The last time I wrote an article, it was to describe a very troubling, disturbing and traumatic defeat against our neighbours, Manchester City who to their credit are making the right noises SO FAR. However, how many times have we seen off our challengers to emerge champions next May? Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and counting.  We have bounced back from being trashed to win league titles too so who is to say that we wouldn’t do it this season? There is still a lot of football to be played between now and the end of the season and anything is still possible. Read the full story

By Liam “Wrestlemania” Brown

Did Fergie get it right at Benfica?  Well, on the surface, a 1-1 draw in a rather hostile Estadio da Luz doesn’t look like too bad a result.  The obvious highlights being Giggs’ landmark 27th Champions League goal, Lindegaard’s encouraging performance and SAF verbally tea bagging Kelly Cates. For me, there was another performance that appeared to slip under the radar, two words, Chris Smalling, a player who just gets better and better.

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Estadio da Luz, the scene of United’s first European assignment of 2011-12. Will it culminate with another appearance in the final in Munich? Time will tell and only God knows.  What we do know is that Benfica’s home provided us, Manchester United fans, with one of our worst European experiences in recent years. Their 2-1 win in the 2005-06 season eliminated United completely from European competition. Perhaps that worked as a wake-up call and a springboard for subsequent achievement in 2007-08 and appearances in the finals of 2008-09 and 2010-11. Personally, I remember very vividly watching the game from a hospital bed in 2005; watching Scholes give us the lead, only to be pegged back and deservedly losing in the end. Like a nightmare, that match has a permanent place in my mind whenever Benfica and Estadio da Luz are mentioned. Read the full story

Ryan Giggs will not just tear you apart again, he is still running down the wing! A wonderful strike into the top corner of the net from the Welsh legend gave United a good away draw against Benfica  in their first game of Uefa Champions League. United should be ready for Chelsea at the weekend after resting players like Young, Anderson and Rio Ferdinand. Read the full story

Some are unkind enough to refer to it as the Daily Fail – sorry, I cannot agree! Not when The Daily Mail comes up with the sort of interview that Sir Bobby Charlton gave to his friend of 40 years Jeff Powell. There were no leading questions, no double edged attempts to uncover some sort of sensational story which had been laying dormant during Charltons’ decades at Old Trafford. Instead, Powell simply allowed Sir Bobby to recollect his memories of the 1968 European Cup defeat of  Benfica in 1968 and give his thoughts on Saturday’s Final against Barcelona. It makes for a fascinating story which should be read by United – and indeed, all football fans.

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Some are unkind enough to refer to it as the Daily Fail – sorry, I cannot agree! Not when The Daily Mail comes up with the sort of interview that Sir Bobby Charlton gave to his friend of 40 years Jeff Powell. There were no leading questions, no double edged attempts to uncover some sort of sensational story which had been laying dormant during Charltons’ decades at Old Trafford. Instead, Powell simply allowed Sir Bobby to recollect his memories of the 1968 European Cup defeat of  Benfica in 1968 and give his thoughts on Saturday’s Final against Barcelona. It makes for a fascinating story which should be read by United – and indeed, all football fans.

Read the full story