Injured Ferdinand pulls out of Besiktas game

Rio Ferdinand’s return to the Manchester United starting line-up proved short-lived as the defender was ruled out of the Red Devils’ Champions League opener against Besiktas.

Ferdinand is believed to have picked up a minor groin strain, having already missed a month after suffering a calf injury on international duty with England last month.

Dimitar Berbatov surprisingly missed out, along with Michael Owen, although there was some experience in the form of Gary Neville for United’s first encounter with the Turkish champions.

Besiktas: Arikan, Kas, Sivok, Ferrari, Uzulmez, Dag, Ernst, Holosko, Rodrigo Tabata, Ozkan, Nobre.

Subs: Recber, Koybasi, Fink, Nihat, Tello, Inceman, Yusuf Simsek.

Man Utd: Foster, Neville, Jonathan Evans, Vidic, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Anderson, Nani, Rooney.

Subs: Kuszczak, Brown, Owen, Berbatov, Park, Fabio Da Silva, Gibson.

Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)