Champions League Group C Preview

Manchester United can bounce back from dropping their first league points when they host FC Basel in Champions League Group C on Tuesday.

Sir Alex Ferguson's men were held to a 1-1 draw at Stoke in the English Premier League on Saturday, leaving them level on points with bitter rivals Manchester City on top of the table.

But United will look to recover their winning ways when they welcome the Swiss outfit to Old Trafford, and will look to impose their class on the Super League champions.

They will have to do so without star striker Wayne Rooney, who has picked up a hamstring injury, but Ferguson's riches in the scoring department mean he will choose two of Javier Hernandez, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen or Danny Welbeck to start up front.

The Scot has indicated he will blood a weakened squad for Basel's visit, as he looks to preserve their freshness early in the campaign.

"If you get to 10 points, you know you're into the next stage but we'd like to win the group anyway. If we win our next three games, we can utilize the squad," he said.

"It would definitely help and we've done that over the years. It's sometimes backfired - I played a fresh team over in Fenerbahce and they beat us 3-0 (in 2004)."

"Although I want to make changes, I don't want an embarrassment, so changes have got to be made with a mind of still winning the game."

In the group's other clash, Romanian side Otelul Galati will host Benfica in Bucharest.

Galati are not expected to progress beyond the group stages, but they very nearly earned a point at Basel in their opening clash, save for a late Alexander Frei penalty.

Dorinel Munteanu's side will have a tougher task containing their Liga Sagres opponents on Tuesday, too, with the latter impressing against the might of Manchester in their first group game.

The former Romanian international of 134 caps has plenty of experience on the European stage, helping beat Portuguese side Sporting CP in his first UEFA Cup match in the 1991-92 campaign.

While his side is rank underdogs to take three points, Munteanu will be hoping for more success against opposition from Portugal, but should Benfica play anywhere near what they did against United, it will be hard for the Romanian side to snare a point.