Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo during practice at their Carrington training complex in Manchester on Monday. United will host Lyon at Old Trafford on Tuesday. (Reuters)

London: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson will call on a rested Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney to fire his side into the Champions League quarter finals at the expense of Olympique Lyon on Tuesday.

The duo came on as late second-half substitutes as United brushed Fulham aside 3-0 on Saturday to maintain their pursuit of Premier League leaders Arsenal.

The tie with French champions Lyon is evenly poised, albeit with United having an away goal in the bank after a late Carlos Tevez strike secured them a 1-1 draw in Lyon last week.

United have an impressive Champions League home record and conceded just one goal in three group games at Old Trafford this season. They have also not lost at home to a French side in European competition.

“We’ve got to win against Lyon — it’s a massive game for the club. All the players realise that,” Ferguson told the club’s website.

“The pleasing thing for me was I was able to use my squad with Tuesday’s game with Lyon in mind. It was vital for us to rest Ronaldo and Rooney.”

Winger Ryan Giggs was rested for Saturday’s clash against Fulham after picking up a calf strain while Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic was absent through injury.

Ferguson has moved to clear the air between United and Lyon after Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas complained that speculation linking the French club’s striker Karim Benzema, who scored in the first leg, with a move to Old Trafford was “destabilising”.

“I think (Aulas) is being a little bit mischievous. We have never said that we are interested in Benzema. I haven’t said it yet, and I don’t say we are interested now,” Ferguson said.

Ligue 1 leaders Lyon go into the game in good heart after a 1-0 win at Lille on Saturday.

Coach Alain Perrin has to decide whether to hand central defender Cris another start after he played his first league game since August on Saturday after recovering from a knee ligament injury.

While Manchester United are in stellar form the Lyon side is struggling with internal bickering.

“If we go out of the Champions League on Tuesday it would be a massive blow for the club — it would be catastrophic,” defender Patrice Evra said. “I have a big respect for Lyon because they are a good team. As a Frenchman, I am fully aware of their qualities.”

Perrin’s focus has been on quelling his feud with Benzema, who was angry at being restricted to the left wing again and substituted on Saturday.

Benzema, who scored in the first leg, has been hailed as the new Zinedine Zidane and is attracting interest across Europe with 26 goals this season.

But he has also been bickering with another of Lyon’s valuable 20-year-old assets — winger Hatem Ben Arfa.

“These two players have already declared that they are not the best friends in the world,” Perrin said. “It’s a story which concerns them personally. I will speak to them, but these are matters between men, they are not linked to a problem in the game. It’s their private life, their personal life.”