United are aware of Benzema threat

MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is fully aware of the danger posed by Lyon forward Karim Benzema when the sides meet in the second leg of their Champions League encounter on Tuesday after a 1-1 draw in France.

"Benzema is the goalscorer in the team. Him and Juninho from setpieces are a 100 per cent threat to us and we have to be aware of that, " said Ferguson.

"Benzema plays as a lone striker and he's a goal threat because of that. The manner in which Benzema took his chance tells you he can score out of nothing and you worry about players who can score out of nothing."

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has accused Ferguson of 'destabilizing' their forward by allegedly declaring his interest in buying the 20-year-old but Ferguson said Aulas was being "mischievous."

"When I was over watching them play, I was having a bite to eat with him then he came out and said I had been discussing Benzema with him. I never mentioned Benzema to him. He's maybe trying to swing a bit of favor to his team."

Ferguson was content with the result of the first meeting.

"If you assess the game, Lyon were at home and their attitude was to make sure we didn't score a goal, which is happening in Europe now .The threat of the away goal is a lot.

"I thought for the most part we controlled the game without making many chances, Edwin van der Sar didn't have a save to make. When we lost the goal we had a job to do. We made substitutions that improved us, Nani and Tevez gave us more threats, and I think we deserved a draw."

Ryan Giggs is expected to play after shaking off a calf problem that kept him out of Saturday's 3-0 win at Fulham while both Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney should be fully primed after spending most of that match on the bench.

Lyon warmed up for Tuesday's match with an impressive 1-0 win away to Lille, their first away success in the league since November 24.

Lyon manager Alain Perrin must has to assess whether Brazilian center back Cris is up to playing his second match in three days after returning from a six-month injury lay-off against Lille.

"We will see with Cris how he reacts to Saturday's match but he is a player we need in the key weeks of the season," Perrin said. "The longer we wait the less valuable he will be to us." E-mail to a friend