Porto 0-1 Manchester United - UEFA Champions League - 15 April 2009 -

"Weren't we a great defensive club?"

Porto 0-1 Manchester United (Ronaldo 6′) - Man Utd win 3-2 on aggregate.
Stadium: Estadio do Dragao, Portugal
Competition: UEFA Champions League, Quarterfinals, Second Leg
Date: 15 April 2009
Kickoff: 19:45 GMT, 14:45 EST

Manchester United overcame a shaky first leg and prevailed at the Estadio do Dragao to eliminate Porto and advance to the Semifinals! Soccerlens brought you the action live! Click below for the liveblog and feel free to leave comment below!

Match Preview:

When the Quarterfinal draw was announced, most pundits believed that Manchester United got the best draw out of any team when they avoided their English rivals, as well as Barcelona, and drew lightly-regarded Porto.

With the first leg at Old Trafford, most pundits believed that United would win comfortably, thereby rendering the second leg moot. With his team facing a big F.A. Cup Semifinal match five days after the second leg, as well as a tightening Premiership race, most pundits believed that Sir Alex Ferguson was going to use the second leg as a way to rest his key players, and maybe get a look at some of his future stars.

Most pundits were wrong.

Porto attacked Manchester United from the beginning of their match last week and exposed some huge deficiencies in United’s defense. If that weren’t enough, United seemed determined to make their task as difficult as possible, giving the ball away in the worst possible areas and playing sloppy, uninspired football.

Perhaps they were still hungover from the aftermath of their emotional come-from-behind victory over Aston Villa, which took place a mere two days before the first leg against Porto. Perhaps they believed the hype from most pundits, who thought that United could sleepwalk to a comfortable victory against Porto.

In any event, they find themselves in the fight of their lives as they’ll have to do what no English team has done in 11 years, and that’s win at Porto. Manchester United were able to rest both Patrice Evra and Cristiano Ronaldo over the weekend, but once again looked shaky in defense, even though they managed to win at Sunderland.

They may have shown a preview of their gameplan for the Porto match by playing Berbatov, Rooney, and Tevez together. We have yet to see the three of them with Ronaldo for extended periods of time. That time may come during this match, since Sir Alex is going to need all the offense he can get. If they can’t deliver, then it will spell the end of United’s title defense, and Sir Alex will have to ruminate over yet another premature European exit during his tenure as manager.

As for Porto, they have shown what they’re capable of, and will probably stick to the same gameplan that they used at Old Trafford. Teams that have done well against United this season have been the ones that have attacked and played positive football from the very start of the match.

With United’s defense looking unsettled, Porto would be wise to ride their big guns, Cristian Rodriguez, Lisandro Lopez, and Hulk, as much as possible. With Porto’s strength on the counterattack, and Manchester United’s commitment to the attack, it could be an exciting, wide-open match.

Will Manchester United get the job done and advance to the Semifinals? Or will Porto, once again, send them home early? Tune in and find out!

Lineups:

Porto: Helton, Sapunaru, Alves, Rolando, Cissokho, Fernando, Lucho (c), Meireles, Lisandro, Hulk, Rodriguez.
Subs: Nuno, Stepanov, Guarin, Mariano, Farias, Costa, Madrid.

Manchester United: Van der Sar, O’Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Anderson, Carrick, Giggs (c), Ronaldo, Rooney, Berbatov.
Subs: Foster, Neville, Nani, Scholes, Evans, Tevez, Macheda.