In the Champions League, Inter limped into the second round after losing its final two group stage matches against Panathinaikos and Werder Bremen. In the first elimination round (round of 18), they lost to Manchester United in a hard-fought tie. Stanković played the full 90 minutes in the first leg at San Siro, putting in a very lively and active display. In the return at Old Trafford, Stanković started the match and had a great first half 37th minute effort after playing a one-two with Ibrahimović, and striking the ball with the outside of his boot from some 25 metres out, only to see it go centimeters wide of Edwin van der Sar's right post. Two minutes later, Stanković had another glorious opportunity when he got in behind Patrice Evra on the right, as Ibrahimović picked him out with a cross from the left, but the Serb did not make good enough contact with the ball in the one-on-one situation with Van der Sar, and the shot therefore went over the bar. In the 57th minute, with United leading 2–0, and Inter forced to chase the result, Mourinho took Stanković off and inserted striker Adriano. The match marked Stanković's 63rd Champions League appearance, thus overtaking Predrag Đorđević at the top of the list of Serbian players with most appearances in the competition.