Today in Germany
ManUtd.com's Gemma Thompson will be with the squad throughout their stay in Germany and you can interact with her on our message board.
Monday 25 April (all times are local, Germany is 1 hour ahead of BST)
21:20 Right guys, I'm off to grab some dinner. I'll be back in touch in a while before I go to bed.
21:00 So how are you doing with your starting line-ups? It's not easy is it. Even United legend Denis Irwin was struggling to decide before I spoke to him at training. Check out the video on the left to see what XI he's gone for.
20:45 The players looked really sharp during the session at the stadium earlier - they're clearly enjoying the thrill of the chase at the moment as we go for two trophies. There was one special moment during a small-sided game, which the team finished the session with, when Paul Scholes had his back to goal yet he still managed to turn and volley home left-footed into the top corner when the ball came to him. It was that good a finish it drew applause from virtually every player. One more year Scholesy, please!
20:35 Just got back to the hotel. Our coach driver's map reading skills haven't been the best so far today, suffice to say we came the 'long way round' from the stadium! The players are heading for some dinner before having a relaxing evening. I think some are hoping to watch the Blackburn v Manchester City game.
19:59 I bumped into Stewart Gardner from MUTV just now and he revealed the boss told him ahead of the press conference that it's only a slight groin strain keeping Dimitar Berbatov out and he hopes the Bulgarian will be available for Sunday's trip to Arsenal.
19:09 The players are training now inside the impressive Veltins Arena. The main group have done their usual running and stretching to kick the session off, while the goalkeepers warm-up at the other end of the pitch.
18:48 Just confirmation that Sam Johnstone has linked up with the squad as third-choice keeper, as we mentioned earlier. Apparently, Sam's departure from the Torneo Memorial Claudio Sassi, coupled with an injury to Joe Coll, has meant midfielder Oliver Norwood being pressed into emergency goalkeeping duties in the final of the youth tournament!
18:27 Sir Alex was asked about any interest in Schalke's Manuel Neuer but laughed and shrugged it off.
18:23 More from the boss: "Schalke never looked like losing against Inter. That's quite a credit to them when you consider the experienced side they were up against. They were in control and made a good impression on me when I was here."
18:20 "This is a team that will not give in. There's absolutely no chance of that. That's a great quality. You saw that against Everton."
18:16 "I don't like jumping ahead," asserted the manager, when asked about who he would prefer to face in the final. "If we can deal with Schalke, then we'll look at it but you don't care who you play in the final."
18:13 "Any semi-final you go into, you know it will be tough," says Sir Alex. "It's not easy for
either side but we hope we can progress."
18:09 The press conference is about to get underway..
17:42 I'm glad rain isn't forecast for tomorrow - the roof on the stadium broke in January apparently and is yet to be fixed. The press box ISN'T covered with it open so very thankful for the scheduled sun tomorrow!
17:33 I've just got to Schalke's stadium and wow, it's very impressive - inside and out. I'll post a couple of pics later. I'm just waiting for the boss and Edwin van der Sar to greet a packed press conference.
16:57 Just a note that Thursday's reserve game with Arsenal will now take place at Old Trafford rather than Moss Lane.
16:27 Right guys, I'm off to grab my lift to the press conference. Will be back in touch around 18:00 local time.
16:23 Schalke manager Ralf Rangnick has just had his say on tomorrow's game at his pre-match press conference. He admits that the Reds are much more experienced than his side, but is urging his players to turn that factor into a positive. "They do have a very experienced team, on average three to four years older than ours. But maybe the fact we are more inexperienced means we are a really hungry team with more passion. We saw that against Inter Milan. Hopefully that will be a benefit for us."
16:07 Thanks for all your comments so far on
Talking Reds.
Liam Richcard - I very much hope you're right about me being a lucky charm for the team! My away record has been pretty good in recent years, well, United's has obviously, and I was at the Emirates for our last Champions League semi-final away trip so let's hope for a repeat result tomorrow night.
Ahmad Karaki - as far as I know Giggsy is fit and raring to go and I personally think he'll start.
JimmyN - well done on getting the quiz question right, I'm giving you a virtual round of applause right now!
16:01 I'm really looking forward to seeing the Veltins Arena later after hearing glowing reports about the stadium from a number of the journalists on the trip. Many of them were there for England's World Cup defeat to Portugal in 2006 (Rooney was sent off if you remember) and they were highly impressed with the set-up. The Royal Blues - as Schalke are known - regularly get 62,000 sell-outs with their fans having a reputation for being pretty noisy.
15:45 I sat with Danny Taylor from
The Guardian and former
Manchester Evening News reporter David Meek on the plane. We got chatting about possible starting line-ups for tomorrow night with both struggling to decide on their front six. Here's what they want for...
Danny: Van der Sar; O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Carrick, Scholes, Giggs; Nani, Rooney, Park.
David: Van der Sar; O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Carrick, Scholes, Park; Nani, Hernandez, Rooney. Tricky one isn't it. Post your starting XI's on
Talking Reds now.
15:16 Check out the video with Stuart in the left-hand menu and also one with former Red Mickey Thomas who I grabbed a word with on arrival in Germany. Everyone is feeling very confident about tomorrow's game, but Patrice Evra insists the Reds are not getting ahead of themselves. "We remember what happened to us against a German team last season," he says in today's papers in reference to the
defeat to Bayern Munich. "I have a lot of respect for Schalke - you can never presume anything." Very true Pat.
14:46 I spoke to
Manchester Evening News correspondent Stuart Mathieson at Manchester Airport earlier and he's confident United will come away with a positive result tomorrow night. I'll upload the video very shortly.
14:40 As always on European aways, I'll bring you all the news from Sir Alex's pre-match press conference including any updates on squad fitness - we're guessing that Berbatov is still struggling with the groin strain which ruled him out of the Everton game. Edwin van der Sar will be joining the boss to address the media at the Veltins Arena around 18:00 local time with the team training at the stadium straight after.
14:10 You can tell it's a bank holiday here in Germany as well as in the UK - there's hardly anyone around. We're all checked in at our hotel with the players having a late lunch before heading to their rooms for a rest before training later.
13:07 The answer to my question was 3-1 against Wolfsburg and you can see the goals by clicking on the link on the left-hand side.
13:00 Greetings from sunny Deutschland. We've just touched down at Dortmund Airport and are about to jump on the coach to the team base. Even though the Veltins Arena is in Gelsenkirchen we'll be staying in the nearby city of Essen, located on the River Ruhr. Essen is apparently the ninth-largest city in Germany and was the European Capital of Culture on behalf of the whole Ruhr area in 2010. See, I'm a mine of information!
10:22 Oh and here's a little quiz question for you - when was United's last win on German soil and what was the score? See you on the other side.
10:20 We're due to take off any minute. I'll be back in touch when we land in Germany. In the meantime, why not check out the recent Gimme 5 video in the left-hand menu which features five of United's most memorable goals from European semi-final ties.
09:40 As promised, here's the travelling party - there's no Dimitar Berbatov, Darren Fletcher, Owen Hargreaves or Bebe. Edwin van der Sar, Tomasz Kuszczak; Patrice Evra, Wes Brown, Chris Smalling, Rio Ferdinand, John O'Shea, Jonny Evans, Nemanja Vidic, Fabio, Rafael; Anderson, Ryan Giggs, Ji-sung Park, Michael Carrick, Nani, Paul Scholes, Antonio Valencia, Gabriel Obertan, Darron Gibson; Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez.
09:16 Gabriel Obertan is the first player to check in and they're starting to filter through now - Ryan Giggs, Michael Owen, Nani and Paul Scholes are also here and we'll have the full travelling squad soon.
08:40 I'm at the airport and the manager is the first to check-in, as usual he's bright and early! A few fans are gathered waiting to see the players and former full-back Denis Irwin has just arrived as well.
08:30 Right, my taxi has arrived. I'll be back in touch when I get to the airport with news of the travelling squad. Oh, and for those who know the story, my lucky scarf is packed!
08:20 Sir Alex has virtually a fully-fit squad to take to Germany with him. Only Owen Hargreaves and Darren Fletcher are likely to stay behind, while we're yet to receive news on John O'Shea after he appeared to pick up an injury in the win over Everton on Saturday. Otherwise, we think everyone else is fit.
08:15 I can't believe we're at the last four stage already - the time seems to have gone so quickly since the start of the knock-out rounds back in February. The Reds have successfully navigated their way past Olympique Marseille and Chelsea since then and now face a Schalke side who are unbeaten at home in the Champions League this season. In fact they've won every European match at the Veltins Arena, but Raul and co. will be up against a United side who are yet to concede on their travels this term having recorded four wins and a draw.
08:00 Guten Tag all. Well, I'm not quite in Germany yet, but I'm heading to the airport very shortly to meet up with the team ahead of the Champions League semi-final first leg against FC Schalke 04 - our first-ever encouter with the Bundesliga side. Just off to finish my packing.