There will be a shiver running through David Moyes’s body as the music plays at Old Trafford tonight but it will be of anticipation rather than fear. When the realisation he would be succeeding Ferguson began to roll through his mind, it would have been occasions like this that would have seemed most thrilling.
No stadium in England transforms itself for European nights quite like Old Trafford. On Saturday against Crystal Palace the atmosphere was flat and routine in a way it seldom is at Anfield. However, under the floodlights it becomes what it is, one of the world’s great arenas. As he gave his first Champions League press conference, Moyes was sitting in a room in which there were 15 separate photographs of United players and managers with the European Cup.
Manchester: David Moyes will sample the Champions League group phase for the first time on Tuesday when his Manchester United side host Bayer Leverkusen in their opening Group A fixture.
Moyes was selected to succeed Alex Ferguson as United manager at the end of last season despite having only overseen two matches in the competition during his 11-year tenure at Everton.
Manchester United are set to pair Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie in attack again for the Champions League clash with Bayer Leverkusen.
Rooney is close to a full recovery from a head injury sustained in training and scored against Palace at the weekend.
There are still doubts over Shinji Kagawa with boss Moyes saying at Monday's press conference: "He has a bit of flu. He did some work yesterday and a little bit today."
Youngster Adnan Januzaj, who impressed off the bench against Palace, is not part of the squad.
Manchester United vs Bayer Leverkusen September 17, 2013
Moyes confirmed that the complicated UEFA eligibility criteria means if United wait to register him until October 7, by which time he will have been with the Reds for two years, he can go on the B list of youth players.
Those games, in 2005, saw the Merseyside club beaten 4-2 by Villarreal over two legs in the third qualifying round, but Moyes is relishing the prospect of a second bite at the apple.
"I have been in the Champions League before but I have not made the group stage. I had quite a few episodes in the Europa League, which were good, but nothing at the level of the Champions League.
"We will do our homework to make sure we are as prepared as we can be."
United are the only genuine European heavyweights in the group, but with Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Sociedad making up the pool, there is not a weak team in Group A either.
Moyes says that although things could have been better, they could also have been a lot worse.
"It was the first time I have been involved in a draw at that level," said the Scot.
"When the names came out, there were some that I didn`t want and others I would have been happy with. Relatively, I am quite pleased.
Manchester United predicted starting XI:
De Gea; Fabio, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Valencia, Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Rooney, Van Persie.
De Gea; Fabio, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Valencia, Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Rooney, Van Persie.
Where: Old Trafford in Manchester, England
When: Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 2:45 p.m. ET (7:45 p.m. BST)
