Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Wayne Rooney will be rested for the second leg of Manchester United's Champions League semi-final clash against Schalke 04. With his side already holding a 2-0 lead from the away leg, Ferguson has a potentially title-deciding match against Chelsea on Sunday to worry about, which will be a far more pressing concern.
Manchester United Vs. Schalke 04, 2011 UEFA Champions League Semifinal: Wayne Rooney; Javier Hernandez Rested
Last year, Chelsea won 2-1 at Old Trafford after United had just lost a grueling two-legged tie against eventual finalists Bayern Munich on away goals, and took advantage of their opponents' tiredness to eventually win the league title. That result will weight heavily on the title favourites. According to the Guardian, both Wayne Rooney and Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez will be rested, with Rio Ferdinand and Edwin van der Sar also candidates to drop to the bench in favour of their participation in the Chelsea match.
If you look at the experience of last year, we lost a Wednesday game against Bayern, and the team was very tired against Chelsea in the next game. That has to have a bearing on my team selection [against Schalke]. There will be changes, but hopefully the nucleus of the team will still be good enough to win the game.
Chicarito will probably start on the bench with Dimitar Berbatov spearheading the attack in a 4-3-3. It's a calculated risk - should Schalke come out all-guns-blazing and score an early going United might be in for one of the more embarrassing moments in their history, but in general saving players for Chelsea seems a very wise move.
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