Filed under: Manchester United, Champions League, Football
The Premier League's top scorer should have been looking forward to one of the biggest matches of his career when Manchester United head to Schalke on Tuesday evening.But even before he was ruled out with a groin injury Dimitar Berbatov could be forgiven for wondering whether he is as likely to start in Gelsenkirchen as Gary Neville is.
The Bulgarian's situation takes some explaining but throughout the striker's three years at Old Trafford, he has been overlooked far more often than he has been used in United's biggest matches.
And when he has been given the opportunity in those season-defining fixtures, he has rarely looked like being the man to define that occasion.
In fact Berbatov, United's record signing, has started just four of United's last 16 matches as their chase for 'The Treble' began to reach its climax, saying much about Sir Alex Ferguson's gut feeling about the striker.
His 21 Premier League goals this season appear to have done little to alter his status, 12 months after Wayne Rooney played when he was not even half-fit in the quarter final second leg against Bayern Munich.
March threw up two interesting points from Ferguson, who claimed he was amazed that Berbatov has not scored in the Champions League since his two goals against Celtic in October 2008.
And the United manager also insisted that he would be using Javier Hernandez, who has played solidly for the past two years, sparingly in the run-in.
If that was the intention, the reality has been that Ferguson has struggled to give the Mexican a breather, such has been the impact of his summer signing.
So it would be no surprise if Ferguson picked the same team that won 1-0 at Chelsea in the first leg of the last round, with Ji-Sung Park, who plays as regularly on the big stage as Berbatov misses out, and either Nani or Antonio Valencia playing wide.
The inclusion of the pacey and hard-working Hernandez allows Ferguson to drop Rooney a little deeper, where he can help out defensively while still being able to slide balls through for the Mexican and get into decent attacking positions himself.
Against a team as attacking as Schalke are likely to be, Rooney, who found himself on the left flank on the way to the final two years ago, is again key to the flexibility of Ferguson's plans.
Quite simply, the record signing of a club that is defined by its pursuit of Champions League success, does not fit in to their European style, other than a little flat-track bullying at home in the group stages.
So his groin problem means he will be sitting on the sofa rather than the bench as United look for a third Champions League final in three years.
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