THE GUARDIAN
Manchester United's preparations for their potentially disastrous Champions League tie against Benfica began in dishevelled fashion with two of their players missing the plane (Rossi and Pique went to the wrong training ground for pick-up) to Portugal and only two members of the 1968 European Cup-winning team accepting an invitation to be the club's guests of honour. It was hardly the entrance they had hoped for and worse was to come for Sir Alex Ferguson, who did not disguise his displeasure at having to fend off questions about his job security.
Ferguson has spent a great proportion of his adult life perfecting an impenetrable "let's-take-this-outside" glare and as he fixed his sights on one interrogator yesterday it was tempting to imagine the extremes of his invective had the television cameras not also been present. "I'm not answering that" was his first response. "I'm here to talk about the game, not my future."
When it was put to him that the two were directly linked he went from a dark shade of red to a Ribena purple. Ferguson's mood can generally be gauged by his ruddy complexion and here it was demanding that the subject be changed. "I'm not even going to respond," he snapped.
In Ferguson's mind these are not questions that befit a manager who would need an aircraft hangar to fit all his medals. Certainly it has been a long time since he was last subjected to the theory that his reign might hinge on one result - perhaps 15 years, when he took his team to Nottingham Forest for an FA Cup third-round tie and walked out of the tunnel to cries of "Fergie, Fergie, on the dole".
There was a note of desperation, too, about Ferguson's demeaning assessment of their rivals. "We've had three opponents at Old Trafford who have managed 3½ shots between them. Lille had one shot from 45 yards and I'm sure they were just trying to waste time, Benfica had two and Villarreal had a free-kick from 30 yards. On that basis we deserve to go through. That teams are coming to Old Trafford to defend demonstrates, in my mind, that they fear us."
Ferguson clearly does not scrutinise the statistics sheets that Uefa makes available to managers after Champions League matches. They will tell him Benfica matched United with 14 shots each, Lille outdid them, 11 against 10, and only Villarreal had a deficit, six against 11. In total that makes 35 for the home side, 31 for the visitors. United averaged four shots on target per match.
THE INDEPENDENT
Sadly for the romantics, the United manager also seemed to counsel against expecting the kind of open contest which saw George Best inspire United to a 5-1 romp here in 1966. "I've seen it before when teams have to beat you but instead play with a lot of caution, just defending and hoping to get something from a set-piece."
Despite the presence of wingers like Cristiano Ronaldo and Giggs, who joined Neville in striving to prove his match-fitness in training, the onus for conjuring a goal or a flourish to honour the memory of Best's rampage is likely to fall to Wayne Rooney. Tonight's venue was productive for Rooney during Euro 2004, yet Ferguson, stressing the need for responsibility, warned that "we could have a magnificent performance from him and not get through".
Astonishingly, United have not won away in Europe for more than two years, and Ferguson was guilty of understatement when he described the sequence as "disappointing". Why had it happened? "The team is changing. We don't have as much experience as five years ago. But we haven't set out not to try to win games - it's not in our nature."
Benfica (4-2-3-1; probable): Quim; Alcides, Luisao, Anderson, Leo; Petit, Beto; Nelson, Nuno Assis, Geovanni; Nuno Gomes.
Manchester United (4-4-2; probable): Van der Sar; Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Silvestre; Fletcher, Smith, Scholes, Ronaldo; Rooney, Van Nistelrooy.
Referee: K Vassaras (Greece).
THE TIMES
It has been almost a decade since Manchester United had to face the consequences of failure to progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League. In 1996, the club were publicly listed and had the rigours of accountability to shareholders to contend with, but this time the cost of defeat by Benfica could be greater as Malcolm Glazer, the new owner, attempts to make his recent purchase add up.
The immediate impact of £2 million in lost income that would come with a loss on the pitch in Lisbon is only the start of it. The year-on-year impact of failure to make the last 16 would be closer to £10 million on the profit and loss account. The Champions League is the most lucrative of club competitions and the money from television revenues and associated sponsorship goes straight to the bottom line.
Glazer, 77, may know little about football, but the bottom line is something he well understands and the pressure is on Sir Alex Ferguson and his players to deliver what the American industrialist thought he was buying: success.
Defeat would compound a terrible start to the Glazer regime, ignoring even the fact that many fans burnt effigies of him when he took over. It would follow a couple of significant setbacks in recent weeks that include the departure of Roy Keane, the captain, and the decision by Vodafone to end a £9 million-a-year shirt sponsorship deal two years early.
The bankers and hedge-fund specialists who loaned Glazer nearly £650 million to fund the acquisition of United will be watching tonight’s match closely. Ultimately, if the Glazer business plan implodes, the financiers will be the ones who own the team.
THE MIRROR
Striker Giuseppe Rossi and defender Gerard Pique both missed the flight to Lisbon because they travelled to the club's training ground by mistake.
The dozy pair got a later flight and are expected to be on the bench.
WEATHER
The BBC say it will be a sunny 15°C during the day. Minimum temperature will be 9°C. Shades required, lotion not.