Manchester United ready to make up for last season's flop

LONDON, Sep 7 (Reuters) Manchester United will be out to settle a score with Benfica and put a smile on the faces of the club's American owners in this season's Champions League.

Benfica's 2-1 comeback victory at the Luz stadium in Lisbon last December consigned Alex Ferguson's men to a surprise group stage exit from last season's competition.

More than just a sporting blow, United's failure to reach the lucrative knockout stages was also a financial setback in the Glazer family's first full season in charge since paying some 800 million pounds (1.52 billion dollar) for the club.

Win bonuses and television money will not be the only elements adding spice, though, to United's campaign in Group F.

There will also be a personal sub-plot to United's games against Celtic, now managed by Gordon Strachan, who as a player fell out with Ferguson at both Abderdeen and United.

''Who would want a crap player like you?,'' was Ferguson's comment to his fellow Scot as Strachan left Aberdeen, according to the Celtic manager's autobiography.

Ferguson's own biography was no less frank, with the United boss describing Strachan as someone who ''could not be trusted an inch.'' Playing FC Copenhagen might be a welcome break for Ferguson, whose love affair with the trophy he kissed at Barcelona after the 1999 final with Bayern Munich is still a passionate one.

Ferguson will hope the return after two injury-hit years of Norwegian striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, scorer of their extra time winner against Bayern, is a good omen for the future.

Solskjaer is one of only a handful of players left from Ferguson's great sides of the 1990s, along with Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville.

Today, the spotlight is firmly on volatile striker Wayne Rooney and winger Cristiano Ronaldo, plus the cultured midfield support expected from new signing Michael Carrick.

Rooney's red card at the World Cup, in which Ronaldo became famously embroiled, and a subsequent sending-off in a pre-season friendly suggest the 20-year-old has yet to master his emotions.

Rooney's red card against Villarreal was certainly a handicap in last season's ill-fated campaign and Ferguson will be anxious this time to keep England's best player on the pitch.

Success though will come without Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy, one of the highest Champions League scorers in history and a regular scorer for United in his five years at Old Trafford.

He has left for Real Madrid and the onus now is on Rooney and Frenchman Louis Saha to shoulder the bulk of the scoring responsibilities.

REUTERS PDS RAI1845