They may have one point from two games and lie bottom of Champions League Group B; they may not have scored in either of those games; they may face virtual elimination from the competition should they fail to score again tonight, and they may have a difficult route back into next year's tournament as they sit sixth, 17 points behind Monaco in the French League.

Yet despite all these factors, Girondins Bordeaux, the stuttering reigning champions of France, arrived in Manchester yesterday and immediately started talking about the opposition's perceived weakness rather than their own.

At least that is what two members of the Bordeaux backroom staff did, and whether the players will thank them for that as they leave Old Trafford tonight will be of some interest.

Nor were these an odd couple of kit men. Marius Tresor, once a languid French international, is now Bordeaux's chief scout, while Eric Bedouet is the team's assistant manager. Both do not seem overly impressed with the current European champions.

Tresor went to see Manchester United play at Elland Road 10 days ago and came away with this opinion. "The attack and midfield are the strong points of the team. But I have noticed a hesitancy in their defence. Jaap Stam is a good defender but he isn't very lively. I think that even on his own Sylvain Wiltord can make life difficult because of his pace."

Stam will be delighted to hear that, as will Mikael Silvestre, who had possibly his best game for United at Leeds.

Bedouet was equally sceptical about United's defensive resolution. "This team has weaknesses," he said, "notably in one-on-one situations. Stam is not very quick and the goalkeeper, Mark Bosnich, a left-footer, is not very certain."

In 25-year-old Wiltord, Bordeaux undoubtedly have a major talent. Last season's player of the year in France, Wiltord is only one of two Frenchmen to force their way into the France squad which won the World Cup and which has been kept together for Euro 2000.

To say, however, that he possesses the guile, speed and aggression to upset Stam and Silvestre all on his own is another matter.

Yesterday, in fact, Alex Ferguson went out of his way to praise Silvestre's form. "He's only 22. You saw his performance against Leeds. He's got lightning pace, a good attitude and he is a good trainer. "There have been a couple of lapses of concentration, but as a 22-year-old you expect that. He will be a top player. He's played against Wiltord before, that must be an advantage."

Ferguson would never discuss a sensitive selection in a press conference, of course, and yesterday even maintained that Dwight Yorke was fit - "amazingly", Ferguson said.

Yorke, who only returned to Manchester on Monday having missed the Wimbledon match on Saturday because he was on international duty with Trinidad and Tobago, limped out of Elland Road with a thigh strain after less than half an hour.

With Teddy Sheringham being a most able deputy, despite his non-communication with Andy Cole, Yorke can expect a seat on the bench tonight. It will not have escaped Ferguson's attention that Liverpool are in Manchester on Saturday. Yorke might suddenly be fit enough to start that fixture.

There is little doubt that Liverpool overshadow Bordeaux by some distance in Ferguson's priorities. He did his best to try to talk up tonight's game and the Champions League in general, but he was left admitting that there are "two or three games too many". The competition to date, he said, lacked "sparkle".

Bordeaux, though, clearly think they can fizz past flat Stam.

MANCHESTER UNITED (probable): Van der Gouw; G Neville, Stam, Silvestre, Irwin; Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Giggs; Sheringham, Cole.

GIRONDINS BORDEAUX (probable): Rame; Grenet, Saveljic, Afanou, Bonnissel; Ziani, Diabate, Pavon, Micoud; Laslandes, Wiltord.