Nemanja Vidic

United were paired with the French champions in the first knockout phase on Friday, a draw Reds boss Sir Alex Ferguson has warned "won't be easy".

It's a sentiment shared by central defender Vidic, who says United must keep things tight at the back when they travel to Stade Gerland for the first leg on Wednesday 20 February.

"The away match will be very important," Vidic told Manchester United Radio. "We have to be strong and try to keep a clean sheet. If possible we also want to score.

"Lyon have shown in the last couple of years they are a great team in Europe. They tend to do well at home and have good players like Juninho and Sidney Govou. Juniho is especially dangerous – he can score from anywhere. We can't give him too many chances.

"Lyon will be a tough team but I think we can deal with them and do enough over these two games."

If the Reds can get any kind of result in France, Vidic is confident United's home form can see them through to the quarter final stage.

"I think it's good we're playing away first. It means that when we come to play at Old Trafford we'll know exactly what we need to do. We look strong at Old Trafford this season so it's the away tie that's really important. Here at Old Trafford we'll have the home crowd behind us and it's a big pitch, which we know how to play on."