Jump to content

2008–09 Manchester United F.C. season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by PeeJay (talk | contribs) at 19:28, 4 October 2008 (description of Blackburn match). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Manchester United
2008–09 season
ChairmanUnited States Joel & Avram Glazer
ManagerScotland Sir Alex Ferguson
Premier League6th
Carling CupFourth Round
Community ShieldWinners
UEFA Champions LeagueGroup stage (1st)
UEFA Super CupRunners-up
Top goalscorerLeague:
Darren Fletcher (2)
Wayne Rooney (2)
All:
Wayne Rooney (3)
Highest home attendance75,512 vs Newcastle United (17 August 2008)
Lowest home attendance53,729 vs Middlesbrough (23 September 2008)

The 2008–09 season is Manchester United's 17th season in the Premier League, and their 34th consecutive season in the top division of English football. Should Manchester United win the Premier League 2008–09 title, they will join Liverpool as the most successful club in terms of English top-flight titles with 18.[1] The team will also be aiming to become the first in over 19 years to win consecutive UEFA Champions League titles, Milan being the last team to achieve this in 1990.

Pre-season and Friendlies

After losing assistant manager Carlos Queiroz to the Portugal national football team,[2] Manchester United began their pre-season schedule on 12 July 2008 with a trip up to Pittodrie Stadium to play against Alex Ferguson's former team, Aberdeen. The fixture was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Dons winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, for which Ferguson himself was the manager.[3] Manchester United won the match 2–0, with a penalty from Michael Carrick and a header from Wayne Rooney.[4]

The team then left for South Africa to play in the 2008 Vodacom Challenge. The tournament began with United drawing 1–1 with Kaizer Chiefs in Cape Town,[5] before moving on to Durban to play against Orlando Pirates three days later; they won the match 1–0.[6] On 24 July, the Kaizer Chiefs beat the Orlando Pirates in Port Elizabeth and were rewarded with a further fixture against Manchester United in Pretoria on 26 July.[7] United won the match 4–0 to take the Vodacom Challenge, with goals from Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney, Tom Cleverley and Fraizer Campbell.[8]

En route back from South Africa, United stopped off in Abuja, Nigeria, on 27 July, where they achieved a 2–1 friendly win over Portsmouth, with goals from Eagles and Tévez.[9] Coincidentally, this was a "dress rehearsal" for the Community Shield on 10 August. It was also United's first trip to Nigeria, the location of the club's fourth-largest fan base, with 13.6 million supporters.[10] Upon their return from Africa, the Manchester United team was involved in Ole Gunnar Solskjær's testimonial on 2 August 2008. The match, played at Old Trafford against RCD Espanyol,[11] was won by United 1–0. The winner was scored in the 82nd minute by Fraizer Campbell.[12] This match was followed by two more friendlies; first, a 2–0 win over Peterborough United, managed by Sir Alex's son, Darren, on 4 August, and then a 0–0 draw against Italian giants Juventus at Old Trafford on 6 August,[13] before the Red Devils retained the 2008 FA Community Shield 3–1 on penalties against Portsmouth after the match finished 0–0 after 90 minutes on 10 August.[14][15] It was United's second game against Portsmouth in the space of two weeks.

At the end of August, after the start of the Premier League season, United, as the winners of the UEFA Champions League 2007–08, travelled to Monaco for the 2008 UEFA Super Cup against UEFA Cup winners Zenit St. Petersburg. However, they went 2–0 down in the first hour of the game, and a Nemanja Vidić goal was not enough to save them from defeat. A Paul Scholes handball in the 90th minute resulted in his second yellow card of the game, meaning that he would miss the Reds' opening UEFA Champions League match against Villarreal.[16]

Date Opponents H / A Result
F – A 		Scorers Attendance
12 July 2008 Aberdeen A 2 – 0 Carrick 45' (pen.), Rooney 70' 22,192
19 July 2008 Kaizer Chiefs N 1 – 1 Eagles 60'
22 July 2008 Orlando Pirates N 1 – 0 Martin 23' 50,000
26 July 2008 Kaizer Chiefs N 4 – 0 Giggs 40', Rooney 57', Cleverley 62', Campbell 86'
27 July 2008 Portsmouth N 2 – 1 Eagles 50', Tévez 65'
2 August 2008 Espanyol H 1 – 0 Campbell 82' 68,868
4 August 2008 Peterborough United A 2 – 0 R. Martin 38' (o.g.), Gibson 68' 13,042
6 August 2008 Juventus H 0 – 0 69,872
10 August 2008 Portsmouth N 0 – 0
(3 – 1p) 		84,808
29 August 2008 Zenit St. Petersburg N 1 – 2 Vidić 73' 18,064

Premier League

Manchester United kicked off their defence of the Premier League title on 17 August 2008, playing against Newcastle United at Old Trafford. Newcastle got the first goal of the game through an Obafemi Martins header, but United hit straight back through Darren Fletcher two minutes later. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson handed débuts to both Rodrigo Possebon and Rafael da Silva during the game.[17] This was followed up by a narrow 1–0 win over Portsmouth on 25 August. Papa Bouba Diop came close for Portsmouth after just 12 seconds, before United opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, Darren Fletcher's scuffed shot deflecting off Sol Campbell before being turned into the roof of the net by Sylvain Distin. United dominated most of the match, with Portsmouth rarely testing Edwin van der Sar in the Manchester United goal.[18]

On 13 September, United travelled to Anfield to play Liverpool, who handed them their first loss of the Premier League season. United got off to a strong start with Carlos Tévez scoring in the 3rd minute, but an own goal by Wes Brown in the 27th minute and a goal by Liverpool midfielder Ryan Babel in the 77th sealed United's fate. The game saw the debut of Dimitar Berbatov, who had signed from Tottenham Hotspur on 1 September, and the Bulgarian marked his first appearance by providing the assist for Tévez's goal.[19] The defeat was United's first against Liverpool in the Premier League since 2002.[20] Following the loss at Anfield, United faced the daunting task of travelling to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea. As in the previous game, United opened the scoring, with Park Ji-Sung scoring in the 18th minute after Chelsea's Petr Čech parried Dimitar Berbatov's shot into the Korean's path. United held on until the 80th minute, when Frank Lampard's free kick found the head of Salomon Kalou, who headed in the equaliser.[21]

United gave their league season a kick-start with a 2–0 win over Bolton Wanderers on 27 September. Bolton took the game to United early on in the first half, but the tide began to slowly shift back into United's favour; only the heroics of Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jääskeläinen kept the visitors in the game going into half-time, although Fabrice Muamba did shoot wide from eight yards out just before the whistle. The United breakthrough came 15 minutes into the second half, when referee Rob Styles awarded the home side a penalty, despite Jlloyd Samuel's challenge on Cristiano Ronaldo appearing to have been a fair one; Ronaldo converted the penalty himself. In the 71st minute, Paul Scholes came on for Anderson to make his 400th Premier League appearance, while Carlos Tévez was replaced by Wayne Rooney. Not long afterwards, Rooney doubled the Reds' lead and secured the win with an unstoppable shot after being played in by a Ronaldo back-heel.[22]

The Red Devils then made the short trip up to Blackburn the following weekend to take on Blackburn Rovers. Wayne Rooney declared himself fit after having picked up a knock against Aalborg BK in midweek, and was the orchestrator of most of United's attacks, including the one that led to the opening goal. Rooney took the return pass from his own short corner before swinging the ball into the Blackburn penalty area, where it was met by the head of Wes Brown and passed between the upright and the player who was supposed to be guarding it. The Blackburn players believed that the goal should not have been allowed to stand, as Nemanja Vidić impeded goalkeeper Jason Brown from getting to the ball, but referee Steve Bennett allowed it to stand. Rooney himself scored United's second goal halfway through the second half, latching on to Cristiano Ronaldo's pull-back and curling it past Brown from 12 yards. Carlos Tévez hit the post with a late strike, but the score remained at 2–0 at full time, pushing United up the table to 6th place.[23]

Date Opponents H / A Result

F – A

Scorers Attendance League

position

17 August 2008 Newcastle United H 1 – 1 Fletcher 24' 75,512 10th
25 August 2008 Portsmouth A 1 – 0 Fletcher 32' 20,540 5th
13 September 2008 Liverpool A 1 – 2 Tévez 3' 44,192 9th
21 September 2008 Chelsea A 1 – 1 Park 18' 41,760 15th
27 September 2008 Bolton Wanderers H 2 – 0 Ronaldo 60' (pen.), Rooney 77' 75,484 8th
4 October 2008 Blackburn Rovers A 2 – 0 Brown 31', Rooney 64' 27,321 6th


Pos Club Pld W D L F A GD Pts
5 West Ham United 6 4 0 2 13 10 +3 12
6 Manchester United 6 3 2 1 8 4 +4 11
7 Hull City 6 3 2 1 9 11 -2 11

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Carling Cup

The draw for the Third Round of the 2008–09 Carling Cup paired Manchester United with Middlesbrough. The match was played at Old Trafford on 23 September 2008,[24] and resulted in a 3–1 win for the home side, who gave debuts to three young players, Ben Amos, Danny Welbeck and Manucho. In his first start for the club since returning from injury, Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 25th minute, heading home Ryan Giggs' corner. Adam Johnson equalised for Middlesbrough ten minutes into the second half, but in the 66th minute, Emanuel Pogatetz was sent off for a serious foul on Rodrigo Possebon, which left the Brazilian requiring lengthy treatment before being replaced by Darron Gibson. The disparity in the teams' numbers meant that another United goal was practically inevitable, and it came in the 79th minute via Ryan Giggs. The Welshman's goal lifted him into 10th in the club's all-time list of goalscorers. Because of Possebon's injury, a total of nine minutes of injury time were played, and, in the fifth of the nine, Nani added a third goal for United, securing their passage into the Fourth Round of the competition.[25]

The Fourth Round draw paired United with Queens Park Rangers, with the match to be played at Old Trafford on 11 November 2008.[26]

Date Round Opponents H / A Result

F – A

Scorers Attendance
23 September 2008 Round 3 Middlesbrough H 3 – 1 Ronaldo 25', Giggs 79', Nani 90+5' 53,729
11 November 2008 Round 4 Queens Park Rangers H

Champions League

Group stage

As winners of the tournament the previous season, Manchester United automatically qualified for the group stage of the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League as top seeds. This meant that they would avoid teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Internazionale in the group stage. The draw was held on 28 August 2008 and United were drawn with two familiar sides, Villarreal (whom they had drawn in 2005–06) and Celtic (2006–07), and a new face in Aalborg BK.

Manchester United began their defence of the Champions League title at home to Villarreal, who set out their stall in a defensive manner, managing to hold the European champions to a third consecutive goalless draw between the two teams. Both teams put out weakened lineups, but it was to United that the first chance of the game fell. Owen Hargreaves' corner eluded everyone in the box, including the goalkeeper, but Rio Ferdinand could only scuff the ball across goal as he stabbed at it with his right foot. Carlos Tévez then had a 25-yard shot saved by Villarreal goalkeeper Diego López, while Park Ji-Sung had two penalty claims turned down by German referee Wolfgang Stark. Twenty minutes into the second half, after Guillermo Franco had hit the inside of the post with a cheeky back-heel, Cristiano Ronaldo made his long-awaited return from injury to rapturous applause from the Old Trafford crowd. Ronaldo's arrival seemed to give the United team extra impetus, as within minutes he sent Wayne Rooney on a breakaway. The England international squared the ball to Carlos Tévez, but the Argentine was quickly closed down by Diego López and the chance was missed. The last two decent chances of the game fell to United; first to Ronaldo, who headed just wide from Nani's left-wing cross, and then to Jonny Evans, who headed against the foot of the post after Ronaldo crossed in from the right.[27]

United got their first win of the Champions League season on 30 September 2008, when they visited Aalborg BK. The Red Devils were soon on the attack and Dimitar Berbatov could have got his name on the scoresheet after just six minutes, but he missed the target after Cristiano Ronaldo had charged down goalkeeper Karim Zaza's clearance. Paul Scholes was injured in the 15th minute and was replaced by Ryan Giggs, who immediately played in Wayne Rooney for the first goal of the game. The score remained at 1–0 until ten minutes after half-time, when Berbatov finally put the ball in the back of the net after pouncing on a mistake by Thomas Augustinussen. Tévez was brought on in the 59th minute after Rooney took a knock on his ankle, and introduced fresh attacking impetus to the United front line; he had a goal ruled out for unintentional use of the arm, before breaking into the box only for his square ball to Ronaldo to be wasted by the Portuguese international. Berbatov put the result beyond doubt in the 79th minute when he acrobatically volleyed Ronaldo's right wing cross into the goal.[28]

Date Opponents H / A Result

F – A

Scorers Attendance Group

position

17 September 2008 Villarreal H 0 – 0 74,944 1st
30 September 2008 Aalborg BK A 3 – 0 Rooney 22', Berbatov (2) 55', 79' 10,346 1st
21 October 2008 Celtic H
5 November 2008 Celtic A
25 November 2008 Villarreal A
10 December 2008 Aalborg BK H
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
England Manchester United 2 1 1 0 3 0 +3 4
Spain Villarreal 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1 4
Scotland Celtic 2 0 1 1 0 1 −1 1
Denmark Aalborg BK 2 0 1 1 0 3 −3 1

Squad statistics

No. Pos. Name League FA Cup Carling Cup Europe Other Total Discipline
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK Netherlands Edwin van der Sar 6 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 10 0 0 0
2 DF England Gary Neville (c) 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 5 0 2 0
3 DF France Patrice Evra 6 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 10 0 1 0
4 MF England Owen Hargreaves 1(1) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2(1) 0 0 0
5 DF England Rio Ferdinand 6 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 10 0 1 0
6 DF England Wes Brown 4 1 0 0 1 0 0(1) 0 0(2) 0 5(3) 1 2 0
7 MF Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo 2(1) 1 0 0 1 1 1(1) 0 0 0 4(2) 2 1 0
8 MF Brazil Anderson 4 0 0 0 1 0 0(1) 0 1 0 6(1) 0 1 0
- FW France Louis Saha 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 FW Bulgaria Dimitar Berbatov 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 5 2 1 0
10 FW England Wayne Rooney 5(1) 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 8(1) 3 2 0
11 MF Wales Ryan Giggs (vc) 2(1) 0 0 0 1 1 0(2) 0 1 0 4(3) 1 0 0
12 GK England Ben Foster 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 MF South Korea Park Ji-Sung 2(1) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0(1) 0 3(2) 1 0 0
15 DF Serbia Nemanja Vidić 5 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 1 9 1 3 1
16 MF England Michael Carrick 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0 2(1) 0 0 0
17 MF Portugal Nani 0(2) 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 2 0 5(2) 1 1 0
18 MF England Paul Scholes 4(1) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 7(1) 0 3 1
19 FW England Danny Welbeck 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
20 DF Brazil Fábio da Silva 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
21 DF Brazil Rafael da Silva 0(1) 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2(1) 0 1 0
22 DF Republic of Ireland John O'Shea 1(3) 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1(1) 0 4(4) 0 0 0
23 DF Northern Ireland Jonny Evans 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
24 MF Scotland Darren Fletcher 5 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 8 2 2 0
25 DF England Danny Simpson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
26 FW Angola Manucho 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0 0
27 DF France Mikaël Silvestre 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
28 MF Republic of Ireland Darron Gibson 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0 0
29 GK Poland Tomasz Kuszczak 0(1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0 0
30 MF England Lee Martin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 FW England Fraizer Campbell 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0 1(1) 0 1 0
32 FW Argentina Carlos Tévez 3(1) 1 0 0 0(1) 0 1(1) 0 2 0 6(3) 1 3 0
33 MF England Sam Hewson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
34 MF Brazil Rodrigo Possebon 0(2) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1(2) 0 0 0
35 MF England Tom Cleverley 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
36 MF Scotland David Gray 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
37 DF Northern Ireland Craig Cathcart 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
38 GK Germany Ron-Robert Zieler 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
39 DF England James Chester 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
40 GK England Ben Amos 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
41 FW Italy Federico Macheda 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
42 DF England Richard Eckersley 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
45 FW England Febian Brandy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Statistics accurate as of match played 4 October 2008

Transfers

In

Date Pos. Name From Fee
2008-09-01 FW Bulgaria Dimitar Berbatov England Tottenham Hotspur £30.75m[29]

Out

Date Pos. Name To Fee
2008-07-29 MF England Chris Eagles England Burnley Undisclosed[30]
2008-08-20 DF France Mikaël Silvestre England Arsenal Undisclosed[31]
2008-08-28 FW China Dong Fangzhuo Unattached Released[32]
2008-08-28 FW France Louis Saha England Everton Undisclosed[33]

Loan out

Date From Date To Pos. Name Moving To
2008-07-01 2009-06-30 GK England Tom Heaton Wales Cardiff City[34]
2008-07-22 2008-12-31 FW England Febian Brandy Wales Swansea City[35]
2008-08-04 2009-06-30 DF England Danny Simpson England Blackburn Rovers[36]
2008-08-08 2008-12-31 DF Northern Ireland Craig Cathcart England Plymouth Argyle[37]
2008-08-13 2008-12-31 MF England Lee Martin England Nottingham Forest[38]
2008-09-01 2009-06-30 FW England Fraizer Campbell England Tottenham Hotspur[29]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Ferguson turns sights to Europe". BBC Sport. 2008-05-12. Retrieved 2008-07-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "Queiroz takes Portugal coach post". BBC Sport. 2008-07-11. Retrieved 2008-07-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Hibbs, Ben (2008-03-11). "Reds confirm Dons clash". ManUtd.com. Retrieved 2008-05-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "Sir Alex makes 'emotional' return". BBC News. 2008-07-13. Retrieved 2008-07-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Kaizer Chiefs 1-1 Man Utd". BBC Sport. 2008-07-19. Retrieved 2008-07-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Ogden, Mark (2008-07-22). "Martin makes his case as United players escape wild Pirates challenges". Sport • Football • Manchester United. The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-07-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Bostock, Adam (2008-02-12). "South Africa dates confirmed". ManUtd.com. Retrieved 2008-05-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Man United expect to return to South Africa". ESPN Soccernet. 2008-07-27. Retrieved 2008-07-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "Man Utd 2-1 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. 2008-07-28. Retrieved 2008-07-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Coppack, Nick (2008-06-04). "Reds announce Nigeria stop". ManUtd.com. Retrieved 2008-06-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Thompson, Gemma (2008-04-28). "Testimonial tribute for Ole". ManUtd.com. Retrieved 2008-05-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Report: United 1 Espanyol 0". ManUtd.com. 2008-08-02. Retrieved 2008-08-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "Juventus set up Manchester United friendly". uk.reuters.com. 2008-06-10. Retrieved 2008-06-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Bevan, Chris (2008-08-10). "Man Utd 0-0 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-08-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "The FA Community Shield sponsored by McDonald's". TheFA.com. 2008-05-07. Retrieved 2008-05-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ Lyon, Sam (2008-08-29). "Man Utd 1-2 Zenit St Petersburg". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-08-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Stevenson, Jonathan (2008-08-17). "Man Utd 1-1 Newcastle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-08-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Hughes, Ian (2008-08-25). "Portsmouth 0-1 Man Utd". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-08-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ Sanghera, Mandeep (2008-09-13). "Liverpool 2-1 Man Utd". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-09-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ Thompson, Gemma (2008-09-13). "Report: L'pool 2 United 1". Manchester United. Retrieved 2008-09-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ McNulty, Phil (2008-09-21). "Chelsea 1-1 Man Utd". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-09-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ Nurse, Howard (2008-09-27). "Man Utd 2-0 Bolton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
  23. ^ McKenzie, Andrew (2008-10-04). "Blackburn 0-2 Man Utd". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-10-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ Coppack, Nick (2008-09-02). "Date set for Boro cup tie". Manchester United. Retrieved 2008-09-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  25. ^ "Man Utd 3-1 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 2008-09-23. Retrieved 2008-09-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ Coppack, Nick (2008-09-29). "Date set for QPR clash". Manchester United. Retrieved 2008-09-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ McNulty, Phil (2008-09-17). "Man Utd 0-0 Villarreal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-09-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. ^ McNulty, Phil (2008-09-30). "AaB Aalborg 0-3 Man Utd". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-09-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ a b "Man Utd complete Berbatov switch". BBC Sport. 2008-09-01. Retrieved 2008-09-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  30. ^ "Burnley sign Eagles from Man Utd". BBC Sport. 2008-07-29. Retrieved 2008-07-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  31. ^ "Arsenal sign Man Utd's Silvestre". BBC Sport. 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2008-08-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  32. ^ "Man Utd release China star Dong". BBC Sport. 2008-08-28. Retrieved 2008-08-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  33. ^ "Saha finalises Everton transfer". BBC Sport. 2008-09-01. Retrieved 2008-09-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  34. ^ "Cardiff sign Man Utd goalkeeper". BBC Sport. 2008-05-23. Retrieved 2008-07-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  35. ^ "Swans snap up Brandy in loan deal". BBC Sport. 2008-07-22. Retrieved 2008-07-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  36. ^ "Blackburn sign Man Utd's Simpson". BBC Sport. 2008-08-04. Retrieved 2008-08-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  37. ^ "Argyle snap up defender Cathcart". BBC Sport. 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2008-08-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  38. ^ "Forest complete Martin loan deal". BBC Sport. 2008-08-13. Retrieved 2008-08-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Template:Fb start

Template:Fb end

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2008–09_Manchester_United_F.C._season&oldid=243014231"