The youngsters from Manchester United take on Benfica’s Eagles, in the first of six matches, at 7.30.
The other two teams – Boca Juniors and Glasgow Celtic – arrive in the Island today.Benfica are back in the tournament after a year’s absence and the 1999 champions will be looking to repeat that 2-0 final victory over Manchester United.However, their preparation had an unexpected setback yesterday when they suffered a nightmare journey into the Island.Having arrived at Lisbon Airport at 9.30 in the morning they didn’t land in Jersey until nearly midnight because of various delays and technical difficulties.As a result they have cancelled today’s training session at Le Boulivot while the United lads, who arrived on time at 9.30 yesterday morning, will still be training at La Hague Manor.The Benfica team has retained several players that lost in the 2001 final to Barcelona, including Frederico Runa who was just 16 back then.United’s squad are all under the age of 20 and features most prominently Paul Tierney, who has played first-team football, England U18 international David Poole and Denmark youth international Mads Timm.United will be in their blue change strip while Benfica will be in black.The tournament is taking on a different format this year with the reduction in teams from six to four.Whereas is previous years there were two groups of three teams with the group winners contesting a final, this time round there will be one group and the winners being crowned 2003 champions.For the teams the new format guarantees them at least three games, as opposed to the previous two.Benfica also play tomorrow night, against tournament newcomers Boca Juniors – the first South American club to enter the event.
