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Robin van Persie (R) and Manchester United hope to claim the opening advantage in the UCL Round of 16 against Olympiakos. Reuters

Though strong form throughout the current Barclays Premier League has not consistently been present, Manchester United remains confident in their ability to perform well throughout the knockout stages of the 2013-2014 UEFA Champions League. United entered this season as defending English League champions but currently sitting sixth – 11 points behind fourth place Liverpool – the Red Devils are surely in need of something positive the rest of the way. Understanding that a repeat BPL performance is no longer in the cards, first-year boss David Moyes stated recently that his side is capable of mirroring Liverpool, meaning that his side can win the UEFA Champions League despite Premier League struggles like The Reds did in 2005.

“It isn't always the best teams that get to the final in Europe,” Moyes said. “Liverpool in 2005 gives us hope, but in any cup competition you always have a chance. I knew it was going to be a hard competition before it started. Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid and PSG are all top clubs. Everybody wants to win it and we’ll try to do it. I never said we would or we can but we’ll be in there. Teams don’t want to play Manchester United. They know what it stands for as they have been successful. I hope we can play well enough to get through this round and see what happens next.”

Set to begin their quest for the UCL title this week, Manchester United continues to make final preparations before traveling to Karaiskakis Stadium for a showdown with Greek Super League power Olympiakos, who currently lead the 18-team league by a whopping 20 points. United has captured each of the past three UCL meetings against Olympiakos, including a 3-2 victory against their Greek opponents back in 2002 but despite the historic success in the popular tournament and Olympiakos’ selling of top scorer Konstantinos Mitroglou last month to Fulham, David Moyes isn’t ready to look ahead just yet.

“They are really good and have had a great record,” he said. “They are undoubtedly the best team in Greece, no question about it. They also have a lot of Greek internationals who will go to the World Cup and it will be a really tough game. Mitroglou was a really good goal scorer for them and a main player. Does it weaken them? I think they'd rather have him than not but probably felt the offer was so good they had to take it. Since then, they've brought in two or three other players as well and I couldn't be sure who will and won't play.”

UCL Round of 16 – Manchester United vs. Olympiakos: DATE, TIME & VIEWING INFO

DATE: Tuesday, February 25

TIME: 2:45pm, ET

MATCH: Manchester United v. Olympiakos, UCL Rd. of 16 First Leg

TV COVERAGE: FOX Sports 1 / FOX Deportes

LIVE STREAM: CLICK HERE or CLICK HERE

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