Marseille and Manchester United Play a Scoreless, Uninspired Champions League First Leg

Rooney and Manchester United look uninspired against Marseille — Manchester United and Marseille played a scoreless game Reuters

With very few opportunities of note, Marseille and Manchester United played a scoreless match with very few goal-scoring opportunities for either club in the Champions League first leg of the Round-of-16 at Stade Velodrome.

In the 41st minute, Marseille's Andre Ayew delivered a corner kick that almost swerved into the net, but Edwin Van der Sar was there to make the save.

Manchester United had a decent chance in the second half when Darron Gibson crossed to Nani who flicked the ball to Dimitar Berbatov. But Souleyman Diawara threw himself at Berbatov's shot.

In the 43rd minute, Marseille's Charles Kabore made a running right-footed shot, but it was nowhere near the goal.

Marseille and Manchester United each only had two shots on goal, and neither team had a player booked with a yellow card.

The match desperately could have used a burst of Javier Hernandez. The Mexican striker is known for delivering goal-scoring chances for the Red Devils, and this was surely a match that could have used his magic.

Perhaps the most noteworthy event of this unexpectedly dull game was the substitution of midfielder Mathieu Valbuena who was questionable for the match but entered in the 71st minute.

Red Devils' star Eric Cantona has suggested that Valbuena be acquired by Manchester United.

Manchester United Lineup:

G: Van der Sar

D: Evra, Vidic, Smalling, O'Shea

M: Fletcher, Carrick, Gibson;

F: Berbatov, Rooney, Nani

Bench:

G: Kuszczak

D: Brown, Rafael, Fabio

M: Obertan, Scholes

F: Hernandez

Marseille Starting Lineup: