United, Barcelona brace up for away duels

Group D leaders United make the trip to Marseille, who ran the continental kings close in their most recent European outing at Old Trafford before United pulled off one of their trademark comebacks to win 2-1.

Barca, top of Group B, visit United’s English premiership rivals Arsenal who snatched a point with a late Nwankwo Kanu goal when the teams clashed at the Catalan club’s legendary Nou Camp arena last time out in a match that finished 1-1.

And the parallels do not end there. Both clubs possess the only two realistic candidates for Fifa’s World Player of the Year Award which will be made in January.

Barca’s contenderis Brazilian Rivaldo, who most tip to succeed Frenchman Zinedine Zidane as the planet’s top player.

His rival is United’s David Beckham, who may have to settle for runner-up spot, although he is the runaway favourite to be named European Player of the Tear — the first Englishman to win that accolade since Kevin Keegan.

Neither team will be taking their trip lightly, though.

Marseille came very close to taking points in Manchester after going into lead through Ibrahima Bakayoko only for Andy Cole and Paul Scholes to snatch late goals for United, who — as Bayern Munich know to their cost — never give in until the fat lady sings.

United’s Irish skipper Roy Keane looks set to resume for the European Champions after an injury lay-off while Dutch defender Jaap Stam and Cole should shrug off slight knocks. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson reports no injury problems other than long-term casualties Wes Brown and Gary Neville.

The French side, European champions in 1993 in a glory era that was tarnished bymatch-fixing that eventually caused the team to be relegated and their flamboyant president Bernard Tapie to be jailed, are United’s closest pursuers in the group and even a draw might be satisfactory for both teams.

Tapie has reinvented himself as an actor — currently appearing on a Paris stage in the McMurphy role made famous by Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. And his former team are reestablishing as a force in continental football — they reached last season’s UEFA Cup final.

Croatia Zagreb, still not out of hunt, visit Austria’s Sturm Graz in other Pool D Match. Despite playing their home matches at Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium, Sturm Graz are very much the group weaklings and are yet to register a point.

Barcelona, meanwhile, have had a less than ideal preparation for their Wembley trip after their 3-3 draw with Numancia allowed unheralded Rayo Vallecano to displace them at the top of the Primera Liga.

But North London holds sweet memories for Barca. It was at Wembleythat the Nou Camp outfit won their one and only European title in 1992 thanks to Ronald Koeman’s extra-time strike against Sampdoria.

One man running into form for Arsenal is Croatian striker Davor Suker who scored twice at the weekend in a 4-1 drubbing of Everton. He will be eager to put one over the Spanish side — he was roundly booed at the Nou Camp as he was formerly on the books of Barca’s bitter rivals real Madrid.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is contemplating a recall for French midfielder Emmanuel Petit, who is convalescing from an injury, in place of compatriot Gilles Grimandi, suspended for three matches after his red card in the Nou Camp battle.

However, rushing Petit back too early in such a highly-charged encounter may be a risk Wenger is not ready to take.

Meanwhile, Suker, French midfielder Patrick Vieira and Martin Keown know another yellow card will lead to suspension against Fiorentina in the next match.

The Florence-based outfit host Sweden’s Aik Solna in the other Group B matchtomorrow.

In Group A, Lazio are top dogs. They had a good weekend in Italy going top of Serie A table and should prevail in Slovenia against Maribor, who cannot be totally discounted as they shocked Dynamo Kiev earlier in the competition.