Sir Alex Ferguson's side need a point against Basle in Switzerland - defeat would mean United failing to progress beyond the group stage for the first time since 2005. Even if victory is achieved on Wednesday night however, United look likely to finish second in Group C, meaning they will be in severe danger of landing a last-16 tie against the strongest teams in Europe such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan. Benfica are in pole position to top the group, with their last match against Otelul Galati, who have lost all five of their games so far. United though will settle for second place given the scare Basle gave them in September. At Old Trafford, Basle were within a couple of minutes of inflicting a unique defeat on United - it would have been the first time in Ferguson's time that they had lost a match where they had been two goals ahead. As it was, Ashley Young's last-gasp header made it 3-3, but it still prompted fierce criticism of his players by the United manager. If they are looking for favourable portents, United can look back to 2002 when they last played Basle in Switzerland. It all looked to be going wrong when Christian Gimenez's first-minute strike gave Basle the advantage and the score stayed like that until the second half when two Ruud van Nistelrooy goals and another by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in a seven-minute blitz secured victory. United winger Nani insists there are no nerves ahead of the match. He said: "We're used to this kind of pressure and we have enough experience to go to Basle and win." United will have to play better than in September when Basle captain Marco Streller said he could not believe how easy it was to break through their defence. Streller said: "I was really surprised at how many chances we got, as we were playing against one of the best teams in the world. "Manchester did not have their best day and we had a really good day. In the end Man U were lucky we didn't win there." "We really believe we can qualify from this group."
