Manchester United begin their quest to become champions of Europe for the third time with a home Group E match they should win against Panathinaikos of Greece on Tuesday.

 But manager Alex Ferguson will want to see an improvement from his men who never showed their championship qualities in a laboured 2-0 premier league win over Charlton Athletic on Saturday.

 Two goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy and a dazzling bag of tricks from Cristiano Ronaldo were the highlights of United's display -- but they had to wait more than an hour to score and then only wrapped up the points with a second late goal from the Dutchman, the top scorer in last season's Champions League competition.

 United skipper Roy Keane, who is nursing an ankle injury from Saturday, will not be risked, manager Alex Ferguson said on Monday.

 Ferguson told a news conference the injury was not serious but Keane would only start on the bench if French defender Mikael Silvestre did not recover from a minor injury.

 England midfielder Paul Scholes is out as he needs surgery on a hernia problem while Brazilian Kleberson has a dislocated shoulder and Wes Brown a knee injury.

 Forward Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, however, will start after being used as a substitute in the win at Charlton.

 BASINAS OUT

 Panathinaikos will be without influential midfielder Angelos Basinas who aggravated a knee problem in Greece's 1-0 European championship qualifying win over Armenia last weekend.

 Israeli coach Yitzhak Shum was boosted by a 3-1 win on Saturday over Kallithea that saw Panathinaikos jump to the top of the Greek league.

 Shum, who has recruited nine new players since taking charge this summer, said that anything was possible ahead of Panathinaikos' second visit to Old Trafford in four seasons.

 They lost the previous meeting 3-1, but Shum, who took Maccabi Haifa to Old Trafford a year ago where his Israeli side even led briefly, said: "This is football, so anything can happen. We have to believe that we have a chance."

 Polish striker Emmanuel Olisadebe is expected to start up front with Cyprus star Michalis Konstantinou but former Burnley player Dimitris Papadopoulos could get a look in after scoring at the weekend.

 Probable teams" Manchester United: 14-Tim Howard; 2-Gary Neville, 5-Rio Ferdinand, 27-Mikael Silvestre, 22-John O'Shea; 7-Cristiano Ronaldo, 8-Nicky Butt, 19-Eric Djemba-Djemba, 20-Ole Gunnar Solskjaer; 10-Ruud van Nistelrooy, 11-Ryan Giggs

 Panathinaikos: 1-Antonis Nikopolidis, 30-Takis Fyssas, 5-Yourkas Seitaridis, 18-Sotirios Kyrgiakos, 2-Rene Henriksen, 6-Markus Munch, 10-Joel Epalle, 4-Silvio Maric, 27-Pantelis Konstantinidis, 19-Michalis Konstantinou, 23-Emmanuel Olisadebe

 Referee: Alain Sars (France)

Close

Today's Top News		Top Sports News
+Beat the flu jabs in Beijing ( 2003-09-16) +Detained Taiwan coast guard goes home ( 2003-09-16) +Biggest State firms to offer top jobs ( 2003-09-16) +Farmer attempts self-immolation at Tian'anmen Square ( 2003-09-15) +Expert: More imports from US 'a way out' ( 2003-09-16)		+Man City go third in Premiership after 4-1 win, Sun created penalty ( 2003-09-15) +Soccer-Cautious Ranieri plays down Chelsea's European chances ( 2003-09-16) +Albertini can make Lazio contenders at home and abroad ( 2003-09-16) +Soccer-United seeking improved form and winning start ( 2003-09-16) + Motor racing-McLaren target Indy win to raise Raikkonen's hopes ( 2003-09-16)