Tricky road in store for United

MANCHESTER United will bid to confirm their status as group ‘B’ winners when they host Besiktas at Old Trafford night.

But victory won’t result in a more straightforward route to a third successive Champions League final for Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils.

A host of United’s biggest rivals are battling to get through the group phase, something Ferguson believes backs up his side’s achievement in reaching consecutive finals.

“There are one or two more difficult groups than we anticipated,” he said. “The one with Rubin Kazan, Barcelona, Dynamo Kiev and Inter Milan is a real group of death.

“Madrid and Milan are in the same group and they are finding it difficult.

“It shows how tough it is to retain the cup as we nearly did and maybe our achievement has been underestimated because you see how difficult the others are finding it.”

Ferguson will give youth a chance, with the likes of Danny Welbeck, Gabriel Obertan and Federico Macheda all expected to play, along with Darron Gibson, who was part of the Republic of Ireland squad so shattered by Thierry Henry’s handball in Paris last week.