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Man United chases top spot against Valencia

MANCHESTER, England - Manchester United’s players don’t plan on taking it easy against Valencia on Tuesday despite having already secured progress from their Champions League group.

The three-time European champions still need at least a point at Old Trafford to secure top spot in Group C and what should be a more favorable draw for the next round.

“We may be through now but we want to get to first spot to avoid any of the big teams in the earlier rounds,” United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar said. “That’s what we need to do on Tuesday.”

And with much of United’s first-team squad having had 10 days since its last match, the players should be well rested to face a side that is also chasing top spot but is coming off a 2-0 weekend defeat against Real Madrid.

Manager Alex Ferguson fielded a mostly second-string side in last week’s League Cup defeat to West Ham and United’s Premier League match at Blackpool was called off at the weekend because of a frozen pitch.

Since it won 1-0 in Spain in September, United needs only a draw to finish ahead of Valencia despite the teams being level on points. Valencia’s superior goal difference means that any kind of win would put it top of Group C.

Rangers is at Bursaspor in the other match, with the Scottish club already assured of third place and a spot in the second-tier Europa League.

After meeting Valencia, United is not scheduled to play again until Monday’s Premier League match against Arsenal, so Ferguson is likely to field a strong side — secure in the knowledge that his players have almost a week to recover.

Van der Sar, Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney are among the players who have not featured since a 7-1 win over Blackburn on Nov. 27 and all are likely to play.

United is the only one of the 32 teams not to have conceded in the group stage but Valencia’s attack could pose some problems. Although it failed back in September, when Javier Hernandez’s 85^th-minute goal won it for United, striker Roberto Soldado has scored five times in the Champions League — just one fewer than leading scorer Samuel Eto’o.

And in last two rounds, Valencia beat Bursaspor 6-1 and Rangers 3-0 to go to 14 goals overall.

“We are going to Manchester looking for the win and the top spot,” Soldado said. “This is the level we need to show in all competitions and we have to be regular.”

With Bursaspor sure to finish in last place, Rangers has nothing at stake in terms of competition in Turkey on Tuesday. But it is still chasing victory and a win bonus that would certainly be welcome.

Rangers went two years without paying a transfer fee for a player before signing striker James Beattie in August.

“We want to do as well as we can do,” said manager Walter Smith, who also had an eye on UEFA’s ranking system for competition draws. “We have the co-efficient to look after as well and there is still a fair amount of money available for winning the game.

“So obviously we want to finish with as good a record as we can in the Champions League.”