Champions League previews: Group A

The forthcoming Champions League match against Boavista is D-Day for Manchester United as after latest catastrophic performances in Premier League the Premiership defending champions' supporters are eager to see their favourites' rehabilitation.

The season has come close to its middle while Sir Alex Ferguson's team are still in search of their form. A process of new style adaptation that started at the beginning of the year with the arrival of Juan Sebastian Veron, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Laurent Blanc is still continuing while the results cannot be qualified even as satisfactory.

The lack of stability which is observed in the game of Barthez and Blanc, a number of poor performances on Veron's part who failed to join easily the team's organization, constant problems with defense lead United into the deep crisis.

The best proof for that is latest losses to their arch-rivals Arsenal and Chelsea. As Ferguson admitted another defeat would mean the club lost all their chances to retain the Premiership title.

In this light the match with the group leaders seems to be vital for United. They have no way back as the Portuguese players have nothing to lose. Even in case of defeat nobody would accuse Jaime Pacheco's boys while any other result will make them heroes.

Champions League defending champions Bayern Munich experience United-like problems. Ottmar Hitzfeld side managed to secure only one point in the last three Bundesliga games, so Bayern are four points behind German championship current leaders Bayer Leverkusen.

As the downfall continues, the trip to Nantes is unlikely to be easy for them. French club, who are still at the bottom of the domestic competition's table have no way back as home defeat would see them having little chances to progress to the next stage. They have a good example of playing well against Germans in the person of Olympique Lyon, the club that stunned 3-0 Bayern Munich in the last Champions League.