Source: Manchester_EveningNews
United eye Edwin successor
EDWIN van der Sar was United's penalty saving shoot-out hero in the Luzhniki Stadium in the 2008 Champion s League final here in Moscow.
Tonight in the same stadium he will stand at the opposite end to a goalkeeper being touted as a potential successor when the veteran Dutchman finally retires.
Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak, already battling to win his gloves, will also be at the ground assessing a potential future rival.
CSKA Moscow's Igor Akinfeev is said to be on dossiers compiled by the Reds' keeper coach Eric Steele as he continually updates his info on potential recruits.
The 23 year-old is Guus Hiddink's first choice for the Russian national side and is being watched by a host of European clubs.
Foster messed up his big chance to get his foot in the door and oust van der Sar while the Dutchman was out injured for 10 weeks.
But the England squad member - and Polish international Kuszczak - have been given a vote of confidence by Sir Alex Ferguson.
Asked about Akinfeev, Fergie said: "I can't deal with rumour because we have two very good young keepers in Kuszczak and Foster and the future lies with them.
"When van der Sar chooses to retire, I am confident they will be able to take over."
Fantastic
While memories are certain to be evoked of that spellbinding, rain-sodden night here in Russia in the Champions League final, Fergie refuses to get carried away with all the nostalgia.
"It doesn't excite me or anything like that," he admitted.
"It's obviously a fantastic memory, but it's in the past and I tend to put things in the past really.
"In a few years' time, when I have time to think about it, I might think differently.
"It was a wonderful night and you don't forget those nights, but it's about this game against CSKA now and you have to move on.
"This is going to be a tough match. The Russian Premier League, in the last few years, has changed with the foreign players that have come in, especially the Brazilians.
Ambition
"The last time we came here in 1992, against Torpedo, it was all Russian players. That's all changed.
"There is far more money in the game than before and it's a much more affluent league.
"It's similar to the German and French leagues. You go back to the great teams of Moscow Dynamo but you now have teams like Zenit St Petersburg and Rubin Kazan. It's an amazing change and it shows there is room for ambition."
Nemanja Vidic celebrates his 28th birthday in the stadium where he used to do serious derby battle for Spartak Moscow with their CSKA rivals.
He's in the perfect position to give his United colleagues all the inside gen about the artificial surface they will be encountering
"I am a Manchester United player now and so this game isn't like a derby for me any more," said the big Serbian defender.
"My time in Moscow has gone and all I am bothered about is this game because it is the next one. The only important thing for me is to get the three points and play well.
"I have played on this artificial pitch before and it won't be a concern for us. Obviously it is better for CSKA because they play on it every week and we will have to adapt.
"But the main thing is to keep the ball on the ground and we will be fine."
