Ronaldo rejects chance of Champions rest

VILLARREAL, Spain (AP) -- Cristiano Ronaldo wants a starting place when holders Manchester United fight to retain top spot in their Champions League group against Villarreal in Spain on Tuesday.

The Portugal winger limped out of a frustrating 0-0 draw with Aston Villa that left the defending Premier League champions eight points behind pacesetters Chelsea and Liverpool.

Manager Alex Ferguson said Ronaldo had a taken "a couple whacks on Saturday and a few cuts, but nothing serious."

"I'd rather leave him out but he wants to play," Ferguson said. "When a player shows that kind of enthusiasm you don't curtail it, you encourage it."

The clubs are tied atop Group E with eight points -- six clear of Celtic and Aalborg -- with a draw being enough to see both progress to the last 16.

United have not lost in eight away matches but have only one prior victory in 17 trips to Spain. The Red Devils are unbeaten in 17 straight European games.

Ronaldo provides a boost to Ferguson's offense, which will be without striker Dimitar Berbatov because of a hamstring injury.

The Red Devils are already without the injured Wes Brown, Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves and recent matches have taken their toll with defender Gary Neville and striker Danny Welbeck also out.

Darren Fletcher is racing to return from a knee injury while Tomasz Kuszczak will replace Edwin van der Sar in goal.

"It's a matter of judging the right time and occasions of when you are going to introduce different players," Ferguson said. "The rest is when you have injuries. Circumstances dictate."

Villarreal has never lost a home game in European Cup play, but are coming off an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Valladolid for their first defeat at El Madrigal stadium in nearly a year.

Coach Manuel Pellegrini expects a better outing after the club saw their 17-match unbeaten run -- stretching to last season -- snapped as Villarreal dropped to third, four points behind leader Barcelona.

But consecutive league disappointments -- Villarreal allowed a last-minute equalizer the week before at Malaga -- had Pellegrini sounding like he would be happy with another draw.

"Clearly, our first objective is to qualify and then to finish first. If we are, even better, but we qualify with a draw and that would keep us happy," the Chilean coach said.

Giuseppe Rossi looks set to start against his former club with fellow strikers Nihat Kahveci and Joseba Llorente out to injury and Jozy Altidore unavailable. Midfielder Diego Godin is also missing because of a hamstring problem.

The Red Devils fear that Rossi could come back to haunt them after the 21-year-old striker left Old Trafford in 2007 after three years and just five appearances.

Ferguson praised Rossi and Pellegrini, whose success at Villarreal he compared to the late Nottingham Forest coach Brian Clough and Arsenal's Arsene Wenger.

"To do that from small resources which Villarreal have, which are nowhere near the resources of Real Madrid, Barcelona and even Valencia, they are a fantastic team," Ferguson said. "Pellegrini sculpts Villarreal as his team."

It will be Rossi's first meeting against his former club after missing the first-leg match to injury. The young striker has sounded a warning about his former teammates.

"English football is much faster, more direct and more physical, while in Spain it's much more technical with more possession," he said. "It's going to be a game with a lot of options and dangerous chances at both ends, and I hope we can take advantage of our own."

United are eager to secure a place in the knockout phase after having missed a chance earlier this month when held 1-1 by Celtic.