Manchester United travel to Gelsenkirchen to face German outfit Schalke in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.

Neuer appears to be going to Bayern Munich this summer though, so United will have to look elsewhere for a replacement for Van der Sar.

Neuer claims the ensuing corner and already the Germany keeper has given a glimpse of just why he's rated so highly by Alex Ferguson.

Oooh! Rooney tests Neuer with a deflected shot that seems to be arrowing towards the top corner! Neuer pulls off a great save to tip over!

Farfan is pulled up for hand ball and United can build from the back now.

Schalke signal their intent early on as Baumjohann picks up a failed clearance by Giggs and lets off a shot on target! It's straight at Van der Sar, but a decent start nevertheless!

Here we go! United get us under way in the Champions League semi-final, first leg!

Here come the teams, to that famous Champions League ditty. Schalke in their traditional blue shirts and white shorts, United is their usual red shirts and black shorts.

At yesterday's pre-match presser, Alex Ferguson admitted to a degree of envy regarding other clubs record in Europe. With a third final appearance in four years up for grabs in this tie, now is as good a time as any to start redressing the balance.

Schalke defender Christophe Metzelder said that his side were 'very nervous' ahead of the game tonight. Good news for United - the Germany defender is prone to mistakes at the best of times.

Amazingly, United, unbeaten in their last 11 Champions League matches, have not conceded a single goal in any of their five CL away games this season. They have kept 13 clean sheets in their last 18 CL away matches.

United, beaten by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals last season, have won only seven of 19 Champions League games against German clubs though they have won four of the last five and six of the last eight. They have scored on each of their last eight visits to Germany though they have won only twice in those games.

That might have something to do with their domestic form - they dropped to defeat against Kaiserslautern at the weekend and currently lie in 10th place. That kind of league position is completely at odds with their European form, mind, and as United know all too well, German opposition are always going to be a tough nut to crack.

Arsene Wenger doesn't give the German side much chance of progressing past United tonight.

And for United, the big news is that Fabio starts ahead of Rafael at right-back, with John O'Shea missing out altogether and the Brazilian's brother Rafael on the bench. In-form Javier Hernandez starts alongside Wayne Rooney with Dimitar Berbatov back in Manchester while Ryan Giggs and Park Ji-sung starting in midfield and Nani on the bench.

So, defender Benedikt Hoewedes doesn't make it for Schalke but Kyriakos Papadopoulos starts and fit again Peer Kluge is on the bench.

And tonight's referee is Carlos Velasco Carballo (Madrid).

The teams are in... SCHALKE: Neuer, Uchida, Matip, Metzelder, Sarpei, Farfan, Papadopoulos, Jurado, Baumjohann, Raul, Edu. Subs: Schober, Escudero, Plestan, Kluge, Charisteas, Karimi, Draxler /// MANCHESTER UNITED: Van der Sar, Fabio Da Silva, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Giggs, Park, Rooney, Hernandez. Subs: Kuszczak, Anderson, Smalling, Nani, Scholes, Rafael Da Silva, Evans

United, on the other hand, are regular customers at this stage of Europe's premier club competition: this is their fourth semi-final in the last five years.

Schalke head into the tie very much the underdogs, having slipped under the radar somewhat this season.