CLAUDE Puel will be hoping to claim the second win of his managerial career against Manchester United at Wembley.

If he does, it will come 11 and a half years after his first and so far only success.

Puel was managing Lille when they were paired with Sir Alex Ferguson's men in the 2005/06 Champions League group stages.

Puel certainly had the upper hand on Sir Alex - overseeing a 0-0 bore draw at Old Trafford and then beating United - containing Ronaldo and Rooney - 1-0 in France.

After Lille's own stadium had failed to pass UEFA grading rules, they were forced to switch the tie to the Stade de France - over 100 miles away in Paris.

Despite that, around 66,400 turned out - a record attendance for any French club in a European tie.

That was to be Lille's only win in the group as Puel's side finished second bottom. United were bottom, for the first time ever in a Champions League group.

The winner in the Stade de France was also the only goal a Puel team has scored against United in five attempts.

Puel and Ferguson went head to head in the Champions League again the following season, 2006/07.

And this time there was huge drama in the round of 32 first leg tie in France.

Ryan Giggs' late winner for the visitoes almost sparked a walk-out from angry Lille players at the climax of a controversial clash.

Giggs curled in a quick free-kick after 83 minutes while Lille were still assembling their defensive wall.

Lille players, furious that an earlier header by Peter Odemwingie had been ruled out, walked off the pitch as the last 16 first leg clash boiled over.

They eventually returned, and United held on for a crucial victory. Lille president Michel Seydoux said his players did not walk off the pitch in order to get the game abandoned.

However, Ferguson branded Lille a "disgrace" and called on UEFA to intervene.

Interview: Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson "I have never seen that before in all my years in football," said Ferguson.

"That is a disgrace and Uefa have to do something about that because it was pure intimidation of the referee.

"The Lille staff encouraged their players to come off and that made it a hostile atmosphere inside the ground. It's a disgrace.

"Uefa will have to come down on it. They have to. It was very worrying because they were throwing missiles and Gary Neville got hit by something."

Ferguson ordered his players to stay on the pitch as their Lille counterparts gathered on the touchline.

Ferguson's comments were condemned by Puel, who backed his president in claiming his team were not planning a walk-off.

Puel raged: "I don't know how that man Ferguson can allow himself to comment like that about this. He should have said nothing.

"The team wished to make a complaint about the goal and didn't want to leave the field. They were just making a protest."

Puel was upset that Giggs' winner was allowed to stand.

He said: "It's not logical. The signal the referee gave was not clear for everyone, especially for us.

"I don't understand. We could not express a formal complaint as we could not find a Uefa delegate."

All was peaceful again a fortnight later, though, following Henrik Larsson's second leg winner at Old Trafford had sealed a 2-0 aggregate win.

Puel shook hands with Ferguson after seeing his side exit the competition and said there was no ill-feeling.

“There is absolutely no problem whatsoever,” he said. "A lot of it has been orchestrated, but it's not a problem for me."

Puel returned to Old Trafford nine years later, taking charge of Saints' 2-0 league loss last August - his second competitive game in charge of the visitors.