Friday, March 9, 2012

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Mar 9th 2012, 10:41

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Banter rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk to within an inch of his life
• Get the latest squad sheets as they arrive

10.26am That fuss over Patrice Evra's boot last night is as good an excuse as any to post Preben Elkjaer's legendary goal against Juventus in 1984.

10.22am The more I think about it, I reckon that's the biggest chasing United have been given at Old Trafford in any competition since that Galatasaray match in 1993. Bilbao really were that good.

10.19am Wigan's David Jones will be out for two weeks. They visit on Norwich on Sunday.

Provisional squad: Al Habsi, Figueroa, Watson, Boyce, Alcaraz, Diame, Caldwell, Moses, Gomez, McCarthy, Di Santo, Stam, McArthur, Lopez, Thomas, Sammon, Maloney, Crusat, Gohouri, Rodallega, McManaman, Beausejour, Kirkland.

10.15am "My memory's getting hazy, but how about Juventus 1996?" says Mark Walsh. "It was certainly a 1-0 hammering away, and I don't remember it being much better at home."

I thought United were very good in the second half at home; Ryan Giggs was unplayable and Eric Cantona was on one. Mind you, as you say, the away game was 1-0 going on 10-0. Certainly one for the Joy of Six: one-goal thrashings.

"I also reckon the gulf in class against Real in the 2003 4-3 was at least as big as last night. Despite the result, Real looked like they could score at will, and because of that I've always felt the game wasn't really the classic it's since been cracked up to be. I seem to remember Atletico in 1991 being an embarrassment, and even Montpellier the year before wasn't too clever. The difference in those days was that you expected to be taught a lesson by those pesky continentals. Looks like the 90s are coming back. I suspect you for one will appreciate that…"

If they could just remake Twin Peaks with Zooey Deschanel as Audrey Horne, everyone will be happy. But yes, it's a very good point – last night did bring to mind those tentative early steps back into Europe, when those pesky foreigners were playing football from another planet, never mind another continent. Other examples include Benfica at Arsenal in 1991 and Genoa at Liverpool the same season. To return to that now – only three years after the Premier League was the strongest in Europe – shows the extent of England's dramatic demise in Europe. The English league is as weak as it has been since the mid-1990s.

10.10am "How about the deuce shellackings at the hands of Real Madrid," says Pablo Ortega, "first by the forgotten genius Fernando Redondo, the other at the hands of Ronaldo (the really, really good one)?"

There's a bit of a myth about Real's performance in 2000 – it was just a brilliant game between two brilliant teams, as a very wise man wrote here, but United had more chances that night – and although Madrid were the classier side in 2003, I don't think their superiority was as obvious as Bilbao's last night.

10.04am Roger Johnson is in the Wolves squad for tomorrow's match at home to Blackburn. He was punished earlier in the week for turning up to training in an unfit state.

Provisional squad: Hennessey, De Vries, Foley, Stearman, Doherty, Johnson, Bassong, Berra, Ward, Elokobi, Kightly, Hammill, Hunt, Davis, Edwards, Forde, Jarvis, Doyle, Ebanks-Blake, Fletcher, Jonsson.

10.03am Mogadon FC have no new injury worries before their match against Fulham. They are still without Richard Dunne and Darren Bent.

Provisional squad: Given, Guzan, Hutton, Lichaj, Collins, Cuellar, Warnock, Baker, Bannan, Petrov, Ireland, Albrighton, Agbonlahor, Heskey, N'Zogbia, Herd, Weimann, Marshall, Johnson, Gardner, Stevens, Delfouneso.

10.01am Chris Brunt and his Educated Left Foot return to the West Brom squad for their match at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Provisional squad: Foster, Fulop, Tamas, Jones, Olsson, McAuley, Dawson, Ridgewell, Shorey, Mulumbu, Brunt, Scharner, Andrews, Morrison, Dorrans, Thomas, Tchoyi, Cox, Fortune, Odemwingie, Long.

9.58am Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta will miss Manchester City's match at Swansea on Sunday. There are doubts over Joleon Lescott and Micah Richards, although they should be fit. It looks like one of Kolo the Klown and Stefan Savic will have to play, though.

Provisional squad: Hart, Pantilimon, Richards, Lescott, Savic, K Toure, Clichy, Kolarov, Milner, Johnson, Nasri, Barry, Y Toure, De Jong, Pizarro, Silva, Aguero, Balotelli, Dzeko.

9.55am Newcastle's Peter Lovenkrands could be out for the rest of the season with a ruptured thigh muscle. He will certainly miss Monday's match at Arsenal.

Provisional squad: Krul, Elliot, Harper, Simpson, Santon, Ferguson, Perch, Coloccini, Williamson, Tiote, Cabaye, R. Taylor, Obertan, Ben Arfa, Gutierrez, Abeid, Gosling, Ba, Cisse, Shola Ameobi.

9.54am Kevin Davies is fit for Bolton's match at QPR. Which is not a six-pointer, dammit. You can't have a six-pointer if more than two teams are in competition for something. Anyway, Davies is fit and Marcos Alonso may return after the death of his grandfather.

Provisional squad: Bogdan, Jaaskelainen, Wheater, Steinsson, Ricketts, Ream, Alonso, Knight, Boyata, Reo-Coker, Pratley, Muamba, Miyaichi, M Davies, Tuncay, Ngog, Eagles, Sordell, Klasnic, K Davies, Petrov.

9.52am Presumably you all saw this last night? And what was that ringing phone on Channel Five all about?

9.50am Still want more? Here's today's Rumour Mill, and here's James Richardson's European paper review.

9.42am Some Liverpool team news: Steven Gerrard and handshake analyst Glen Johnson will return to the squad for tomorrow's match at Sunderland.

Provisional squad: Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Carragher, Enrique, Adam, Spearing, Downing, Gerrard, Bellamy, Suarez, Doni, Kelly, Coates, Shelvey, Henderson, Rodriguez, Kuyt, Carroll.

Preamble Shabash shabash Bilbao! Their performance at Old Trafford last night was so infectious that it's been rumoured some Londoners have even stopped talking about themselves for a few seconds so that they can eulogise Marcelo Bielsa's young side. Bilbao won 3-2 and would have won 7-2 but for David de Gea. In a football world full of fear and caution and 4-2-3-1 and keeping it tight at the back, they swaggered into Old Trafford and said: come on then, let's have some. It was magical stuff, a night Bilbao fans will talk about until they are in the rocking chair.

When was the last time United were outplayed like that at Old Trafford? Send your suggestions to rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk. In European football, I'd say you're going back to Red Star Belgrade in 1991 or, at a push, Galatasaray in 1993. In all competitions you're going back a fair few years. I know statistics aren't everything, unless you're buying a bra, or some yellow Y-fronts, but they show that Bilbao were more dominant than Manchester City during their 6-1 victory in October. Bilbao had 55 per cent possession and 14 shots on target to City's 51 per cent possession and seven shots on target. Liverpool's 4-1 win in 2009? They had 45 per cente possession and five shots on target. City and Liverpool produced a result for the ages; Bilbao produced a result and a performance for the ages.

United get back on the trusty Premier League horse at home to West Brom on Sunday. You can be sure West Brom won't approach the game in the same way as Bilbao – Mr Roy will have his two banks of automata in place – but they are in decent form and won't be pushovers. Still, United have an easier-looking game than Manchester City, who go to Swansea without the injured Vincent Kompany. That may mean a game for Stefan Savic or, even worse, Kolo Toure.

These are the weekend fixtures in the best league in the world England

Saturday
Bolton v QPR
Aston Villa v Fulham
Chelsea v Stoke
Sunderland v Liverpool
Everton v Tottenham
Wolves v Blackburn

Sunday
Man Utd v West Brom
Swansea v Man City
Norwich v Wigan

Monday

Arsenal v Newcastle

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