Smith left out of United line-up

Alan Smith lost his place in the Manchester United starting line-up tonight as Alex Ferguson’s men looked to get their latest Champions League campaign off to a winning start against Lyon.

The return of Cristiano Ronaldo for Smith was one of three changes to the United side which grabbed an injury-time draw at Bolton on Saturday.

Eric Djemba-Djemba won the battle with Kleberson to partner Roy Keane in central midfield, while John O’Shea’s recovery from a thigh injury allowed the Irishman to start at right-back in place of Phil Neville.

With Smith out, Ruud van Nistelrooy led the Red Devils attack, needing one goal to break Denis Law’s United European scoring record.