Villarreal and Man United clash in EuropeUpdated: November 24, 2008, 7:59 AM EST VILLARREAL, Spain (AP) - Villarreal and Manchester United meet on Tuesday with top spot in their Champions League group on the line.
Both clubs are tied atop Group E with eight points - six clear of Celtic and Aalborg - with a draw being enough to see both progress to the last 16.
Champion Manchester United hasn't lost away in eight European matches but has only one prior victory in 17 trips to Spain, and may be without two its most potent offensive threats - Cristiano Ronaldo and Dimitar Berbatov.
Ronaldo seemed set to miss the clash after limping out of Saturday's frustrating 0-0 draw against Aston Villa, which denied Man United a chance to reduce the eight-point gap on Premier League pacesetters Chelsea and Liverpool. However, the Portugal winger trained with the team on Monday, while Berbatov is sidelined with a hamstring injury.
The Red Devils are already without the injured Wes Brown, Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves, while Darren Fletcher is also racing to return from a knee injury.
Villarreal has never lost a home game in European Cup play, but is coming off an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Valladolid for its first defeat at El Madrigal stadium in nearly a year.
Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini expects a better outing after the club saw its 17-match unbeaten run - stretching to last season - snapped as Villarreal dropped to third, four points behind leader Barcelona.
"These type of defeats always affect you but we have to lift ourselves. We have to accept this loss, learn from it and move on," the Chilean coach said after his team's unbeaten start to the season ended. "The important thing is to get our rhythm back and concentrate on qualifying for the next phase of the Champions League."
Giuseppe Rossi looks set to start against his former club with fellow strikers Nihat Kahveci and Joseba Llorente out to injury and Jozy Altidore unavailable. Midfielder Diego Godin is also missing because of a hamstring problem.
The Red Devils fear that Rossi could come back to haunt them after the 21-year-old striker left Old Trafford in 2007 after three years and just five appearances.
"I knew he was going to be a good player," United defender Patrice Evra said. "If you give him the ball in the box he will score every time. I am not surprised what he is doing now."
It will be Rossi's first meeting against his former club after missing the first-leg match to injury.
United is eager to secure a place in the knockout phase after having missed a chance earlier this month when held 1-1 by Celtic.
"We need to win the group, like we did last year because it sets you up for the rest of the competition," Evra said. "This is a very important game but a very difficult one."
United have been the competition's steadiest team with only one goal conceded through four matches and can count on center back Rio Ferdinand, who returned from injury to play against Villa.
Evra said the team feels it has something to prove by defending the trophy that was won on penalty kicks against Chelsea in May.
"When you play for Manchester United it is easy to win the trophy. To keep it is more difficult," he said. "Everybody wants to beat you. We have the squad to do overcome that. But you need to fight within yourself more than last year to win the Champions League again."