Manchester United and Group H Preview for the UEFA Champions League 2012-13

By David Salazar (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Sep 17, 2012 11:59 PM EDT

Tags champions league 2012-13, manchester united, braga

The 2012-13 Champions League Group Stage sees its first round of games take place on Tuesday. 32 club squads will compete to see which will prevail Europe's top club. Here is a look at Group H.

Braga

Braga enters the group with a great chance to progress. They made it at the last second with a shootout win over Udinese but have been mediocre in the Portuguese league with a 1-1- 1 record to start. They will rely heavily on midfielders Alan and Rúben Micael if they want to get far in this round. The most success they have had in a European tournament was at the 2010-11 Europa League when they went to the final but lost to FC Porto. With a wide open group, it is not hard to believe that second place is not out of reach for them.

CFR Cluj

The Romanian club gets a shot at making it out of the group, a feat they have never accomplished at this level. In their first amtch, they take on Braga, a squad they know a lot about. Six players on the squad are from Portugual while three of those six used to be on Braga. Key players for Cluj are forwards Pantelis Kapetanos and Ronny as well as midfielder and former Braga player Rafael Bastos. With a wide open group and what seems like an edge on Braga this team could be on to the knockout stages.

Galatasaray

The most experience Turkish side at the Champions League returns once more to try and make a big run. This squad currently sits atop their league with three wins and a draw in four matches. They are a dark horse to win second place in the group, though that is still wide open with the other three squads more than capable of competing up to the same level. Galatasaray gets the misfortune of starting against group Favorite Manchester United.

Manchester United

Sir Alex Ferguson's men must have been thrilled when they were drawn into this group. To call them favorites is an understatement; this is Man U's group to lose. David de Gea, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Alexander Buttner, Nani, Ashley Young, Danny Welbeck, Paul Scholes, Javier Hernandez, and Robin Van Persie make up one of the deepest squads in the tournament and the best squad in this group barring no exceptions. A loss for Man U in this group stage would be shocking.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012
Time	Home		Away	STAGE	TV	VENUE
2:45 ET	Manchester United	v	Galatasaray	Group H		Old Trafford
2:45 ET	Braga	v	CFR Cluj-Napoca	Group H		Braga Municipal
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2012
Time	Home		Away	STAGE	TV	VENUE
2:45 ET	CFR Cluj-Napoca	v	Manchester United	Group H		Stadionul Dr. Constantin Radulescu
2:45 ET	Galatasaray	v	Braga	Group H		Türk Telekom Arena

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012
Time	Home		Away	STAGE	TV	VENUE
2:45 ET	Manchester United	v	Braga	Group H		Old Trafford
2:45 ET	Galatasaray	v	CFR Cluj-Napoca	Group H		Türk Telekom Arena
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2012
Time	Home		Away	STAGE	TV	VENUE
2:45 ET	CFR Cluj-Napoca	v	Galatasaray	Group H		Stadionul Dr. Constantin Radulescu
2:45 ET	Braga	v	Manchester United	Group H		Braga Municipal

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2012
Time	Home		Away	STAGE	TV	VENUE
2:45 ET	Galatasaray	v	Manchester United	Group H		Türk Telekom Arena
2:45 ET	CFR Cluj-Napoca	v	Braga	Group H		Stadionul Dr. Constantin Radulescu
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2012
Time	Home		Away	STAGE	TV	VENUE
2:45 ET	Manchester United	v	CFR Cluj-Napoca	Group H		Old Trafford
2:45 ET	Braga	v	Galatasaray	Group H		Braga Municipal