And thus it begins all over again

It's been about four months since that night in Rome...the night which left all of us with a bitter taste. It was a defeat like no other that Manchester United has ever suffered where we were completely outclassed by a rampaging Barcelona side and everyone of us would give a lot to banish those memories into oblivion. The pain of that defeat will sadly forever haunt us yet starting tonight, Manchester United have a chance to dull that pain somewhat.

Tonight, they start a new European season with a trip to the volatile atmosphere of Turkish stadiums to face Besiktas hoping once again to launch an assault on that coveted title of "European Champions". However, they are faced with anything but a cakewalk. The Turkish stadiums are a cauldron of vociferous noise and are renowned for intimidating the best of men.

Manchester United though go in to this opening game of the group stages in fantastic bent of mind after an authoritative performance against Tottenham at the weekend. With the team finally starting to gel and play some of the attractive brand of football that Manchester United are known for, Sir Alex Ferguson would be hoping for a comfortable away win.

On the team news front, there should be definite changes in the midfield with both Valencia and Nani looking set to start. The tireless Patrice Evra probably needs a game off considering that he's played in every game of the season so far and also took part in both France's international matches last week. So young Fabio could get a start. It would be a surprise though if Fergie chose a different forward pairing than Rooney and Berbatov.

For Besiktas the men to watch will probably be former Villareal striker Nihat Kahveci and Brazilian Bobo. Look out also for the imposing Rustu Recber in the Besiktas goal. The start to the new season has not been very good for Besiktas and Manchester United should have an easy win on the face of things.

And now to the match.