WHEN THE Champions League draw was made in Monte Carlo three months ago, Wayne Rooney described it as “good”, Rio Ferdinand tweeted that it was “decent” and Michael Owen used the words “nice-looking”.

In short, the Manchester United players were not bargaining for a make-or-break trip to Switzerland at the start of December, when a point is needed to avoid failure to reach the knock-out stages for only the second time since the 1994-95 season.

That is the potential danger United will confront when they travel to Basel for a game that will almost certainly decide who finishes second in Group C, with Benfica, who qualified for the last 16 following their draw at Old Trafford on Tuesday night,expected to defeat Otelul Galati in Lisbon and retain top spot.

United remain strong favourites to progress, but the 3-3 draw at home to Basel in September, when Ashley Young scored a 90th-minute equaliser to rescue a point, serves as an unwelcome reminder that nothing should be taken for granted against a Swiss side who attack with menace.

“It’s going to be an uphill battle to [win the group] now and we’ll need a favour,” Darren Fletcher said. We’ll go to Basel needing a positive result, which we probably would have needed if we had won against Benfica, so it’s no different in that respect.

“Going away from home in the Champions League is a big challenge. Basel play good, open, attacking, expansive football and create chances, so we know it’s going to be a difficult match. But we’re confident of getting a result.”

Although Alex Ferguson refused to criticise his players following the Benfica game, the United manager must be dismayed they have made such hard work of what appeared to be a relatively straightforward group and, as a result, face the prospect of coming up against stellar opponents in the last-16 stage.

There has been a whiff of complacency about United’s approach. The contrast with last season is stark, not least in defence, where United have conceded more goals in the competition than they did in the 12 matches leading up to their final against Barcelona six months ago.

With that record in mind, it is a good thing Nemanja Vidic has completed his two-match ban and will be available for the fixture at St Jakob Park, where Ferguson will pick his strongest XI and dispense with the rotation policy that has long been a feature of his approach to the group stages. The United manager, who has given starts to 22 players in the Champions League this season, admitted it has “possibly had an unsettling effect”.

Fletcher remains optimistic everything will click into place for United over a crucial few weeks.

“We’re always striving to improve and the longer the season goes on, we’ll get into our form,” he said. “There’s no international breaks or distractions, it’s all club football now heading into the busy Christmas period, and we’ve got enough quality and determination in the squad that we will put it right.

“I don’t think the season has been a disaster so far. We’re still in a relatively good position.”