Man U must seize chance against Leverkusen

Manchester United have a glorious opportunity to return to the Champions League final for the first time since they won the title three years ago when they take on Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their semifinal at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

However, just as they did on that famous night in Barcelona in 1999 without Roy Keane and Paul Scholes, they will have to do it without two of their most influential players.

Keane, the driving force of the club with monumental powers of motivation, is out with a hamstring strain while David Beckham, the team's most creative player, has a broken bone in his foot.

While Keane could be back for the second leg, Beckham's club season is over and their absence means that the likes of Juan Sebastian Veron, Ryan Giggs and Scholes will have to step up to the plate and provide the ammunition of Ruud van Nistelrooy to shoot down the German league leaders.

Manager Alex Ferguson has refused to complain about the injuries and instead points to the way Nicky Butt has slotted in seamlessly to the team -- as he did in the 1999 final.

MANAGER'S PRAISE

Defender Wes Brown has also earned his manager's praise after his return from a lengthy injury lay-off -- timed perfectly in the light of yet another injury that has ruled out the fragile Ronny Johnsen.

"It's better the team tells me we can handle it without Roy and David," Ferguson said after Saturday's 3-0 away victory at Chelsea that maintained United's premier league title hopes.

Leverkusen are unlikely to offer such limp resistance on Wednesday, though the Old Trafford fans may have to show some patience as their team bids to find the right tempo for the occasion.

After going out at the quarter-final stage in the last two seasons, Ferguson is obviously desperate not to blow it again this time -- especially with a mouth-watering final looming at Hampden Park in his home city of Glasgow.

However, any relief the fans might feel at avoiding Spanish duo Real Madrid and Barcelona, who were playing in the other semifinal on Tuesday, should be tempered by the realisation that Leverkusen are much more than the makeweights of the last four.

Victories over Juventus, Barcelona, Deportivo Coruna (twice) and Liverpool this season underline their pedigree, as does a two-point lead in the Bundesliga with two games to go.

The Germans have had a close look at the premier league this year, having faced Arsenal in the group stages and Liverpool in the quarter-finals.

In their 4-1 defeat at Highbury they looked way off the pace, prompting coach Klaus Toppmoeller to say that they had been handed a footballing lesson.

INCREDIBLE GAME

The coach and his players appeared good learners as a few weeks later they produced a far more controlled performance to lose only 1-0 at Anfield in the first leg and followed up with one of the most incredible games of the season in the second which they won 4-2.

Toppmoeller would probably be happy with a repeat of the 1-0 scoreline on Wednesday.

"A solid performance in defence will be the key," he said.

"At Liverpool we were playing more for the result than going all out for the win."

The Germans stuttered at the weekend, losing 2-1 at Werder Bremen to cut their lead as they chase their first Bundesliga title.

Toppmoeller claimed this week that winning the domestic league is more important than the Champions League but, with the side also in the German Cup final, he is nevertheless delighted to find himself in such a position.

We haven't achieved anything yet," he said. "It's a huge surprise for us to be at this stage (in Europe).

"But we are on the right track, we've got some good players and I am quite excited to see how far we can go."