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Cristiano Ronaldo returns to Champions League action on Tuesday in a bid to kickstart Manchester United’s title defence after the club’s jittery start.
The Portuguese winger, who scored 42 goals during United’s double triumph in Europe’s top club competition and the Premier League, is back to full fitness after an ankle operation.
After a 0-0 draw with Villarreal in a group which is searching for its first goal, the Red Devils hope Ronaldo will be the catalyst to a much-needed victory against Danish side Aalborg.
Ronaldo scored in United’s League Cup 3-1 win against Middlesbrough last week and in Saturday’s 2-0 Premier League victory over Bolton.
Ronaldo faces an Aalborg defender who almost missed the game through a suspension he didn’t deserve.
Michael Beauchamp was sent off in the 0-0 draw with Celtic in Glasgow but the referee had sent off the wrong player. When Aalborg appealed and UEFA realised that Michael Jakobsen had committed the foul that led to his red card, Beauchamp won a reprieve. He will now face United while Jakobsen serves the one-game ban.
“Luckily everything has been put to rights,” the Australian defender said. “Apart from the referee, everyone could see it wasn’t me but Michael Jakobsen who made the challenge.”
“Now I’m available for a dream match which my parents are flying over from Australia for,” Beauchamp said. “Strictly speaking our chances of winning are minimal. Instead we’re viewing this match primarily as a great experience.”
Celtic goes to Villarreal in the other Group E game with both clubs coming off domestic victories at the weekend.
Like Man United, Arsenal had a shaky start to its Champions League campaign, needing a late equaliser at Dynamo Kiev. But its 2-1 loss at home to Hull City on Saturday was one of the biggest shocks since the Premier League started 16 years ago. Arsene Wenger needs a home victory over Group G leader FC Porto to steady the nerves of the Gunners fans.
“I don’t know if we can afford to lose again but what we delivered (against Hull) was not good enough,” Wenger said. “We know that. So the important thing now is not how many games we can lose this season but preparing well for Tuesday night.”
Porto won its opening game 3-1 against Fenerbahce which hosts Kiev.
Group H favourites Real Madrid and Juventus won their opening games and both travel to Eastern Europe on Tuesday. Madrid goes to UEFA Cup holder Zenit St. Petersburg while Juventus travels to Belarus to meet BATE Borisov.
Juventus is struggling to score, relying on a tight defence and was held 0-0 by Sampdoria on Saturday.
“We’ve made mistakes and we’ve paid for them,” Juve defender Giorgio Chiellini said. “But I think we’re on the right road and slowly but surely we’ll be able to win again. It’s not just the forwards’ fault. We’ve also got to dictate play better from behind.”
Real Madrid, by contrast, beat Sporting Gijon 7-1 and then won 2-1 at Real Betis.
German champion Bayern Munich has had a poor start to the Bundesliga and its 1-0 defeat to Hannover sent it sliding down to ninth.
In Wednesday’s games, Romanian champion CFR Cluj hopes to follow up its 2-1 victory at AS Roma in Group A with a victory over English Premier League leader Chelsea. Roma goes to Bordeaux which began with a 4-0 loss at Chelsea.
Beaten 1-0 by AC Milan on Sunday, Group B leader Inter Milan hosts Werder Bremen and there will be celebrations at Cypriot club Anorthosis Famagusta if it beats Greek club Panathinaikos.
FC Barcelona goes to Shakhtar Donetsk with the two teams level on points at the top of Group C and Sporting Lisbon hosts FC Basel.
Five-time European champion Liverpool hosts PSV Eindhoven and Atletico Madrid hopes to follow up its 3-0 victory over the Dutch club with a home triumph over Marseille.
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