but he could only turn the ball over the bar as it came to him off Kuszczak.

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
23 September 2008	Round 3	Middlesbrough	H	3 – 1	Ronaldo 25', Giggs 79', Nani 90+5'	53,729
11 November 2008	Round 4	Queens Park Rangers	H	1 – 0	Tévez 76' (pen.)	62,539
3 December 2008	Round 5	Blackburn Rovers	H	5 – 3	Tévez (4) 35', 50' (pen.), 54', 90+4', Nani 40'	53,997
7 January 2009	Semi-final First leg	Derby County	A	0 – 1		30,194	)
20 January 2009	Semi-final Second leg	Derby County	H			Champions League Group stage As winners of the tournament the previous season, Manchester United automatically qualified for the group stage of the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League as top seeds. This meant that they would avoid teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Internazionale in the group stage. The draw was held on 28 August 2008 and United were drawn with two familiar sides, Villarreal (whom they had drawn in 2005–06) and Celtic (2006–07), and a new face in Aalborg BK. Manchester United began their defence of the Champions League title at home to Villarreal, who set out their stall in a defensive manner, managing to hold the European champions to a third consecutive goalless draw between the two teams. Both teams put out weakened lineups, but it was to United that the first chance of the game fell. Owen Hargreaves' corner eluded everyone in the box, including the goalkeeper, but Rio Ferdinand could only scuff the ball across goal as he stabbed at it with his right foot. Carlos Tévez then had a 25-yard shot saved by Villarreal goalkeeper Diego López, while Park Ji-Sung had two penalty claims turned down by German referee Wolfgang Stark. Twenty minutes into the second half, after Guillermo Franco had hit the inside of the post with a cheeky back-heel, Cristiano Ronaldo made his long-awaited return from injury to rapturous applause from the Old Trafford crowd. Ronaldo's arrival seemed to give the United team extra impetus, as within minutes he sent Wayne Rooney on a breakaway. The England international squared the ball to Carlos Tévez, but the Argentine was quickly closed down by Diego López and the chance was missed. The last two decent chances of the game fell to United; first to Ronaldo, who headed just wide from Nani's left-wing cross, and then to Jonny Evans, who headed against the foot of the post after Ronaldo crossed in from the right. United got their first win of the Champions League season on 30 September 2008, when they visited Aalborg BK. The Red Devils were soon on the attack and Dimitar Berbatov could have got his name on the scoresheet after just six minutes, but he missed the target after Cristiano Ronaldo had charged down goalkeeper Karim Zaza's clearance. Paul Scholes was injured in the 15th minute and was replaced by Ryan Giggs, who immediately played in Wayne Rooney for the first goal of the game. The score remained at 1–0 until ten minutes after half-time, when Berbatov finally put the ball in the back of the net after pouncing on a mistake by Thomas Augustinussen. Tévez was brought on in the 59th minute after Rooney took a knock on his ankle, and introduced fresh attacking impetus to the United front line; he had a goal ruled out for unintentional use of the arm, before breaking into the box only for his square ball to Ronaldo to be wasted by the Portuguese international. Berbatov put the result beyond doubt in the 79th minute when he acrobatically volleyed Ronaldo's right wing cross into the goal. A home win over fellow Britons Celtic followed on 21 October, all but securing United's progression to the knockout stage of the competition. Celtic were the first to threaten either goal, Aiden McGeady's 20-yard strike being stopped low by Van der Sar after 11 minutes, but United went ahead on the half-hour via a contentious goal from Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgarian had appeared to be in an offside position when John O'Shea prodded Nani's corner through to him, but it was not spotted by either the referee or his assistant. There were similar complaints about Berbatov's second goal six minutes after half-time, but again they went unheeded. Berbatov had been standing in an offside position when Ronaldo struck a long-range free kick, and after Artur Boruc was only able to palm it into the middle of the goal area, United's £30 million man was on hand to put it into the back of the net. United themselves were the next to question the lineman's decision after a seemingly legitimate Wayne Rooney goal was ruled out for offside, but Rooney had the ball in the net in the 76th minute to make it 3–0. The return game against Celtic was played two weeks later on 5 November. The opening exchanges were played at great pace, with Ryan Giggs partnering Carlos Tévez up front, but it was Celtic who got the first goal, as Scott McDonald lobbed Ben Foster (who was making his Champions League debut) from 14 yards. United continued to press at the Celtic back line, but a combination of misplaced final balls and staunch defending by the Scots kept the Reds (who were playing in blue) off the scoresheet. Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney entered the game during the second half, but when United finally got their equaliser, it was neither the Bulgarian nor the Englishman who scored it. Cristiano Ronaldo hit a swerving shot from 25 yards, but it was too hot for goalkeeper Artur Boruc to handle and Ryan Giggs was on hand to head in from close range. Berbatov almost won the game for United in the final moments, but his shot on the turn went fractionally past the post and the match finished at 1–1. The result meant that United needed just a point from their final two matches to qualify for the knockout stage. This required point was gained with another goalless draw away to Villarreal. United were the first to settle, Anderson testing Diego López in the Villarreal goal early on, before Wayne Rooney had the ball in the net in the eighth minute, only for his effort to be ruled out for offside. Shortly before half-time, an effort from Cristiano Ronaldo was tipped onto the crossbar by the fingertips of Diego López, leaving the woodwork rattling. There were few chances in the second half, the major incident being the sending-off of Joan Capdevila for raising his studs when going into a challenge on Ronaldo. Nevertheless, a 0–0 draw – the fourth consecutive such result between these two teams – was enough to ensure that both qualified for the knockout stage. United remained top of the table on goal difference, needing only to better Villarreal's result on Matchday 6 to secure top spot in the group. The final match in the group was played on 10 December 2008, with a depleted United side facing Aalborg at Old Trafford. Despite players being rested in preparation for the league game against Tottenham Hotspur the following Saturday, United wasted no time in getting on the scoresheet. After just two minutes, Giggs picked up the ball 25 yards from goal, before lobbing the ball over the defensive line with the outside of his left foot to find Carlos Tévez just onside. The Argentine then placed the ball past Aalborg's goalkeeper, Karim Zaza, with the outside of his right foot to score the quickest Champions League goal of the season to date. However, a few minutes late, Tévez missed a simpler chance to double both his and United's tally when he side-footed the ball the wrong side of the left-hand post. From that point on, it looked like United had dropped down a gear, a point that was emphasised when Aalborg not only equalised, but went ahead before half time. First, Michael Jakobsen beat Tomasz Kuszczak with a glancing header from Anders Due's 31st-minute free kick, and then Jeppe Curth directed a perfect header past the Polish goalkeeper, again from Due's delivery. Paul Scholes and Park Ji-Sung replaced Ryan Giggs and Darron Gibson at half time, and United equalised seven minutes later, Wayne Rooney toe-poking the ball through Zaza's legs from just inside the penalty area. Rooney very nearly set up a goal for Gary Neville in the 69th minute, but his shot was blocked by Zaza, much to the United captain's disgust. United continued to make chances, but they were unable to find the net. Nevertheless, in conjunction with Celtic's 2–0 win over Villarreal, the result meant that United finished on top of Group E, and also extended the club's unbeaten run in the Champions League to 19 games, equalling the previous record, set by Bayern Munich and Ajax. Date Opponents H / A Result F – A Scorers Attendance Group position 17 September 2008 Villarreal H 0 – 0 74,944 1st 30 September 2008 Aalborg BK A 3 – 0 Rooney 22', Berbatov (2) 55', 79' 10,346 1st 21 October 2008 Celtic H 3 – 0 Berbatov (2) 30', 51', Rooney 76' 74,655 1st 5 November 2008 Celtic A 1 – 1 Giggs 84' 58,903 1st 25 November 2008 Villarreal A 0 – 0 22,529 1st 10 December 2008 Aalborg BK H 2 – 2 Tévez 3', Rooney 52' 74,382 1st Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Manchester United 6 2 4 0 9 3 +6 10 Villarreal 6 2 3 1 9 7 +2 9 Aalborg BK 6 1 3 2 9 14 −5 6 Celtic 6 1 2 3 4 7 −3 5 Knockout stage The draw for the first knockout round of the Champions League was made in Nyon, Switzerland, on 19 December 2008. United, as group winners could have faced teams such as Real Madrid and Juventus, but were ultimately paired with Internazionale, managed by former Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho. The first leg will be played on 24 February 2009 and second leg will be played on 11 March. Date Round Opponents H / A Result F – A Scorers Attendance 24 February 2009 First knockout round First leg Internazionale A 11 March 2009 First knockout round Second leg Internazionale H Club World Cup As winners of the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League, Manchester United earned the right to compete in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup, alongside the champions from each of FIFA's five other continental confederations. The way the competition is organised meant that United were entered at the semi-final stage, where they would play either Japan's Gamba Osaka or the winner of a play-off between Adelaide United of Australia and Waitakere United or New Zealand. Adelaide United beat Waitakere United in the play-off, but lost to Gamba Osaka in the quarter-finals, meaning that Manchester United would face Gamba Osaka at the International Stadium of Yokohama on 18 December 2008. Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov was ruled out of the semi-final match with a viral infection the day before the game, but Alex Ferguson was able to name his veteran trio of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville in the starting XI. The match started fairly evenly; although United had most of the ball, Gamba Osaka were able to counter-attack quickly. The first goal did end up going United's way, however, as Giggs picked out Nemanja Vidić from a corner kick for the Serbian to head into the back of the net. United then went 2–0 up on the stroke of half-time, Giggs delivering another right-sided corner, this time for Cristiano Ronaldo to nod in. Darren Fletcher and Wayne Rooney were introduced in place of Paul Scholes and Carlos Tévez half-way through the second half. However, Gamba pulled a goal back almost immediately in the 74th minute, only for Rooney to restore United's two-goal lead a minute later. Fletcher then made it 4–1 in the 78th, before Rooney doubled his personal tally in the 79th. Five minutes from full time, though, Gary Neville handled the ball inside the box and the referee awarded Gamba a penalty kick, which Yasuhito Endō converted. Finally, in the first minute of injury time at the end of the game, Hideo Hashimoto scored another consolation goal to make the score 5–3. The result meant that United were through to the final of the competition, in which they would face LDU Quito of Ecuador on 21 December 2008. Like the semi-final, the final was played at the International Stadium in Yokohama. Dimitar Berbatov was unable to fully recover from his virus, but was named on the bench for United, while Wayne Rooney was rewarded for his semi-final brace with a place in the starting line-up, meaning that the trio of Rooney, Ronaldo and Tévez all started the match. Meanwhile, captain Gary Neville was left out in place of Rafael, meaning that Rio Ferdinand captained the side. The match started very much in United's favour, but they were unable to convert their dominance into goals, LDU goalkeeper José Francisco Cevallos keeping the Reds' strikers at bay. Shortly after the break, Vidić was involved in an altercation with LDU midfielder Claudio Bieler; Bieler first committed a foul on Vidić, but while the two were grounded, Vidić lashed out at Bieler with an elbow. The Argentine rolled across the turf clutching his face, to which the Uzbek referee, Ravshan Irmatov, responded with a straight red card. In order to restore numbers in defence, Alex Ferguson withdrew Carlos Tévez and introduced Jonny Evans. The numerical advantage gave LDU extra confidence, and they looked like they might be the ones to open the scoring. However, with 17 minutes to go, Cristiano Ronaldo picked the ball up on the edge of the penalty area and laid it off to Wayne Rooney on the left side of the box, who then placed the ball past Cevallos into the far corner of the net. LDU came close to an equaliser in the final minute, Damián Manso hitting a long-range shot that forced Edwin van der Sar into a save at full-stretch. Despite LDU's late rally, United held on for a 1–0 win and their first FIFA Club World Cup title. Date Round Opponents H / A Result F – A Scorers Attendance 18 December 2008 Semi-final Gamba Osaka N 5 – 3 Vidić 28', Ronaldo 45+1', Rooney (2) 75', 79', Fletcher 78' 67,618 21 December 2008 Final LDU Quito N 1 – 0 Rooney 73' 68,682 Squad statistics No. Pos. Name League FA Cup Carling Cup Europe Other Total Discipline Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals 1 GK Edwin van der Sar 20 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 4 0 28 0 0 0 2 DF Gary Neville (c) 7(3) 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 3(1) 0 16(4) 0 3 0 3 DF Patrice Evra 16 0 0 0 0 0 3(1) 0 4 0 23(1) 0 4 0 4 MF Owen Hargreaves 1(1) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2(1) 0 0 0 5 DF Rio Ferdinand 15 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 4 0 24 0 1 0 6 DF Wes Brown 5 1 0 0 1 0 0(2) 0 0(2) 0 6(4) 1 3 0 7 MF Cristiano Ronaldo 17(1) 8 0 0 1(1) 1 4(1) 0 2 1 24(3) 10 5 1 8 MF Anderson 8(4) 0 1 0 4 0 3(1) 0 3 0 19(5) 0 1 0 9 FW Louis Saha 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 FW Dimitar Berbatov 17(1) 5 1 0 0 0 2(1) 4 0 0 20(2) 9 1 0 10 FW Wayne Rooney 16(2) 6 0(1) 0 0(1) 0 5(1) 3 2(1) 3 23(6) 12 7 0 11 MF Ryan Giggs (vc) 7(8) 0 1 0 2 1 2(2) 1 2 0 14(10) 2 0 0 12 GK Ben Foster 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 13 MF Park Ji-Sung 12(1) 1 0 0 1 0 1(2) 0 1(1) 0 15(4) 1 2 0 14 MF Zoran Tošić 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 DF Nemanja Vidić 20 2 1 0 2(1) 0 3 0 4 2 30(1) 4 4 2 16 MF Michael Carrick 12(3) 2 1 0 0(1) 0 2 0 1(1) 0 16(5) 2 1 0 17 MF Nani 3(5) 1 1 1 4 2 6 0 3 0 17(5) 4 2 0 18 MF Paul Scholes 6(4) 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 3 0 11(4) 0 4 1 19 FW Danny Welbeck 0(1) 1 1 1 2(1) 0 0 0 0 0 3(2) 2 0 0 20 DF Fábio da Silva 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 DF Rafael da Silva 7(2) 1 0 0 4 0 2 0 1 0 14(2) 1 4 0 22 DF John O'Shea 8(7) 0 1 0 4 0 5 0 1(1) 0 19(8) 0 2 0 23 DF Jonny Evans 7 0 1 0 3 0 4 0 0(2) 0 15(2) 0 2 0 24 MF Darren Fletcher 16(1) 3 0 0 0 0 4 0 2(2) 1 22(3) 4 3 0 25 DF Danny Simpson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 26 FW Manucho 0(1) 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0 0 0 0 0(2) 0 0 0 27 DF Mikaël Silvestre 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 28 MF Darron Gibson 0(1) 0 0(1) 1 3(1) 0 1(1) 0 0 0 4(4) 1 0 0 29 GK Tomasz Kuszczak 1(1) 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 4(1) 0 0 0 30 MF Lee Martin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 31 FW Fraizer Campbell 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0 1(1) 0 1 0 32 FW Carlos Tévez 9(6) 2 0 0 3(1) 5 3(3) 1 4 0 19(10) 8 4 0 33 MF Sam Hewson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 34 MF Rodrigo Possebon 0(2) 0 0(1) 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3(3) 0 0 0 35 MF Tom Cleverley 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 36 MF David Gray 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 37 DF Craig Cathcart 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 38 GK Ron-Robert Zieler 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 39 DF James Chester 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 40 GK Ben Amos 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 41 FW Federico Macheda 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 42 DF Richard Eckersley 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 45 FW Febian Brandy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Statistics accurate as of match played 17 January 2009 Transfers In Date Pos. Name From Fee 1 September 2008 FW Dimitar Berbatov Tottenham Hotspur £30.75m 2 January 2009 MF Zoran Tošić Partizan Undisclosed 8 January 2009 DF Ritchie De Laet Stoke City Undisclosed Out Date Pos. Name To Fee 29 July 2008 MF Chris Eagles Burnley Undisclosed 20 August 2008 DF Mikaël Silvestre Arsenal Undisclosed 28 August 2008 FW Dong Fangzhuo Unattached Released 28 August 2008 FW Louis Saha Everton Undisclosed Loan out Date From Date To Pos. Name Moving To 1 July 2008 30 June 2009 GK Tom Heaton Cardiff City 22 July 2008 17 January 2009 FW Febian Brandy Swansea City 4 August 2008 30 June 2009 DF Danny Simpson Blackburn Rovers 8 August 2008 30 June 2009 DF Craig Cathcart Plymouth Argyle 13 August 2008 31 December 2008 MF Lee Martin Nottingham Forest 1 September 2008 30 June 2009 FW Fraizer Campbell Tottenham Hotspur 27 November 2008 31 January 2009 GK Ron-Robert Zieler Northampton Town 1 January 2009 30 June 2009 DF David Gray Plymouth Argyle 5 January 2009 5 April 2009 MF Sam Hewson Hereford United 16 January 2009 30 June 2009 FW Manucho Hull City 16 January 2009 30 June 2009 MF Tom Cleverley Leicester City See also Manchester United F.C. seasons References