Bayern Munich sporting director Matthias Sammer says that he felt Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia should have been sent off during the 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich. The German outfit were the visitors to Old Trafford for the Champions League quarter-finals.

This was the first leg of the two legged match. Despite being overwhelming favourites ahead of the encounter, Bayern were not at their usual best and could only draw the match 1-1. For long periods of the match, it looked like United, who scored through Nemanja Vidic, would manage a famous win.

Manchester United appear to have turned round the corner after enjoying a 3-0 win over Olympiakos, which helped them come back from a 2-0 deficit in the first leg. They have now qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League where they could be facing the top teams like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. Both these clubs are regarded as the favourites for the title itself. For the 2008 champions, things are slightly different after struggling for form throughout the regime of David Moyes.

After the 3-0 defeat against Liverpool on Sunday, there have been suggestions that Moyes would be sacked before the end of the season. However, the former Everton man brought himself some breathing space with this victory.

Antonio Valencia the Manchester United right winger admits that the loss to Chelsea following the two consecutive draws against Fulham and Arsenal has left them far behind the race for the top four spot this season.

The Red Devils were in a spot of bother from the start of the season losing too many home matches which led them to drop in the seventh place in the Barclays Premiere League. Before the Chelsea match Valencia said that whatever happens they should not lose the match against Chelsea but unfortunately the Red lost the match 3-1 with the skipper seeing a red card in the end.

Antonio Valencia doesn’t think that Manchester United has no chance whatsoever of retaining their Premier League title this season.

United finally secured a win this year when they beat the Swans at Old Trafford last weekend.

Valencia was one of the stand-out performers for his team in that match. It was him who had found the net early in the second half to give United the lead. Later on, Welbeck scored a goal too and the final score line was 2-0 in the favour of the Red Devils.

Currently, United is 6 points away from the 4th positioned team in the league points table and that’s a big difference. To break into that top 4, the defending champions need regular wins.

After struggling with form for much of last season, Antonio Valencia has been showing signs of recovery this season for Manchester United.

He has already made 13 appearances and has scored two goals. He has also made two goals for his teammates. Valencia was a £ 16 million signing from Wigan a few years ago.

He had his most disappointing year at Manchester United last season, but his sufficient recovery this campaign shows that he is a player of quality according to William Morgan. Morgan played for Manchester United as a winger during his playing days and told Man Utd football news that he had high hopes for Valencia.

The manager of Manchester United, David Moyes, has said that he expects the Everton fans to show respect towards him when he turns up as Manchester United manager at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Moyes was the manager of Everton until the last season. He had been in charge there for 11 years. He made a move to Old Trafford this summer after the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson and this is the first time that he is going to face his former club.

It doesn’t seem that the Everton fans would try to have a go at Moyes because the 50 years old Scot manager hadn’t left Goodison Park on bad terms.

Talking to the reporters about the upcoming game against Everton, Moyes said, “There might be a couple of guys who would like to verbally attack me, but, most of the Everton fans would understand the fact that I did a good job for the club when I was in charge there. During my tenure, the team rarely finished outside top 10 in the Premier League table.”

“Everton is very close to my heart. I have spent a lot of time over there and if Sir Alex Ferguson had not asked me to take over from him at United, I would not have left Everton. I had already started thinking about my plans for the next season.”

“I am still in touch with the Everton chairman. I talk to him quite often. I talk to the Everton staff too and when the upcoming game gets over, I would have no hesitation in going into the Everton camp and greeting the players.”

Moyes managed Everton in a total of 518 games out of which the Toffees managed to win 218.

Manchester United might be having a hard time in the ongoing Premier League, but, a couple of their back-ups who are currently playing for different clubs on loan are doing no harm to their reputation at all. Those two guys are Angelo Henriquez and Nick Powell.

Henriquez is playing for the La Liga club Real Zaragoza, while, Powell is showing his skills at the Championship club Wigan Athletic. Both these guys have been in fine nick recently and have contributed heavily for their respective sides.

According to the Manchester United boss David Moyes, the players who are playing on loan and are putting up good performances will definitely get their opportunities when they come back.

Talking to the reporters yesterday, Moyes said, “It’s nice to see that the guys are performing well on loan. Our back up is very strong and that’s why, we can place such talented guys on loan.”

“We want them to get more playing time and get prepared for the big games.”

Meanwhile, Manchester United has found out a new hero in the form of the 18 years old Belgian winger Adnan Januzaj.

Januzaj started a Premier League game for the first time for United the other day against Sunderland and made his mark straight away by scoring a couple of goals.

When asked about Januzaj, Moyes said, “I had planned to give him a start a few weeks back, but, because of various reasons, I couldn’t do that. Yesterday was perfect to get him into the starting line up and what a debut he had. He was just unstoppable.”

Januzaj’s contract with United is going to finish next summer. When asked if he thinks that the teenager might be lured away by the other clubs, Moyes said, “That is not something which is bothering me at the moment. All the young players want to be a part of Manchester United.”

Antonio Valencia is a professional footballer who currently plays for the reigning Premier League champions Manchester United and represents his native Ecuador at international level.

Born in an impoverished region of the country, the young Antonio showed signs of his prodigious talents at a very young age and was snapped by El Nacional, one of the most famous clubs in the country where he played through the youth ranks and progressed to make his professional debut for the club.

He played in over 80 league matches for the club before his form earned him a dream move to Spanish side Villarreal in 2005. The Yellow Submarine was one of the best teams in Spain at that time and boasted of a star studded team and the young Ecuadorian failed to make an impact on the manager, and was sent on a loan spell to Recreativo Huelva. He returned from Huelva before being sent out on loan to Premier League club Wigan Athletic where Antonio Valencia became one of the stars in a very mediocre side that managed to maintain its status in the Premier League.

According to the soccer blog, Wigan quickly exercised a clause in the loan deal that enabled them to buy the player and having made the switch permanent, Valencia came good for the club and was the stand out performer for the club in the two seasons he was there. In the summer of 2009, Valencia made a big money move to champions Manchester United, where he was brought in as a replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo, who had left to join Real Madrid.

His first season at United saw him finish with a runners-up medal as The Red Devils finished behind Chelsea and Antonio Valencia has gone on to win two Premier League winners’ medals since then, having been a key player in the sides.

Antonio Valencia has said that the injuries have affected his performance in the ongoing season.

The last season was fantastic for Valencia. He was consistent throughout the season and he was given the player of the year award at the end of the season. But, in this season, Valencia is lacking that consistency.
Valencia has been given regular playing opportunities. He has featured for the Red Devils in 21 matches in the ongoing Premier League, but, he hasn’t been able to contribute that much for the side.

When asked about his form in the ongoing season, Valencia said, “This season has been absolutely fantastic for us as a team, but, personally, I haven’t had the best of times. I should have contributed more.”
“The injuries have prevented me from playing up to my potential in this season. I am still playing with a few niggles.”

“I am hoping that I will get regular playing opportunities in the remaining part of the season. If I get the opportunities, I am ready to grab them and give my 100% for the side.”

Manchester United is in an extremely comfortable position in the Premier League. They have 15-point lead over the local rivals Manchester City and they are the hot favourite to win the League from this stage.

However, they still have to face some strong teams, but, the way they have played in the season so far, it’s tough to believe that they will lose the plot in the upcoming games.

The captain of Manchester United Nemanja Vidic had told the reporters a couple of days ago that the whole United squad is desperate to reclaim the League title and Valencia also said the same thing.

The Ecuadorian winger said, “The whole squad is determined to win the title again. Every match is important from this stage. We will fight hard in every remaining game and hopefully, will be able to claim the title.”

It was only a few years ago that the Ecuadorian winger Antonio Valencia was playing for the Premier league strugglers Wigan. Now, he is set to face the nine times European champions Real Madrid in the Champions league at Old Trafford.

The 26-year-old was also part of the team that managed 1-1 draw in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, and he has recalled the experiences. Valencia has said that it was a spectacular arena and he enjoyed playing at the Santiago Bernabeu. However, he did not have any intimidating feeling because he plays for one of the biggest clubs in the world – Manchester United.

Even though United have scored the crucial away goal, Valencia still believes that the team has a lot of work to do before they can think of playing in the quarter-finals. Real Madrid are extremely strong in the counter-attack, and United need to be focused defensively in order to prevent such attacks from the Spanish club. Valencia will also have an eye on the Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo, who used to be a United legend. However, Valencia refused to be focused only on Ronaldo, as there are several other players like Karim Benzema and Mesut Ozil capable of hurting United.

“We’re at home and hope the result is in our favour. I hope I get the chance to play, I think everyone at United would like to play in games like these. I think it’s going to be a close match. Real are a team that exploit the counter-attack, and we must be very cautious. If we are focused the entire game, I don’t think we’ll have any problems. Not only Cristiano Ronaldo but all the players. We know Real have Ozil, Benzema, Higuain – it’s a team full of stars,” said Valencia.