AS Roma v Manchester Utd:On Manchester United's previous visit to Rome Alex Ferguson and his players were shocked to find their bus being chased by photographers hanging off the back of scooters and the city's mayor denouncing them in the press. Yesterday it was a quieter affair as a shadow squad landed in Italy for a renewal of acquaintances that will be of little significance other than to judge Wayne Rooney's credentials as a future club captain.
With nine first-team regulars left at home, Rooney will take the armband against Roma in the Stadio Olimpico tonight, leading a side so experimental the 22-year-old could be the only player on show to be prominently involved in Sunday's game at Liverpool. "He's been pestering me for ages to be our captain," said Ferguson. "I've got no qualms about it. Wayne has some of the qualities of three of our best-ever captains: Steve Bruce, Bryan Robson and Roy Keane."
Ferguson's side will otherwise be made up of his B-list, containing Darren Fletcher, John O'Shea and Chris Eagles, while Gerard Pique, Danny Simpson and Johnny Evans will get a chance to show why their manager believes they can challenge for first-team places in the future.
Roma, perhaps seeking revenge for last season's 7-1 humiliation, will resist the chance to rest their star names but, with both sides having already qualified for the next stage, there will be little relevance attached to tonight's game.
Elsewhere, things were not so serene, with United's chief executive, David Gill, attempting to get hold of Sporting Lisbon's president, Filipe Soares Franco, to resolve a dispute that has led to Ferguson's assistant, Carlos Queiroz, effectively being banned from the Portuguese club.
In an increasingly acrimonious row that is threatening to damage the relationship between United and their feeder club, Franco had described Queiroz as "persona non grata" after Ferguson's number two went public about the merits of signing Sporting's midfielder Miguel Veloso.
An angry Ferguson last night said: "We should respond to these allegations," he said, before claiming United had no interest in Veloso. "Carlos's behaviour is impeccable and their president should retract his comments. We have a good relationship with Sporting and I don't want to see that destroyed."
