Wayne Rooney has been in scintillating form for Manchester United in the past few weeks and it remains to be seen whether Chelsea can deal with him at Old Trafford tonight.
After having started the season in a chaotic way, Wayne Rooney looks to be at his level best again after exploding into life all of a sudden. The English striker has been bagging goals with ease recently and ahead of their clash with Chelsea tonight, one can only wonder what kind of destruction Rooney can cause at Old Trafford.
Chelsea themselves are already in a huge trouble having lost the first leg at home to Manchester United- a result that makes this second leg clash at Old Trafford something like a battle with a gladiator. It's either do or die for Carlo Ancelotti as he faces the toughest challenge yet in his reign at Stamford Bridge.
But the question is, do they have enough confidence in themselves to stop Wayne Rooney particularly at Old Trafford? The Englishman has been rampant in recent times and even Ancelotti admits that Rooney is probably United's most dangerous player.
The Italian said: "I think that, obviously, Rooney is the most dangerous player in the squad. We have to pay attention to his position and his performance. We have to do better than we did in the last game."
Meanwhile, Sir Alex is known to prefer a 4-5-1 position on European nights which means that Rooney might even be dropped onto the wings. Nevertheless, Ancelotti maintained that his side will not alter their game style in order to stop Rooney alone.
He added: "But we don't change our shape, our mentality, our philosophy to control Rooney. We want to play our football at the best level we can."
The former Milan coach will be pleased with the defensive options available to him after Alex made a return from injury in the 1-0 win over Wigan in the weekend. The latter is expected to start alongside John Terry in the heart defence while Branislav Ivanovic would be employed as a fullback.
Anyhow, Rio Ferdinand has warned the defensive unit of the Blues to expect a tough night against Wayne Rooney who is absolutely eager to go firing on all cylinders.
According to the Daily Mirror, Ferdinand said: "Wayne will be pumped up for this - he’s a professional footballer who always wants to do well. It’s a big European tie under the lights at Old Trafford – a really special occasion.
"Wayne thrives on these big occasions, as we’ve seen in the past, so he’ll be up for it."
Rooney was forced to miss the 2-0 win over Fulham last weekend and will also miss this weekend's FA Cup clash with Manchester City after being suspended for two games due to some swearing incidents. However, the added rest might have just rebooted his energy level and Chelsea might just need to be at their best to stop the "beast of the moment".
If in case Chelsea fail to address this 'Rooney' factor quickly enough, it might be a night to forget at the Theatre of Dreams.
Chelsea themselves are already in a huge trouble having lost the first leg at home to Manchester United- a result that makes this second leg clash at Old Trafford something like a battle with a gladiator. It's either do or die for Carlo Ancelotti as he faces the toughest challenge yet in his reign at Stamford Bridge.
But the question is, do they have enough confidence in themselves to stop Wayne Rooney particularly at Old Trafford? The Englishman has been rampant in recent times and even Ancelotti admits that Rooney is probably United's most dangerous player.
The Italian said: "I think that, obviously, Rooney is the most dangerous player in the squad. We have to pay attention to his position and his performance. We have to do better than we did in the last game."
Meanwhile, Sir Alex is known to prefer a 4-5-1 position on European nights which means that Rooney might even be dropped onto the wings. Nevertheless, Ancelotti maintained that his side will not alter their game style in order to stop Rooney alone.
He added: "But we don't change our shape, our mentality, our philosophy to control Rooney. We want to play our football at the best level we can."
The former Milan coach will be pleased with the defensive options available to him after Alex made a return from injury in the 1-0 win over Wigan in the weekend. The latter is expected to start alongside John Terry in the heart defence while Branislav Ivanovic would be employed as a fullback.
Anyhow, Rio Ferdinand has warned the defensive unit of the Blues to expect a tough night against Wayne Rooney who is absolutely eager to go firing on all cylinders.
According to the Daily Mirror, Ferdinand said: "Wayne will be pumped up for this - he’s a professional footballer who always wants to do well. It’s a big European tie under the lights at Old Trafford – a really special occasion.
"Wayne thrives on these big occasions, as we’ve seen in the past, so he’ll be up for it."
Rooney was forced to miss the 2-0 win over Fulham last weekend and will also miss this weekend's FA Cup clash with Manchester City after being suspended for two games due to some swearing incidents. However, the added rest might have just rebooted his energy level and Chelsea might just need to be at their best to stop the "beast of the moment".
If in case Chelsea fail to address this 'Rooney' factor quickly enough, it might be a night to forget at the Theatre of Dreams.
