Manchester United F.C. season 2008–09

Infobox Football club season
club = Manchester United
season = 2008–09
manager = flagicon|SCO Sir Alex Ferguson
chairman = flagicon|USA Joel & Avram Glazer
league = Premier League
league result = "8th"
cup1 = FA Cup
cup1 result =
cup2 = Carling Cup
cup2 result = "Fourth Round"
cup3 = Community Shield
cup3 result = Winners
cup4 = UEFA Champions League
cup4 result = "Group stage (1st)"
cup5 = UEFA Super Cup
cup5 result = Runners-up
cup6 = FIFA Club World Cup
cup6 result =
league topscorer =
Darren Fletcher (2)
Wayne Rooney (2)
season topscorer =
Wayne Rooney (3)
highest attendance = 75,512 vs Newcastle United (17 August 2008)
lowest attendance = 53,729 vs Middlesbrough (23 September 2008)
prevseason = 2007–08The 2008–09 season is Manchester United's 17th season in the Premier League, and their 34th consecutive season in the top division of English football. Should Manchester United win the Premier League 2008–09 title, they will join Liverpool as the most successful club in terms of English top-flight titles with 18. [cite news |title=Ferguson turns sights to Europe |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/7395060.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-05-12 |accessdate=2008-07-28 ] The team will also be aiming to become the first in over 19 years to win consecutive UEFA Champions League titles, Milan being the last team to achieve this in 1990.

Pre-season and Friendlies

After losing assistant manager Carlos Queiroz to the Portugal national football team, [cite news |title=Queiroz takes Portugal coach post |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/7488580.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-07-11 |accessdate=2008-07-11 ] Manchester United began their pre-season schedule on 12 July 2008 with a trip up to Pittodrie Stadium to play against Alex Ferguson's former team, Aberdeen. The fixture was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Dons winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, for which Ferguson himself was the manager. [cite news |first=Ben |last=Hibbs |title=Reds confirm Dons clash |url=http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=538022 |publisher=ManUtd.com |date=2008-03-11 |accessdate=2008-05-26 ] Manchester United won the match 2–0, with a penalty from Michael Carrick and a header from Wayne Rooney. [cite news |title=Sir Alex makes 'emotional' return |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/north_east/7501848.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=2008-07-13 |accessdate=2008-07-19 ]

The team then left for South Africa to play in the 2008 Vodacom Challenge. The tournament began with United drawing 1–1 with Kaizer Chiefs in Cape Town, [cite news |title=Kaizer Chiefs 1-1 Man Utd |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/7515663.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-07-19 |accessdate=2008-07-19 ] before moving on to Durban to play against Orlando Pirates three days later; they won the match 1–0. [cite news |last=Ogden |first=Mark |title=Martin makes his case as United players escape wild Pirates challenges |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jul/23/manchesterunited.premierleague1 |work=Sport • Football • Manchester United |publisher=The Guardian |date=2008-07-22 |accessdate=2008-07-22 ] On 24 July, the Kaizer Chiefs beat the Orlando Pirates in Port Elizabeth and were rewarded with a further fixture against Manchester United in Pretoria on 26 July. [cite news |first=Adam |last=Bostock |title=South Africa dates confirmed |url=http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=532040 |publisher=ManUtd.com |date=2008-02-12 |accessdate=2008-05-26 ] United won the match 4–0 to take the Vodacom Challenge, with goals from Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney, Tom Cleverley and Fraizer Campbell. [cite news |title=Man United expect to return to South Africa |url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=557782&sec=england&&cc=5901 |publisher=ESPN Soccernet |date=2008-07-27 |accessdate=2008-07-28 ]

En route back from South Africa, United stopped off in Abuja, Nigeria, on 27 July, where they achieved a 2–1 friendly win over Portsmouth, with goals from Eagles and Tévez. [cite news |title=Man Utd 2-1 Portsmouth |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/7527748.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-07-28 |accessdate=2008-07-28 ] Coincidentally, this was a "dress rehearsal" for the Community Shield on 10 August. It was also United's first trip to Nigeria, the location of the club's fourth-largest fan base, with 13.6 million supporters. [cite news |first=Nick |last=Coppack |title=Reds announce Nigeria stop |url=http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=6610910 |publisher=ManUtd.com |date=2008-06-04 |accessdate=2008-06-04 ] Upon their return from Africa, the Manchester United team was involved in Ole Gunnar Solskjær's testimonial on 2 August 2008. The match, played at Old Trafford against RCD Espanyol, [cite news |first=Gemma |last=Thompson |title=Testimonial tribute for Ole |url=http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=549853 |publisher=ManUtd.com |date=2008-04-28 |accessdate=2008-05-26 ] was won by United 1–0. The winner was scored in the 82nd minute by Fraizer Campbell. [cite news |title=Report: United 1 Espanyol 0 |url=http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={F9E570E6-407E-44BC-800F-4A3110258114}&newsid=6615247 |publisher=ManUtd.com |date=2008-08-02 |accessdate=2008-08-02 ] This match was followed by two more friendlies; first, a 2–0 win over Peterborough United, managed by Sir Alex's son, Darren, on 4 August at London Road Stadium, and then a 0–0 draw against Italian giants Juventus at Old Trafford on 6 August, [cite news |title=Juventus set up Manchester United friendly |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/footballNews/idUKSP14456720080610 |publisher=uk.reuters.com |date=2008-06-10 |accessdate=2008-06-11 ] before the Red Devils retained the 2008 FA Community Shield 3–1 on penalties against Portsmouth after the match finished 0–0 after 90 minutes on 10 August. [cite news |last=Bevan |first=Chris |title=Man Utd 0-0 Portsmouth |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/7549022.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-08-10 |accessdate=2008-08-10 ] [cite news |title=The FA Community Shield sponsored by McDonald's |url=http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACommunityShield/ |publisher=TheFA.com |date=2008-05-07 |accessdate=2008-05-26 ] It was United's second game against Portsmouth in the space of two weeks.

At the end of August, after the start of the Premier League season, United, as the winners of the UEFA Champions League 2007–08, travelled to Monaco for the 2008 UEFA Super Cup against UEFA Cup winners Zenit St. Petersburg. However, they went 2–0 down in the first hour of the game, and a Nemanja Vidić goal was not enough to save them from defeat. A Paul Scholes handball in the 90th minute resulted in his second yellow card of the game, meaning that he would miss the Reds' opening UEFA Champions League match against Villarreal. [cite news |first=Sam |last=Lyon |title=Man Utd 1-2 Zenit St Petersburg |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/7584103.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-08-29 |accessdate=2008-08-29 ]

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Carling Cup

The draw for the Third Round of the 2008–09 Carling Cup paired Manchester United with Middlesbrough. The match was played at Old Trafford on 23 September 2008, [cite news |first=Nick |last=Coppack |title=Date set for Boro cup tie |url=http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={F9E570E6-407E-44BC-800F-4A3110258114}&newsid=6617178 |publisher=Manchester United |date=2008-09-02 |accessdate=2008-09-03 ] and resulted in a 3–1 win for the home side, who gave debuts to three young players, Ben Amos, Danny Welbeck and Manucho. In his first start for the club since returning from injury, Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 25th minute, heading home Ryan Giggs' corner. Adam Johnson equalised for Middlesbrough ten minutes into the second half, but in the 66th minute, Emanuel Pogatetz was sent off for a serious foul on Rodrigo Possebon, which left the Brazilian requiring lengthy treatment before being replaced by Darron Gibson. The disparity in the teams' numbers meant that another United goal was practically inevitable, and it came in the 79th minute via Ryan Giggs. The Welshman's goal lifted him into 10th in the club's all-time list of goalscorers. Because of Possebon's injury, a total of nine minutes of injury time were played, and, in the fifth of the nine, Nani added a third goal for United, securing their passage into the Fourth Round of the competition. [cite news |title=Man Utd 3-1 Middlesbrough |url=http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/7626743.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-09-23 |accessdate=2008-09-23 ]

The Fourth Round draw paired United with Queens Park Rangers, with the match to be played at Old Trafford on 11 November 2008. [cite news |first=Nick |last=Coppack |title=Date set for QPR clash |url=http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={F9E570E6-407E-44BC-800F-4A3110258114}&newsid=6619324 |publisher=Manchester United |date=2008-09-29 |accessdate=2008-09-29 ]

quad statistics

Loan out

ee also

*Manchester United F.C. seasons

References