OLD Trafford has grown even bigger since Celtic last played there only four months ago, but the space under the crossbar and between the goalposts will still seem devilishly small to Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Maciej Zurawski and Kenny Miller in Wednesday's Champions League tie.
Even in a dreadfully disappointing group campaign last season, in which Manchester United finished bottom of a section containing Benfica, Villarreal and Lille, Old Trafford remained something of a fortress. United conceded only one European goal there, in a 2-1 victory over Benfica, although that impressive statistic was undermined by the fact United themselves found goals fatally hard to come by. The goalless draws achieved by the Spanish and French clubs would represent a fine outcome if Celtic were to similarly frustrate Sir Alex Ferguson's team in midweek.
Old Trafford's capacity increased to 75,000 over the close season, making it Britain's largest football venue until the new Wembley is finished. Celtic will find it a far less hospitable place than they did when visiting for Roy Keane's testimonial match in May. United won that knockabout 1-0, on an evening when there were as many Celtic supporters in the place as home fans.
Officially only 4000 away supporters will be inside this week. Even allowing for the inevitability of others getting their hands on tickets and speckling green-and-white colours around the ground, Celtic will get the authentic experience of what it means to be an away team at Old Trafford. Having being allowed to occupy the place for Keane's game and previous friendlies there, they will be admitted in far fewer numbers, and a little grudgingly at that, for the first competitive fixture between the two clubs.
"When you go to Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge it's the English equivalent of what Scottish players and fans feel about going to Parkhead or Ibrox," said Gary Naysmith, the Scotland left-back who has yet to experience a victory at the stadium in the six years he has spent at Everton. "You know you have to play really, really well to get a victory at these major grounds. Old Trafford was one of the grounds I was excited about playing in when I joined Everton. I still look forward to going to it. It will maybe be a new experience for some of the Celtic players, but the majority of them will have played in big stadiums and that won't intimidate them any more."
It is not Old Trafford's architecture or towering stands which could genuinely intimidate Celtic, of course, but the searing threat posed by Naysmith's former team-mate, Wayne Rooney, and a supporting cast which includes Louis Saha, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo.
"They have three or four players for the wider positions. It's really difficult, because if one's not having a good game they just bring another one on. There's no let up for your full-backs. Rooney is the pick of the bunch. I don't like to say people are unplayable, but he's definitely hard to stop. Celtic will be his first game back after a three-game suspension so he will have a point to prove and be eager to get back and play. But their goals can come from all over the place.
"You get some teams who are quite happy to be one or two goals ahead; not United. They'll go for five. The amount of crosses they put in the box from wide areas is unbelievable. They get the ball and it's in, in, in'. That's how they get so many goals. It's going to be difficult for Celtic, make no mistake about it. Celtic's whole team will need to play unbelievably well, and United will have to be on an off day, for them to get any sort of result."
Although a goalless draw would feel hugely rewarding for Celtic, Vennegoor of Hesselink, Zurawski and Miller will itch for an Old Trafford goal. In a previous encounter with them, when he was part of a team expected to suffer a routine defeat, Miller scored the only goal in a memorable Wolves victory at Molineux in January, 2004. Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown, John O'Shea and Mikael Silvestre, who all featured in United's defence that day, should all be there again on Wednesday.
"Ferdinand must be in the top three defenders in the world," said Miller. "I want to be testing myself against players at that level. I want to be on there, playing my part and maybe nicking a wee goal. These are the games you look forward to.
"I came to Celtic knowing we were going to be in the Champions League so when you're drawn against Manchester United you can only look forward to it. You're not going to hide away from them, you're going to put yourself in the firing line. Manchester United have some of the best players in the world in their defence and I want to test myself against them.
"The manager has options now. Over the years Celtic have played two up front and that's the way it will probably remain regardless of the fact they now have four strikers: myself, Magic', big Jan and Beats' Craig Beattie. He always wanted four strikers to compete for the two places and now he has that. I don't think he would like to think of anyone being a certain starter, he would always want problems. He can look at it now that he has four strikers available who can go on and do a good job for him."
Miller is a goal-a-game man in the Champions League group stage; in his only appearance in it he scored for Rangers in a 2-2 draw with Monaco at Ibrox six years ago. Four nights ago Scotland's strikers' coach, Ally McCoist, revelled in Miller's goal against Lithuania but minutes after the final whistle he changed his tune and teased him that he hoped his goals would dry up again at club level. If Miller gets one in Manchester, McCoist had better switch his phone off.
