Didier Dechamps opts for the middle ground in his Marselle team to face Manchester United at Old Trafford, knowing that a score draw or a win will take him through to the next round. Benoit Cheyrou starts in midfield instead of the more defensively minded Edouard Cisse or Charles Kabore, and there's no room in the starting eleven for the kamikaze option of Matthieu Valbuena. Cheyrou is the compromise choice, an effective box to box player who'll be able to help Stephane Mbia on defence while not behing completely useless going forwards.
Manchester United FC Vs. Marseille, 2011 UEFA Champions League: Marseille Lineup
The rest of the team lines up more or less as expected, a 4-5-1/4-3-3 hybrid with Loic Remy and Andre Ayew out wide and Lucho Gonzalez as a central attacking player, while Andre-Pierre Gignac leads the line. Gabirel Heinze starts in central defence rather than at full-back, where he surprisingly won't have to deal with Dimitar Berbatov. This is a relatively weak Manchester United side hit hard by injury (although the prospect of dealing with both Nani and Antonio Valencia late in the game has to be scary for the Marseille defence), and it wouldn't be a surprise to see the visitors come away with something here.
Marseille (4-5-1/4-3-3): Steve Mandanda; Rod Fanni, Gabriel Heinze, Souleymane Diawara, Taye Taiwo; Stephane Mbia, Benoit Cheyrou, Loic Remy, Lucho González, Andre Ayew; Andre-Pierre Gignac.
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