Manchester United news and links

• ‘We’ve got players who can do a god job in place of Wayne’
• Vidic admits ‘we just did not have a good game’ in Munich

Edwin van der Sar, one of few Manchester United players to emerge from their Champions League quarter-final defeat at Bayern Munich with any credit, has insisted the team will cope without the injured Wayne Rooney.

“We have shown we can get through important games without Wayne,” Van der Sar said. “Against Bolton [a 4-0 victory last Saturday] we got a good win when Wayne was missing and other players did well. It can happen during the course of a season. Of course, you would rather have your best players available but we have got players who can come in and do a good job in place of Wayne.”

Van der Sar’s performance in the Allianz Arena was reflected in the applause he received from United’s supporters at Munich airport today, and Sir Alex Ferguson has credited the former Holland international with “keeping us in the tie” before the return leg next Wednesday.

Others performed less credibly, and Ferguson was unsparing in his criticisms in the dressing room. “We did not get enough possession of the ball to play our football,” the defender Nemanja Vidic said. “We just did not have a good game. You look at how we have been playing recently and we know we should have done better. We have still got a good chance of going back to Old Trafford and winning there to go through, but we will need to improve.

“We have to think about this game and make sure we are stronger in the next game and we will have to play a lot better against Chelsea on Saturday, that is for sure.”

The 2-1 defeat in Bavaria was United’s first in the last 17 Champions League trips, excluding last season’s final, and ended a run of six successive away wins in the competition. “We had a great start with the goal after two minutes but after that I don’t think we played the football that we are normally capable of in Europe,” Van der Sar said. “We knew Bayern had frailties at the back and we showed that with the early goal, but after that we didn’t exploit it too much.

“Losing 2-1 away in Europe is normally viewed as not a bad result but when you take into account the way we have being playing in the Champions League, and the fact they scored in the fourth minute of added time, it was a disappointment. We have to pick ourselves up and refocus for the game against Chelsea.”

• Defender believes Bulgarian striker can be lone striker
• Vidic admits United were disappointed with Bayern defeat

Nemanja Vidic is convinced Dimitar Berbatov can replace the injured Wayne Rooney at the spearhead of Manchester United’s attack. With Chelsea looming on Saturday and the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final with Bayern Munich following just four days later, Rooney will probablynot be fit for either.

“We showed this season, we play as a team,” said Vidic. “It is not just about one man. Definitely Wayne Rooney has had a great season. He is unbelievable, one of the best in the world. But sometimes big players are missing, and others need to be ready.”

As Michael Owen and Danny Welbeck are out for the season, unless Ferguson places all his trust in the unproven Federico Macheda and Mame Biram Diouf, the ‘other’ in this instance, will have to be Berbatov. Bought for a club record £30.75m in 2008, the former Tottenham Hotspur striker has struggled to win over his critics, largely due to his relaxed style of play.

Yet United do have a decent record when Berbatov has started games for them and at both Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bolton Wanderers recently, the Bulgarian produced the kind of gritty performance Rooney has perfected in the lone striking role.

“Dimitar had a great game against Bolton on Saturday. He is a great footballer,” said Vidic. “He scored twice himself and can set up goals for other players as well. We have a good squad. We just need to believe in ourselves and believe in each other.”

On the European front at least, life would have been much less complicated had Bayern not scored the late goal that won them the tie. Vidic admitted the team had not played well.

“We had all night to think about what went wrong,” said Vidic. “It was not a great game for us. We should play better and we will need to play better against Chelsea. Sometimes when you lose a game and play badly you wake up and realise you need to improve.

“I am not concerned. I was disappointed,” added Vidic. “But 2-1 is not that bad a result bearing in mind we still have a game at home and I expect us to be stronger.”

• Striker carried off during United’s 2-1 lose to Bayern Munich
• A detailed timeline of Wayne Rooney’s injuries since 2003

An initial diagnosis has suggested that Wayne Rooney will be out for up to a month with the sprained ankle he sustained during Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in their Champions League quarter-final tie yesterday, Sky Sports News have reported.

The striker had to be carried off the pitch moments before full-time after an accidental collision with the Bayern striker Mario Gómez. He left the Allianz Arena on crutches with his injured right foot in a protective boot prior to having a hospital scan back in Manchester.

The England coach Fabio Capello intends to hear from Rooney on the status of his injury by tomorrow at the latest.

• Read Kevin McCarra’s match report
• Paul Hayward: Another blow for England
• Read Rob Smyth’s minute-by-minute report
• David Pleat: United left Rooney too isolated
• In pictures: All the Allianz Arena action

There were fears that Rooney may have suffered a fracture of his ligaments, an injury that could have sidelined him for months and possibly put his participation in this summer’s World Cup in jeopardy. However, it appears that the injury may not be too serious, although he will almost certainly miss United’s crucial match with Chelsea at Old Trafford on Saturday and the return with Bayern, at the same ground, next Wednesday.

United have themselves refused to put a timescale on how long Rooney will be out of action as he has yet to undergo his scan. That is expected to take place in the next day or so with an official announcement scheduled to be made by Sir Alex Ferguson at his weekly press conference on Friday.

Edwin van der Sar, whose man-of-the-match display ensured United do still have hope of reaching the semi-finals after a poor performance, insists they can cope without Rooney. “Against Bolton we also played with some other players,” he said.

“It can happen in the season. You always want your best players available but we know the players coming in can also do a good job.”

• United’s goalkeeper believes the club can recover
• Dimitar Berbatov is left as first-choice striker

Edwin van der Sar is convinced that Manchester United can win without Wayne Rooney. The club face an anxious wait to discover the extent of the ankle injury that Rooney suffered in the final minute of last night’s 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich.

Manchester United’s manager claimed the injury to the striker was “not too serious” after the game yet even in the best-case scenario, it seems improbable that Rooney will be fit for Saturday’s Premier League game with Chelsea at Old Trafford or for the must-win return leg against Bayern four days later.

Yet Van der Sar, whose man-of-the-match display ensured United still have hope of reaching the semi-finals, insists they can cope.

“Against Bolton we also played with some other players,” he said. “It can happen in the season. You always want your best players available but we know the players coming in can also do a good job.”

In the short-term, Ferguson is expected to use Dimitar Berbatov at the head of his strike-force, as he did at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday and Wolverhampton Wanderers a couple of weeks earlier, and retain the same formation that has proved so successful this season.

Should Rooney’s injury stretch on, United will be forced to rely on Federico Macheda and Mama Biram Diouf, with Michael Owen and Danny Welbeck already out with calf and knee injuries. Neither Macheda nor Diouf have been tested at the highest level and neither made the bench last night.

Ferguson does have the option of deploying Ryan Giggs in a more advanced role, while Nani, Park Ji-Sung and Antonio Valencia have good attacking instincts. However, none of the latter three have been used as a senior striker, in the way Cristiano Ronaldo was used last season.

Park himself is optimistic that United can beat Bayern when they travel to Old Trafford and pointed to the fact his side had taken an early lead away from home, despite conceding twice.

“We are disappointed because we were leading,” he said. “The early goal was good for us but we weren’t able to build on it and get the result. But we have our chance to go through at Old Trafford.

“Bayern have an experienced team, and the club has a proud history. They did well but the situation will be different at Old Trafford. We’re waiting for them to come there.”

• Wayne Rooney to have tests on ankle injury
• Bayern score twice late on to beat United 2-1

Wayne Rooney was last night undergoing medical tests to ascertain the seriousness of an injury that is threatening to end the most prolific season of his career.

The Premier League’s leading scorer and irresistible choice for footballer of the year had to be helped from the pitch with suspected ankle ligament damage on a traumatic night for Manchester United during which they threw away a one-goal lead to lose 2-1 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich.

Rooney left the Allianz Arena on crutches, with his right foot in a protective boot, and will have a hospital scan today amid concerns that he could be facing a possible six-week lay-off, beginning with Saturday’s crucial league match with fellow title contenders Chelsea. His manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, said he did not think the injury was “terribly serious” and allayed fears that it could be the fourth time Rooney had broken a metatarsal in six years.

• Read Kevin McCarra’s match report
• Paul Hayward: Another blow for England
• Read Rob Smyth’s minute-by-minute report
• David Pleat: United left Rooney too isolated
• In pictures: All the Allianz Arena action

But Ferguson also acknowledged that it may be bad news. “It’s too early now to know for sure,” he said. “He has hurt his ankle and we’ll have to wait and see. I can’t answer how long it will be. He is being treated by our medics and we will see what he’s like tomorrow.”

Rooney was injured in the build-up to Ivica Olic’s winning goal three and a half minutes into stoppage time on a night in which the England striker opened the scoring only for Bayern to turn the match upside down and leave an angry Ferguson castigating the way his team had “caused our own defeat”.

Mario Gómez, the Bayern substitute, accidentally trod on Rooney’s foot and the United player immediately pulled away, crumpling to the floor in obvious distress and twisting his ankle as he fell. He had to be helped off the pitch by three members of United’s backroom staff, unable to put any weight on his injured foot.

Ferguson was unwilling to answer any more questions but Rooney will almost certainly miss the Chelsea game as well as the second leg of the Bayern match next Wednesday. The bigger fear for United, though, is that it could be more like four to six weeks and the potential seriousness of the moment was summed up by the Bayern coach, Louis van Gaal. “He is their most important player,” he said.

“Just look at the statistics. Rooney is their top scorer with 34 goals. Dimitar Berbatov has 12 goals but until this weekend their second-highest scorer was the opposition, with 11 own goals. That’s how important Rooney is to them. But I wouldn’t wish an injury on anyone.”

Rooney had scored inside the opening two minutes but Ferguson would later complain that “we were giving the ball away from minute one” and he was incensed by the nature of Bayern’s goals.

The first stemmed from a needless handball by Gary Neville, allowing the France forward Franck Ribéry to score with a free-kick that deflected in off Rooney. Then, with virtually the last attack of the game, Olic dispossessed Patrice Evra inside the penalty area to wriggle free and put in the winner.

“The first goal was a bit of luck,” Ferguson said, “but the last goal … how can I describe it? The game was done. That was a terrible goal. There was a lot of confusion back there [in defence]. Patrice got the ball caught under his feet and was a bit unlucky but it wasn’t a good goal to concede, that’s for sure.

“But we kept giving it away all night and we caused our own defeat in the end. We can’t complain about the result. Give them [Bayern] credit because they pressed the ball everywhere but we are better than that in possession. It just was not good enough.

“We had chances to kill the tie [with the score at 1-0] but that would have been lucky for us because [Edwin] van der Sar time and again was making fantastic saves to keep us in the match. Bayern were the best team.”

Van Gaal, nonetheless, maintained that United should be still regarded as the favourites to reach the semi-finals. “I think United have a very good chance because of the away goal. I wanted to win 1-0 or get a 0-0. 2-1 isn’t the best result but we have always scored in our Champions League games this season and have a scored a lot away from home so we can have a lot of confidence.”

The away goal also gave Ferguson encouragement, but United’s manager was visibly angry on a night that ended with the tests on Rooney’s ankle being delayed by Uefa selecting him for their random drug-testing procedure. “Old Trafford is a different game,” Ferguson said. “We will be much better, no doubt about that. We won’t be giving away the ball as much as we did here. We have the away goal and that’s an advantage.”

• Financial advisers issue warning to Manchester United
• MUST campaign adds to uncertainty at Old Trafford

Manchester United’s financial advisers expect the club to miss out on at least £24m in cumulative match-day revenues over the next two years. That constitutes a decline of more than 11% and enough each year to pay Wayne Rooney’s wages twice over.

JP Morgan’s analysis of the club’s financial position, set out in a research document released last Friday, shows United’s 2009 match-day income of £109m to be a high-water mark. Even in its supposed “upside scenario”, in which the club progresses to the Champions League quarter-final or beyond in both years, it anticipates a drop to £98m this season and to £96m next. And the recovery from that base will be weak: to £101m the following year. Indeed, United’s own budgets predict an even bigger two-year fall of £29m, with much of the collapse attributed to the difficulties in selling executive boxes. The document states: “Most of the impact from the economic slowdown was felt in the executive hospitality business, which we would argue is a highly discretionary expense.”

Yet JP Morgan concedes that even those estimates could prove optimistic at a time when the Manchester United Supporters Trust has been increasing its attack on the Glazer family’s ownership of the club. It adds: “We note that the coming two quarters will be important to gauge demand for 2010-11 season tickets and executive hospitality seating in light of the negative MUST PR campaign.” This is one of the “external risks” JP Morgan cites, adding: “It would place significant strain on the company’s limited free cash-flow generation.”

Benítez helps Spurs profit

Ask Rafael Benítez why Liverpool are struggling to make it into the Champions League this year and he will tell you it is the pesky board. The poor lamb has had only £20m to play with each year over and above what he raises in sales and he had a bit of a gripe about this transfer straitjacket last Friday.

At the moment Tottenham Hotspur look likeliest to supplant them. Just imagine what Benítez could have achieved with the Spurs manager’s budgets . . . except that figures released to the Stock Exchange on Friday show Spurs’ ascent has been achieved on rather less cash spend than the Anfield club’s. In fact, Spurs’ rise has been managed on a net transfer profit of £62.8m between July 2008 and December 2009. And who contributed a decent slice of that? Why, Señor Benítez, who was Spurs’ £8m benefactor with the purchase and sale back of Robbie Keane.

Wray enters pitch battle

Fabio Capello has it all wrong, it seems: it is football, not rugby, that has ruined the Wembley pitch. At least, that is the view of the Saracens chairman, Nigel Wray. Capello would not have permitted Saracens to play at Wembley a fortnight before England’s friendly against Egypt on 3 March had that been a competitive fixture. But, said Wray in his programme notes last weekend: “Oddly enough in my view it is not rugby that damages the pitch but football. If you examine any football pitch which doubles as a rugby pitch, then the worn marks on the field are strangely enough relevant to football not rugby.”

Michael Owen, whose hamstring went ping on the Wembley pitch last month, was not available for comment.

LTA’s pay and not display

There may be a few things to add to Baroness Billingham’s scathing report yesterday into the affairs of the Lawn Tennis Association. The LTA made an £8.6m loss in 2009, taken from its £96m reserves, which it says was down to a planned increase in major capital projects for new facilities. But a few quid was spent on other things, too. Such as the £11.3m on salaries, which work out as an average £41,000 each for everyone working at the LTA.

The chief executive, Roger Draper, receives considerably more – some say £500,000 in each year of his five-year contract. Only there is no way of telling exactly how much, since director pay is conspicuously the only thing that might normally be expected to be quoted in a set of accounts that the LTA has left out. As an associated and not incorporated body, there is no legal requirement to do so, but in the interests of transparency Digger asked Draper yesterday what he earns. And do you know what? He refused to say.

• Wayne Rooney hobbled off at final whistle against Bayern
• He may be doubtful for Chelsea game, says Alex Ferguson

Manchester United were left sweating on Wayne Rooney’s fitness after the striker hobbled off the field at the end of Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat by Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena.

Rooney appeared to go over on his right ankle at the end of the game and his manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, said that the full extent of the damage is unknown.

“He’s got a kick in the ankle, we’ll just have to wait and see tomorrow,” Ferguson said. “Hopefully it’s not too serious. He may be doubtful for Saturday [against Chelsea], but it’s too early to say.”

Ferguson admitted that his side simply did not play well enough after Bayern came from behind to take a slender lead going into next week’s second leg.

Rooney gave United the perfect start with a goal after just 64 seconds, but Franck Ribéry’s deflected free kick in the 76th minute, and Ivica Olic’s injury-time strike secured victory for Louis van Gaal’s side. “We didn’t play well enough to be honest,” Ferguson said. “We kept giving the ball away. We caused our own defeat.

“Bayern were the better team, we can’t complain about that, but we’re better than that in possession. We kept giving it away and that was our downfall. The first goal was a bit of luck with a deflection but the last goal, I don’t know how you describe it. The game was done and we gave a terrible goal away.”

Ferguson was optimistic, however, that United can turn things around in the second leg. “Old Trafford will be a different game obviously,” he told Sky Sports. “We will be much better, no doubt about that, and hopefully we can recover. We have the away goal and we’ll go out to win the game.”

• Striker fully fit after recovering from calf problem
• Likely to be on bench against Bayern Munich tonight

Federico Macheda look set to bolster Manchester United’s attack in the final few weeks of the season. The Italy Under-21 striker burst onto the scene in extraordinary fashion last campaign, scoring a couple of goals that ultimately proved pivotal in United securing their 18th league title.

Injury and a loss of form have meant Macheda not making the progress that was expected since but now fit after recovering from a calf problem, the 18-year-old is available again for Sir Alex Ferguson.

He made his first Premier League appearance of the season as a late substitute for Ryan Giggs in the four-goal hammering of Bolton Wanderers at the weekend and is also likely to be on the bench for tonight’s Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena.

“Macheda has had a terrible season with injuries,” said Ferguson. “But he came back on Saturday and I am delighted about that because without question he is one of the most exciting young strikers I have had in my time at Manchester United.

“He has every chance of being on the bench against Bayern because his ability about the box for a young player is outstanding.”

• Ferguson: ‘I think we are in our best form of the season’
• ‘The return of Vidic and Ferdinand has made a big difference’

Sir Alex Ferguson has challenged his Manchester United players to capitalise on Bayern Munich’s problems in their Champions League quarter-final tomorrow and to demonstrate to Chelsea that his side are in their most exhilarating form of the season ahead of Saturday’s potential title decider at Old Trafford.

Ferguson is encouraged by the fact Bayern have worries over the fitness of Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben, as well as having Bastian Schweinsteiger suspended, and his players will be under instructions to play with the same sense of adventure that brought them three goals against Milan in San Siro in the previous round.

“I think we are in our best form of the season and it’s a massive week for us now,” Ferguson said. “In the space of eight days we have two big games against Bayern and a great game against Chelsea in between. We have to enjoy it and, at the same time, know it’s crucial.

“I respect Bayern Munich,” added the United manager. “I have great admiration for the club. We are playing history, and teams with a certain history play with pride. The motivation of playing a quarter-final will be big for Bayern, so we are not getting carried away and thinking for any moment that this will be an easy game.

“But we are in good form. The return of [Nemanja] Vidic and [Rio] Ferdinand and [Edwin] Van der Sar has made a big difference and we’re looking a lot more solid. We are picking a team that we think is right, and on Saturday I’ll have a different thought maybe. Tomorrow is the one to get over first.”

The key, according to Ferguson, could be whether United score in the Allianz Arena, and he argued against 0-0 being a good result to take back to Old Trafford for the return leg. The manager is encouraged by the return of Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney – “they are both fit” – and spoke of his hope that United could meet Laurent Blanc’s Bordeaux side in the semi-finals. “He was one of my players and the job he has done at Bordeaux has been absolutely brilliant,” said Ferguson.

Owen Coyle, the Bolton manager, was the recipient of some distinctly less flattering remarks after his criticisms of Vidic for an alleged elbowing offence that left Johan Elmander needing stitches to a head wound during Saturday’s game.

Coyle had described it as a “terrible challenge” but the Football Association is not going to take retrospective action against Vidic, and Ferguson launched an impassioned defence of his player. “What’s the story about those in glass houses? Vidic came in at half-time with a lump on his head the size of an egg, a swollen jaw and a black eye.

“It was clear he had his eye on the ball. It was a clear header from a centre-back, and there was no intent whatsoever, no eyes towards the centre-forward and I’m not sure he knew he was even there. His sole intention was to attack that ball and head that clear and he did that. It was the best performance I have seen from a centre-back for years.”

• Manchester United centre-back caught striker with elbow
• FA confirms that no further action will be taken

Nemanja Vidic will not face disciplinary action over the incident that left Johan Elmander requiring four stitches to a head wound during Manchester United’s 4-0 win at Bolton Wanderers, the FA has confirmed.

The Serbian defender caught the Bolton striker with a stray elbow but despite the manager Owen Coyle’s assertion that the Swede was felled by “a terrible challenge”, no retrospective punishment will be taken. Martin Atkinson, the match official, dealt with what he deemed to be an accidental collision at the time and so the FA will not take the matter further.

• England pair missed Saturday’s win over Bolton
• Ryan Giggs remembers famous victory over Bayern in 1999

Manchester United have received a boost after Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand declared themselves fit for travel ahead of tomorrow’s European Cup quarter-final with Bayern Munich.

The pair missed Saturday’s 4-0 win at Bolton with a bruised foot and groin injury respectively. However, Sir Alex Ferguson expressed confidence that they would be available for the first-leg and both were among the United party who checked in at Manchester airport this morning.

The fixture has brought back many happy memories at Old Trafford of the European Cup final 11 years ago, when late goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saw United defeat the Germans 2-1 in Barcelona.

“I can’t believe it’s 11 years ago,” said Ryan Giggs. “It was one of the greatest nights of my life and for many fans, too, this will bring back a lot of happy memories. We will settle for the same score as in 1999 too, but hopefully not leaving it as late as we did then.”

That night remains the only time in seven games that United have beaten Bayern. Yet on every occasion the outcome has been close – including the German club’s quarter-final triumph in 2001, when they won both legs by a single goal.

It lends weight to Giggs’ belief their next clash is too close to call. “I am a little bit surprised about our overall record, but it has always been tight,” he told the Press Association. “It is usually difficult against German sides, and against the top ones even more so.

“We have won the European Cup three times. They have won it on four occasions so you are talking about two clubs with massive history; full of experience and full of great players so hopefully it’s going to be a great spectacle.”

Giggs certainly expects it to be different to 1999, not least because Bayern no longer have the same characteristics. They are now more reliant on the stealth of Frank Ribéry and Arjen Robben, who is rated as an extreme doubt after pulling a calf muscle during a 2-1 defeat to Stuttgart on Saturday.

“The team we played against in 1999 was really powerful. It had strength all the way through,” said Giggs. “Now Bayern have a lot of trickery with Ribery and Robben, and some other individual matchwinners. But our European record in recent times has been good and if we play to the best of our ability we really fancy ourselves.”

Series of issues has led to serious questions about game’s future and way it is run

On the pitch, England are looking forward to the World Cup with optimism, and one of the most exciting Premier League seasons yet has fans enthralled. But off it, a series of issues has led to serious questions about the game’s future and the way it is run.

Manchester United bonds

The need for the Glazer family to refinance the debt they loaded onto the club when they bought it in 2005 laid bare their business model and provoked the fury of fans. It emerged that the successful £509m bond scheme allowed the owners to take up to £127m out of Manchester United in the next year alone, in order to help them repay the additional £202m in high-interest hedge fund loans that are secured on their shareholding in the club. More than 140,000 supporters, who argue that the Glazers have raised ticket prices and failed to invest in the team, have joined a Manchester United Supporters Trust campaign to back the group of wealthy fans known as the Red Knights looking to engineer a buyout.

Tom Hicks and George Gillett

Liverpool’s American co-owners promised not to saddle the Anfield club with debt when they bought it, but it later emerged they had done just that – to the tune of £185m. Now, fresh investment is being sought to refinance the £237m owed to the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia as the pair, who have been engaged in a long-running feud, seek a way out and fans protest that their new stadium appears further away than ever.

Portsmouth

The club this month became the first Premier League club ever to enter administration and was docked nine points as a result. Prior to last summer, the 2008 FA Cup winners spent beyond their means in a bid to compete at the highest level. But when their owner had to sell up and banks withdrew support, the club entered an even murkier phase in its history. It has had four owners in the space of the current season and speculation about their motives continues to swirl around Fratton Park as the administrator looks for a buyer.

Struggle for survival in the lower leagues

Fifty-three Football League clubs have tipped into insolvency since 1992, as they gamble to reach the promised land of the Premier League or struggle to survive in the lower reaches.

‘Dysfunctional’ FA

Chief executive Ian Watmore shocked football insiders last week when he quit his role in frustration at the “vested interests” on the FA board, which is split 50-50 between the professional game and the amateur game. He was believed to feel that the dysfunctional setup left him with little real power to tackle the pressing structural and financial issues facing the organisation. His resignation has reignited a fierce debate about the best way to oversee the game that has raged since the Premier League clubs broke away in 1992 and again highlighted the bitter turf wars last exposed by the resignation of Sir Dave Richards from the World Cup 2018 board last year, when he furiously claimed he could no longer work with the FA chairman, Lord Triesman.

Uefa intervention

President Michel Platini has promised to introduce new rules in time for the 2012-13 season that will force clubs to live within their means if they want to play in European competitions. The only extra “benefactor” investment allowed will be in stadiums and youth facilities. But the Premier League, while agreeing with the need for stronger financial regulation, argues strongly that the move will rob football of its unpredictability and simply give the biggest clubs more power.

• Even the Manchester United manager admits to nerves
• Makes familiar attack at FA inconsistency

After 11 league titles Sir Alex Ferguson should be immune to nerves but, as he prepared for the climax of a season he feels instinctively will be settled on the final afternoon, he offered a rare glimpse into his emotions in the final hour before a match kicks off.

At Old Trafford, the Manchester United manager has his office in which to collect his thoughts but away games, such as the one at Bolton, offer no kind of refuge. “It is probably the time when the players are doing their warm-up that you feel on your own because your staff are out there doing their jobs,” he said. “It is all right at home because you have your office, but, away from home, there is always that killing time, walking about and sitting in your dressing room or whatever.” And, as Ferguson remarked, time seems to seep away before a 5.30pm kick-off more slowly than any other.

Ferguson may have mellowed slightly with age. Should Bolton win, he is unlikely to describe their performance as “obscene”, as he did when a West Ham side careering towards relegation fatally derailed Manchester United’s attempt at the title in 1992. However, three years ago he still managed to get himself sent to the stands by Mark Clattenburg during a 1-0 defeat at the Reebok Stadium.

“Some people don’t show it but deep down inside they are all churning like the rest of us,” Ferguson said. “That is what the game does to you. The thing, I think, for managers is the win, lose or draw situation. You are in to win and you can’t lose too many or you lose your job. There is no one in the game more directly responsible for results than the manager. No matter which way you look at it, we are all subject to winning games of football and, if we are not, we are on the dole line. Players carry on, coaches carry on, directors carry on, journalists carry on.”

Ferguson appeared supremely relaxed. Nani, a footballer he had once chided for his immaturity but who has grown up considerably since Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure for Real Madrid, had agreed a new four-year contract. The Red Knights, the group of investors including a few men Ferguson knows well who are attempting to wrest control of United from the Glazer family, announced they would suspend any bid until the summer. This, at least, would spare the manager any further questions on where he stood on the matter.

Ryan Giggs’s revelation to the Western Mail that he would consider returning to international duty with Wales was met with a guffaw that the paper “had caught Ryan at a weak moment”.

After Chelsea’s failure to win at Blackburn last Sunday, United are masters of their own destiny. “On paper, Arsenal have the easier run-in but I don’t think it matters who you play at this time of year because you can drop points to anyone,” Ferguson said. “I have been trying to work out the run-ins and what the eventuality will be. I can’t see anything other than it going to the last game, unless somebody blows up. On the final day, we are all at home. Arsenal have got Fulham, Chelsea have Wigan and, if we have to win our home game [against Stoke] to win the title, then I’d be happy with that.”

However, he was irked that whereas Rio Ferdinand had been given an additional one-match ban for a “frivolous” appeal against his three-game suspension for elbowing Hull’s Craig Fagan, Arsenal’s centre-half, Thomas Vermaelen, had not been similarly punished when his appeal failed following his dismissal against West Ham. “It is so inconsistent,” Ferguson said. “Only the FA can answer that and they don’t come out with a report do they? It is in the chambers of their minds.”

Burnley’s loss has been Bolton’s gain, Owen Coyle steering his new club away from relegation danger with recent alliterative wins against Wolves, West Ham and Wigan. Bolton have Gary Cahill, an England contender, fit and available for the first time since the end of January. United, on one of those familiar charges after six successive wins, have tied Nani to a new, four-year contract. Wayne Rooney has shaken off knee trouble and two evergreens, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, are back in contention after injury. Owen Hargreaves was pulled out of the reserves to rejoin the first-team squad. Joe Lovejoy

Venue Reebok Stadium, Saturday 5,30pm (ESPN) Tickets £27-£35 (0844 871 2932) Last season Bolton 0 Man Utd 1 Referee M Atkinson

This season’s matches 23 Y97, R4, 4.39 cards per game

Odds Bolton 15-2 Man Utd 4-9 Draw 15-4

Bolton

Subs from Al Habsi, Ricketts, Gardner, M Davies, Taylor, Klasnic, Weiss, Samuel, Riga

Doubtful None

Injured Holden (leg, 24 Apr), Basham (knee, 24 Apr), Davis (knee, Jun), McCann (ankle, Aug), J O’Brien (knee, unknown)

Suspended Steinsson

Form guide LWLWWL Disciplinary record Y61 R5

Leading scorer Taylor, Klasnic 6

Man Utd

Subs from Kuszczak, Rafael, Evans, Fábio, Park, Scholes, Gibson, Obertan, Nani, Diouf Doubtful None

Injured Hargreaves (match fitness, unknown), Brown (foot, 25 Apr), O’Shea (thigh, 25 Apr), Owen (hamstring, Jun), Welbeck (knee, Jun), Anderson (knee, Sep) Suspended None

Form guide WWWWLD

Disciplinary record Y41 R4

Leading scorer Rooney 26

Match pointers

• United have won nine of their last 10 meetings with Bolton and won nine out of 10 league matches at Reebok Stadium

• Bolton have kept four consecutive clean sheets at home, having not kept one in their previous 12 league games there

• Wayne Rooney has scored 17 goals in his last 13 appearances in all competitions

• Bolton have scored the joint-most goals from set pieces in the Premier League this season (21), though United have conceded the fewest in this way (seven)

• Ferguson says Rooney is not hampered by knee injury
• ‘He had some bad bruising while but he’s played since then’

The Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, insists Wayne Rooney has no injury problems ahead of tomorrow’s match at Bolton Wanderers. Rooney had a knee injury earlier this month and looked to be limping heavily as he left Old Trafford following Sunday’s win over Liverpool.

However, Ferguson said: “He’s OK, there’s no problem. He had some bad bruising for a couple of weeks but he’s played [since then] and there’s no problems with the knee.”

Ferguson may start with Ryan Giggs, who came on as a substitute against Liverpool after five weeks out with a broken arm, at the Reebok Stadium. John O’Shea, meanwhile, is back in training and should be available from the beginning of April.

United, who are still missing Michael Owen and who cannot count on Owen Hargreaves for another few weeks, are one point ahead of Chelsea and two points ahead of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.

• Ferguson praises winger for ‘developing tremendously’
• Nani: ‘I’m looking forward to winning many more trophies’

Nani has signed a new four-year contract with Manchester United which will keep him at Old Trafford until at least June 2014. The Portugal international, who joined United from Sporting Lisbon in 2007, has been rewarded for a good season so far with an improved contract.

“I am delighted to have signed a new contract,” he told United’s official website. “It has been like a dream come true to play for Manchester United. The coaching staff have taught me so much about the game and I’m playing alongside some of the best players in the world. I’m looking forward to winning many more trophies with this team.”

Sir Alex Ferguson said: “Nani is an emerging talent within the team and has developed tremendously since joining the club. We are delighted he has signed a new contract and I am sure he will have a long and successful future here at Manchester United.”

United are one point ahead of Chelsea and two points ahead of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League going into this weekend’s fixtures. Ferguson’s team face Bolton Wanderers away in the late Saturday game.

• Midfielder returns to first-team training
• United get boost for title run-in

Owen Hargreaves may play for Manchester United this season after all. Sir Alex Ferguson summoned the midfielder to train with the first team this morning, raising hopes that he may have a part to play in the title race.

Hargreaves’ career has been interrupted by severe knee problems but last week he played his first reserve game for 18 months. Another appearance for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s second string had been pencilled in for tonight but Ferguson decided a return to training with the first-team squad was the better option.

“Owen won’t be playing for the reserves,” said Manchester United’s manager today. “He’s going to be training with the first team and we’ll see where that takes him.”

The 29-year-old midfield anchor has been badly missed and Ferguson evidently hopes he may yet be fit enough to reinforce United’s Premier League title challenge. “We’re keen to get Owen back involved because he’s an experienced player and will be a valuable addition for us in the run-in, when having a strong, fit squad is vital,” he said.

Hargreaves is eligible for only Premier League games as he was not registered for the Champions League knockout phase after specialists suggested he would probably not recover in time to play at such a high level this season.

Indeed the England international has said there were times during his long months of rehabilitation when he wondered whether he would be able to continue as a professional footballer.

Richard Steadman, the Colorado based surgeon, who has operated on both Hargreaves’ knees during the past 18 months, told him they were in a worse state than those of any professional footballer he had examined in 35 years.

Asked if he feared being forced into retirement, Hargreaves said recently: “It is only human to think that way. The longest injury before this was when I broke my leg at Bayern Munich and I was out for a couple of months.

“Football is a physical game and injuries are part of it. But I could never imagine having one that has impacted on me so much. I thought – everyone thought – I would be fit for the start of the season. It didn’t materialise.

“It has been a pretty humbling experience and I am sure many people doubted me but anybody who knows me knows that what I set my mind to I get.”

Under Steadman’s supervision Hargreaves has reported a vast improvement in his condition. Even so he still experiences discomfort, requires pain management and there is a chance he will never be fully clear of the problem. I wouldn’t say I am pain-free and I don’t know if I can play through it,” he said.

“But my training has improved over the last weeks and that is a very positive sign for me. I believe that it will continue to improve and progress. I am still in the process of getting some injections to try to manage the pain.”

• Supporter club heading for Manchester United’s birthplace
• Plans for 5,000-capacity stadium approved by council

FC United of Manchester are set to move to the birthplace of Manchester United after announcing plans for a new ground in Newton Heath.

Manchester United were formed as Newton Heath in 1878 before joining the Football League in 1892. They changed their name 10 years later. Now the Unibond Premier League club, formed by United fans angered by the controversial Glazer takeover in 2005, have drawn up plans for a £3.5m, 5,000-capacity stadium at the Ten Acres Lane sports centre. The club’s business plan was approved by Manchester city council, which owns the site, on Monday, and will now be put to local residents and community groups.

Their general manager, Andy Walsh, told the Press Association: “We are delighted to be able to make this announcement and discussions with the council have been very positive to date. The significance of this location is historical while it will also showcase a new model of facility development, based on football supporter ownership and community involvement.”

FC United currently play their home games at Bury’s Gigg Lane ground, and top the Unibond Premier attendance tables with an average of 1,941 fans. If the new stadium gets the go-ahead it could be ready for the start of the 2012-13 season.

“You can’t get away from the emotion of the location but this is as much about our future as the past and we are a club laying down our roots,” Jules Spencer, an FC United board member, told Reuters. “The ironic thing is the decision [to form the club] was made at a time of United’s greatest successes, but there is a general malaise about the game not just about what the Glazers have done. We are trying to create a positive alternative for ordinary fans. We are not trying to claim the moral high ground. The vast majority of people watch their football through the television and that is something we want to change.”

• Owen Hargreaves admits still experiencing discomfort
• Injury ‘has been a pretty humbling experience’

Owen Hargreaves may never be pain-free despite beginning his comeback last week. After 18 months out of action following major operations on both knees, Hargreaves finally got back on the pitch again last Thursday when he turned out for Manchester United’s reserves at Altrincham.

The 29-year-old is hoping to build on that 45-minute outing against the same opposition at Accrington tomorrow. However, it has not been an easy return for Hargreaves. The Colorado-based surgeon Dr Richard Steadman told the midfielder his knees were in a worse state than any he had come across in 35 years of practising.

Although Hargreaves has reported a vast improvement, he still experiences discomfort and there is a chance he will never be fully clear of the problem. “I wouldn’t say I am pain free and I don’t know if I can play through it,” said Hargreaves. “My training has improved over the last weeks and that is a very positive sign for me. I believe that it will continue to improve and progress.

“But I am still in the process of getting some injections to try to manage the pain because if I didn’t have any I would have played at the beginning of the season. It’s about training, getting these injections and trying to go forward.”

Despite an injury that first surfaced during his last season at Bayern Munich, Hargreaves managed 25 games during his debut Old Trafford campaign. Yet as time progressed, he knew the injury was getting worse. It was not until he placed his trust in Steadman, who salvaged the careers of Roy Keane and Ruud van Nistelrooy among others in his more regular field of cruciate ligaments, that Hargreaves realised how great the extent of the damage truly was.

“Tendons are something that a lot of people think they know about, but don’t really,” he said. “My first season at United I had the pain and was able to play through it but basically I shouldn’t have been playing. In the end, the pain was just too high and I had to have surgery.

“I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. There were massive operations, very severe, and a lot of the treatments since have been slightly experimental. You have to try what works.”

Even now Hargreaves struggles to explain the exact nature of the problem. Far more obvious is the frustration felt by the Calgary-born midfielder, who fulfilled a childhood dream when he joined United three years ago.

“It’s difficult to describe the pain. It’s just pain,” he said. “At least the surgery did its job because before the operation my tendons obviously weren’t in the greatest condition. I would like to progress from this point even more. Hopefully I will be fit this season, and going forward I will be able to play another six, seven or eight years.”

Merely getting back out on a pitch last week represented a triumph of sorts, given that doubts can creep in about whether a return will ever happen. “It is only human to think that way,” he admitted.

“The longest injury before that was when I broke my leg at Bayern Munich and I was out for a couple of months. Football is a physical game and injuries are part of it. But I could never imagine having one that has impacted on me so much.

“I thought – everyone thought – I would be fit for the start of the season. It didn’t materialise. It has been a pretty humbling experience and I am sure many people doubted me, but anybody who knows me, knows that what I set my mind to, I get.”

• Club had considered price hike to pay off interest on debts
• First time in Glazer era that prices won’t rise

Manchester United are to freeze ticket prices next season. The club had been considering whether to increase prices to help with the club’s enormous interest payments on their debt.

The Glazer family have been attacked for the size of price rises since their controversial takeover in 2005 and it was claimed further increases would be implemented despite the ongoing worldwide economic problems.

However, the club have announced prices will be pegged next term, which will come as a welcome relief to supporters.

Season tickets have gone up by an average of 48% since the Glazer family took over in 2005 and by as much as 69% in some areas of Old Trafford, much to the anger of sections of the club’s support.

United were the only club in the Premier League not to reduce or freeze season-ticket prices for the current season. Instead, the Premier League champions asked their 55,000 season-ticket holders to pay an extra £1 for each match.

• German World Cup winner labels Rooney ‘brilliant’
• Beckenbauer also fears for Bayern’s chances against United

Wayne Rooney’s brilliant form this season could lead England all the way to victory in the World Cup final, believes Franz Beckenbauer who labelled the Manchester United striker a “brilliant player”.

“He is doing an absolutely fantastic job for Manchester United and I must tell you that we at Bayern will fear him when we play United in the Champions League quarter-finals,” Beckenbauer told Reuters. “But at the same time, he is a brilliant player who is playing better than ever. It is not easy to score 33 goals for your club in England, or anywhere else, and if he continues scoring like that and playing like that he can win the World Cup for England.

“I think they go to South Africa among the favourites along with Spain, Brazil, Argentina, because, of course, Argentina have Lionel Messi who along with Rooney is the best player in the world right now.

“They are different players because Messi is so fast and imaginative while Rooney is so strong, but Wayne has made the biggest improvement to his game. He has changed the way he plays and, at 24, has added a maturity to his game.

“Playing as the front man, he makes it so hard for defenders to mark him and he is able to use the crosses from both wings so well. I have never seen him play better and I have been watching him for a long time now.”

Beckenbauer said Rooney would be a major factor for Bayern in the Champions League quarter-final.

“We have a very difficult and busy League and Cup programme going into that tie,” he said. “Of course we would like to knock them out for revenge for losing the 1999 final but it is going to be tough, and, of course, United have Rooney. Anything is possible but first we have to stop Wayne and no-one has been able to do that very often this season.”

Bayern host United in the first leg next Tuesday, with the return leg on 7 April.

• Midfielder believes team can win next seven matches
• Scholes highlights Old Trafford clash with Chelsea as key

Paul Scholes is convinced Manchester United can win all their remaining seven games to retain their Premier League crown.

United, chasing an unprecedented fourth successive league win, took the initiative in the title race with victory over Liverpool last weekend while Chelsea dropped points against Blackburn.

They still have to play Chelsea – who are four points behind with a game in hand – and must also face the Champions League-chasing Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, but their destiny is in their own hands.

Scholes, who has already been involved in nine title wins, told Inside United: “I’d like to think we’ve got the right players, ones who have been there before and know how tough it is to win the league.

“The game against Chelsea is going to be massive and we know we need to win that one. But that’s not the only important game. If we want to win the league we’re going to have to win every game. It’s going to be tough but I’m sure we can do it.”

Scholes is not discounting the threat of Arsenal, who are just two points behind in second, to United’s hopes.

The 35-year-old added: “You can’t rule out Arsenal, especially with the run-in they’ve got. They’ve played all the top teams twice already, so they’ll be confident of putting together a good run of results. But the bottom line is that if we win all our matches we’ll win the league.”

Michael Owen has revealed he is considering extending his career at Manchester United until 2012.

Owen, who signed last summer on a two-year deal, is out for the rest of the season after injuring a hamstring in the Carling Cup final against Aston Villa.

However, the 30-year-old former England striker said he had been offered another year on his deal.

“I’m just looking to next season now,” Owen was quoted saying in the Manchester Evening News.

“I’ve got another year left on my contract here and have the option of a third as well. I’ve had a great time at United and I am really looking forward to being back next season.

“I had the operation two weeks ago so I’m going to be on crutches for six weeks now. I’m not allowed to do anything on it for six weeks, so I am definitely out for the season.”

Owen scored nine times in 34 appearances for United this season before injuring his hamstring after scoring in his team’s Wembley final victory last month.

• Rooney did not show up with the injured at Carrington
• Striker had limped away from game against Liverpool

Wayne Rooney should be fit to lead Manchester United’s title challenge at Bolton Wanderers this weekend, despite concerns the striker suffered an injury in the defeat of Liverpool.

The England international limped away from Old Trafford on Sunday having scored his 33rd goal of a remarkable campaign in the 2-1 victory over Rafael Benítez’s team. United have not confirmed the nature of Rooney’s problem but the 24-year-old, who missed the 1-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers this month with a knee injury, was not among those players who reported for treatment at the club’s Carrington complex today.

Only United’s injured contingent were expected at the training ground, with the rest of the first-team squad given the day off, and Rooney’s non-appearance has eased fears that he aggravated or sustained a problem during a typically hard‑fought clash with Liverpool.

Rooney suffered inflamed tendons in a kneecap following England’s friendly against Egypt on 3 March, when his 86-minute appearance at Wembley prompted Sir Alex Ferguson to suggest the striker’s determination to play had contributed to the injury and subsequent absence at Molineux. Sunday marked the striker’s 45th game this season, with the demands of the Premier League title race, Champions League and a World Cup to come.

Michael Owen, meanwhile, has admitted he has no chance of featuring this season but remains committed to his contract despite the frustrations of his first season in Manchester.

Owen, who suffered a detached hamstring in the Carling Cup final victory over Aston Villa, also revealed he has an option for a third season at United as part of his free transfer from Newcastle United last summer.

The 30-year-old said: “I had the operation two weeks ago, so I’m going to be on crutches for six weeks now. I’m not allowed to do anything on it for six weeks, so I am definitely out for the season. I’m just looking to next season now. And I’ll be back in a United jersey.

“I’ve got another year left on my contract here and have the option of a third as well. I’ve had a great time here and I am really looking forward to being back next season.”

Meanwhile, Rio Ferdinand has stressed his side’s enthusiasm for the pressure of the Premier League title chase. “This is probably the best title run-in for years,” said the England captain. “There are three teams in it, which makes it fantastic for the fans and the neutrals to watch.”

• Referee was influenced, says Liverpool manager
• United deny Valencia cheated to win spot-kick

Rafael Benítez’s dislike of Sir Alex Ferguson manifested itself tonight in the Liverpool manager responding to another damaging setback to his side’s aspirations of qualifying for the Champions League by demonstrating more bitterness towards the man who has become his nemesis in English football.

Benítez was aggrieved by the penalty that set Manchester United on the way to a 2-1 win, accusing Antonio Valencia of diving, and he referred to his previous accusations that Ferguson placed referees under pressure. “We know about the influence of Sir Alex in everything,” he said. “I’ve seen three replays [from different angles] and the last one was suspicious. See the replay for yourself and how he fell to the ground.” Asked whether he was saying it was a dive, he replied: “Yes, I think so. There is contact but the way he fell down – it was strange.”

Television pictures showed the initial contact from Javier Mascherano had been outside the penalty area and Benítez was asked whether Ferguson had been trying to get into the mind of the referee, Howard Webb, when he talked on Friday of the Anfield club getting preferential treatment. “Just on Friday he said something?” he interrupted, his tone heavy with sarcasm. “Which Friday? This Friday or every Friday? Or every Friday of every year?”

Ferguson had written in his programme notes that he felt “a twinge of sympathy” for Benítez’s current predicament, but the bad feeling between the two managers led to a confrontation on the touchline shortly after Wayne Rooney had scored his 33rd goal of the season, turning in the rebound after Pepe Reina had saved his penalty.

Rooney, recently troubled by a knee injury, left Old Trafford with a pronounced limp. His goal cancelled out Fernando Torres’s fifth-minute header for Liverpool, with Park Ji-sung scoring the winner in the second half. “When you have different opinions you have to express those different opinions,” Benítez said of that argument. “As you know, he [Ferguson] has his own opinion about everything.”

Ferguson’s argument was that Mascherano should have been sent off. “I thought the penalty kick was a red card,” he said. “There was no way [Jamie] Carragher could have got across to stop Valencia from shooting, absolutely no way. He [Valencia] is too quick for Carragher to get across. It was a penalty but the law of the game is that if you stop a player from a goalscoring opportunity it’s a red card, but not today it wasn’t.”

The United manager was unaware at that point that Benítez had spoken of Valencia being creative in his fall. “He [Mascherano] tugged him, and obviously I think the referee is right,” Ferguson said. “He has got to play the advantage [after the first contact] because he was right through on goal and it wasn’t until he was inside the box that he brought him down. So I think that was correct.”

Benítez, however, was angered by what he perceived as several crucial decisions going in United’s favour and said he was sufficiently concerned at half-time to tell Torres to keep his focus on the game. It was “not easy” for Torres, the manager reflected, and there was more heavy irony when he noted how Gary Neville’s studs had connected with Maxi Rodríguez, leaving the Argentinian with a bloodied head. “I think it must have been a bird from the sky,” he said.

Park needed a stitch for a facial gash, inflicted by Glen Johnson’s boot. “A game like that, it’s always been feisty,” Ferguson said. “Both teams, with their pride and history, are going to compete. I don’t think it got to a serious point at any stage.”

While Liverpool are languishing in sixth, 18 points behind United at the top of the table, Ferguson’s men have their sights on a fourth successive title, two points clear of Arsenal and four ahead of Chelsea, and have the added motivation of overtaking their Merseyside rivals with a 19th championship in total.

“We have been very consistent in the last two or three months,” Ferguson said. “For periods of the game we played very well and in other periods we had to dig in and concentrate. It’s always difficult to lose a goal and come back and win, it’s a great quality that Manchester United have and it was that quality that won us the game again today.”

• Referee was influenced, says Liverpool manager
• United deny Valencia cheated to win spot-kick

Rafael Benítez’s dislike of Sir Alex Ferguson manifested itself tonight in the Liverpool manager responding to another damaging setback to his side’s aspirations of qualifying for the Champions League by demonstrating more bitterness towards the man who has become his nemesis in English football.

Benítez was aggrieved by the penalty that set Manchester United on the way to a 2-1 win, accusing Antonio Valencia of diving, and he referred to his previous accusations that Ferguson placed referees under pressure. “We know about the influence of Sir Alex in everything,” he said. “I’ve seen three replays [from different angles] and the last one was suspicious. See the replay for yourself and how he fell to the ground.” Asked whether he was saying it was a dive, he replied: “Yes, I think so. There is contact but the way he fell down – it was strange.”

Television pictures showed the initial contact from Javier Mascherano had been outside the penalty area and Benítez was asked whether Ferguson had been trying to get into the mind of the referee, Howard Webb, when he talked on Friday of the Anfield club getting preferential treatment. “Just on Friday he said something?” he interrupted, his tone heavy with sarcasm. “Which Friday? This Friday or every Friday? Or every Friday of every year?”

Ferguson had written in his programme notes that he felt “a twinge of sympathy” for Benítez’s current predicament, but the bad feeling between the two managers led to a confrontation on the touchline shortly after Wayne Rooney had scored his 33rd goal of the season, turning in the rebound after Pepe Reina had saved his penalty.

Rooney, recently troubled by a knee injury, left Old Trafford with a pronounced limp. His goal cancelled out Fernando Torres’s fifth-minute header for Liverpool, with Park Ji-sung scoring the winner in the second half. “When you have different opinions you have to express those different opinions,” Benítez said of that argument. “As you know, he [Ferguson] has his own opinion about everything.”

Ferguson’s argument was that Mascherano should have been sent off. “I thought the penalty kick was a red card,” he said. “There was no way [Jamie] Carragher could have got across to stop Valencia from shooting, absolutely no way. He [Valencia] is too quick for Carragher to get across. It was a penalty but the law of the game is that if you stop a player from a goalscoring opportunity it’s a red card, but not today it wasn’t.”

The United manager was unaware at that point that Benítez had spoken of Valencia being creative in his fall. “He [Mascherano] tugged him, and obviously I think the referee is right,” Ferguson said. “He has got to play the advantage [after the first contact] because he was right through on goal and it wasn’t until he was inside the box that he brought him down. So I think that was correct.”

Benítez, however, was angered by what he perceived as several crucial decisions going in United’s favour and said he was sufficiently concerned at half-time to tell Torres to keep his focus on the game. It was “not easy” for Torres, the manager reflected, and there was more heavy irony when he noted how Gary Neville’s studs had connected with Maxi Rodríguez, leaving the Argentinian with a bloodied head. “I think it must have been a bird from the sky,” he said.

Park needed a stitch for a facial gash, inflicted by Glen Johnson’s boot. “A game like that, it’s always been feisty,” Ferguson said. “Both teams, with their pride and history, are going to compete. I don’t think it got to a serious point at any stage.”

While Liverpool are languishing in sixth, 18 points behind United at the top of the table, Ferguson’s men have their sights on a fourth successive title, two points clear of Arsenal and four ahead of Chelsea, and have the added motivation of overtaking their Merseyside rivals with a 19th championship in total.

“We have been very consistent in the last two or three months,” Ferguson said. “For periods of the game we played very well and in other periods we had to dig in and concentrate. It’s always difficult to lose a goal and come back and win, it’s a great quality that Manchester United have and it was that quality that won us the game again today.”

• ‘I thought the penalty kick decision was a red card’
• Manager thinks United have an outstanding chance of title

Sir Alex Ferguson has insisted Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano should have been sent off in the pivotal moment of Manchester United’s comeback win.

Fernando Torres gave the visitors a fifth-minute lead, only for Wayne Rooney to equalise in controversial fashion. He tucked home the rebound from a penalty given for a Mascherano foul on Antonio Valencia which had started outside the area.

Ferguson said the foul warranted more than a booking: “I thought the penalty kick decision was a red card, because I do not see how anyone could have stopped Valencia from shooting. That is a goalscoring opportunity as far as I am concerned.”

Regarding a tight battle for the title between United, Chelsea and Arsenal Ferguson said: “We have a very experienced back four, a very experienced goalkeeper and that gives us a real outstanding chance, albeit with seven difficult matches – but we have all got difficult matches, so what does it matter? It could very well go to the wire, if you look at the run-ins for the teams.”

The Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez felt there was not much between the two sides. “It was very tight, they did not have too many chances, and neither did we,” he said. “With two top sides, it is always the little things which are the difference, and they were the better in these.

“After the goal, I always said it is about how you can control the game, and we could not, as we conceded early. In the second half, you could see Manchester United are a good team, but they did not have too many options and with a bit of luck, it could have been a draw.”

On the penalty incident, Benítez did not feel his player had merited a red card. “I have not seen the replay, but talking to people who have said it was inside and was a penalty, but Jamie Carragher was also there, so it was only a yellow card,” the Spaniard said.

Liverpool are now well behind in the battle for fourth place, but Benítez insisted the battle goes on. “It will be difficult, but we still have to fight,” he said. “You can see we can win against anyone. You have to improve when you play against a top side, but we created chances.”

Ferguson said: “It was very tight today and Liverpool are good at stopping you playing. But you have got to be patient and we scored a tremendous goal from Park Ji-sung, who played another vital role for us today.”

Ferguson accepted the match had not been a classic. “I am sure it wasn’t, but it was so intense and you could not take your eyes off it – there was no one watching on television who went for a cup of tea, that is for sure.”

United’s midfielder Darren Fletcher praised the way they were able to grind out victory. In a second half of few clear-cut chances, Park Ji-sung headed home the winner after an hour when he came through a crowd of bodies to finish Fletcher’s superb cross.

The Scotland international hailed the character of Ferguson’s side, who are chasing a record fourth successive championship. “It was a difficult game, with not much football played,” Fletcher told Sky Sports 1. “You want to win the title with flowing football, but sometimes you have to grind out results and show character – that is what we did.”

Fletcher maintained that the referee Howard Webb was right to give the penalty. “I definitely thought it was a foul,” said the United midfielder. “He was pulling Valencia and the contact with his legs was right on the edge of the box. The keeper saved it, but Wazza is so composed that he was able to tap it in afterwards.”

“The team which puts the most consistent run together will probably be champions, and we are making a good fist of it,” Fletcher added.

• ‘I thought the penalty kick decision was a red card’
• Manager thinks United have an outstanding chance of title

Sir Alex Ferguson has insisted Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano should have been sent off in the pivotal moment of Manchester United’s comeback win.

Fernando Torres gave the visitors a fifth-minute lead, only for Wayne Rooney to equalise in controversial fashion. He tucked home the rebound from a penalty given for a Mascherano foul on Antonio Valencia which had started outside the area.

Ferguson said the foul warranted more than a booking: “I thought the penalty kick decision was a red card, because I do not see how anyone could have stopped Valencia from shooting. That is a goalscoring opportunity as far as I am concerned.”

Regarding a tight battle for the title between United, Chelsea and Arsenal Ferguson said: “We have a very experienced back four, a very experienced goalkeeper and that gives us a real outstanding chance, albeit with seven difficult matches – but we have all got difficult matches, so what does it matter? It could very well go to the wire, if you look at the run-ins for the teams.”

The Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez felt there was not much between the two sides. “It was very tight, they did not have too many chances, and neither did we,” he said. “With two top sides, it is always the little things which are the difference, and they were the better in these.

“After the goal, I always said it is about how you can control the game, and we could not, as we conceded early. In the second half, you could see Manchester United are a good team, but they did not have too many options and with a bit of luck, it could have been a draw.”

On the penalty incident, Benítez did not feel his player had merited a red card. “I have not seen the replay, but talking to people who have said it was inside and was a penalty, but Jamie Carragher was also there, so it was only a yellow card,” the Spaniard said.

Liverpool are now well behind in the battle for fourth place, but Benítez insisted the battle goes on. “It will be difficult, but we still have to fight,” he said. “You can see we can win against anyone. You have to improve when you play against a top side, but we created chances.”

Ferguson said: “It was very tight today and Liverpool are good at stopping you playing. But you have got to be patient and we scored a tremendous goal from Park Ji-sung, who played another vital role for us today.”

Ferguson accepted the match had not been a classic. “I am sure it wasn’t, but it was so intense and you could not take your eyes off it – there was no one watching on television who went for a cup of tea, that is for sure.”

United’s midfielder Darren Fletcher praised the way they were able to grind out victory. In a second half of few clear-cut chances, Park Ji-sung headed home the winner after an hour when he came through a crowd of bodies to finish Fletcher’s superb cross.

The Scotland international hailed the character of Ferguson’s side, who are chasing a record fourth successive championship. “It was a difficult game, with not much football played,” Fletcher told Sky Sports 1. “You want to win the title with flowing football, but sometimes you have to grind out results and show character – that is what we did.”

Fletcher maintained that the referee Howard Webb was right to give the penalty. “I definitely thought it was a foul,” said the United midfielder. “He was pulling Valencia and the contact with his legs was right on the edge of the box. The keeper saved it, but Wazza is so composed that he was able to tap it in afterwards.”

“The team which puts the most consistent run together will probably be champions, and we are making a good fist of it,” Fletcher added.

• United defender was left ‘bent over like a hunchback’
• ‘If I’m honest, I didn’t make it clear to the gaffer’

England’s captain Rio Ferdinand has admitted that he hid the extent of his back problem from Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, and that the injury left him “bent over like an old hunchback” and struggling to walk.

Ferdinand is now back in the United line-up and seemingly through the worst of the injury after pioneering treatment, but he admits it took him a long time to come clean to the club about just how bad the problem was.

The turning point was the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in October, when Fernando Torres got away from him easily to put Liverpool in front at Anfield.

Ferdinand told the News of the World: “The day after a game I would waddle into the club like a duck, bent over like an old hunchback. I would be hobbling around, unable to train for four or five days. I would be OK to play the next game, but I must have missed 60-70% of training.

“If I’m honest, I didn’t make it clear to the gaffer and the club physios that my injury was that serious. I just had an incredible desire to play football and had never had to deal with an injury of this scale before.

“But I was summoned into the manager’s office after the Liverpool defeat. He told me: ‘Last season, Torres would not have scored that goal against you.’ As soon as he said that, you sit up and take notice. When the manager tells you something like that, it hits home. So we made a decision to rest it completely before I could return to the team.”

Ferdinand received a course of spinal injections to tackle the problem and has been given an orthopaedic cushion to aid his posture when sitting.

“I’m training at full pelt now,” he added. “Now I just need a run of games to get match fit. I’m still using the cushion, it helps my posture. I look daft when I’m sat on it in a restaurant – it makes me look really tall. But it has certainly helped.”

• United defender was left ‘bent over like a hunchback’
• ‘If I’m honest, I didn’t make it clear to the gaffer’

England’s captain Rio Ferdinand has admitted that he hid the extent of his back problem from Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, and that the injury left him “bent over like an old hunchback” and struggling to walk.

Ferdinand is now back in the United line-up and seemingly through the worst of the injury after pioneering treatment, but he admits it took him a long time to come clean to the club about just how bad the problem was.

The turning point was the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in October, when Fernando Torres got away from him easily to put Liverpool in front at Anfield.

Ferdinand told the News of the World: “The day after a game I would waddle into the club like a duck, bent over like an old hunchback. I would be hobbling around, unable to train for four or five days. I would be OK to play the next game, but I must have missed 60-70% of training.

“If I’m honest, I didn’t make it clear to the gaffer and the club physios that my injury was that serious. I just had an incredible desire to play football and had never had to deal with an injury of this scale before.

“But I was summoned into the manager’s office after the Liverpool defeat. He told me: ‘Last season, Torres would not have scored that goal against you.’ As soon as he said that, you sit up and take notice. When the manager tells you something like that, it hits home. So we made a decision to rest it completely before I could return to the team.”

Ferdinand received a course of spinal injections to tackle the problem and has been given an orthopaedic cushion to aid his posture when sitting.

“I’m training at full pelt now,” he added. “Now I just need a run of games to get match fit. I’m still using the cushion, it helps my posture. I look daft when I’m sat on it in a restaurant – it makes me look really tall. But it has certainly helped.”

• More than 1,000 pubs and clubs have signed for 3D TV
• Sky to show five other Premier games in 3D this season

Sky has confirmed it will launch Europe’s first 3D television channel with coverage of the Premier League match between Manchester United and Chelsea on 3 April. Sky 3D will show at least five more Premier League games live in the UK before the end of the season, as well as the Football League play-off finals at the end of May.

Although relatively few members of the public have bought 3D TVs so far, BSkyB revealed that more than 1,000 pubs and clubs across the UK and Ireland have signed up for the service.

Leading manufacturers such as Sony, Samsung, LG and Panasonic have recently confirmed plans to launch 3D-compatible sets in the coming months.

“It’s fitting that one of the biggest games of the season will be the launch pad for our pioneering Sky 3D service,” said Brian Lenz of Sky. “With 3D, seeing really is believing, so it’s great news that over 1,000 pubs across country will be able to show the magic of 3D to their customers.”

Sky 3D plans to add other sports programming as well as films, documentaries, entertainment and arts programmes later in the year.

The channel will be introduced at no extra cost for subscribers to Sky’s top channels and HD pack.

In January, Sky became the first broadcaster in Europe to air a 3D sporting event by carrying Manchester United’s 3-1 win at Arsenal in nine pubs across London, Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Dublin.

Easter Saturday game will be first of at least six Premier League games this season to be shown in 3D

BSkyB is to launch its 3D satellite TV offering with the Premier League clash between Manchester United and Chelsea on Easter Saturday, 3 April.

The pay-TV company, which in January ran a test by airing Man Utd’s Premier League match against Arsenal in 3D in a handful of pubs, has signed up more than 1,000 pubs and clubs in the UK and Ireland to air the game. Sky is ultimately hopes many of the tens of thousands of pubs that subscribe to its digital satellite service will upgrade to 3D.

Following the match, Sky said it will show at least five more Premier League games in 3D before the end of the season on 9 May. It will also air the play-off finals of the Coca-Cola Football League at the end of May in 3D.

Sky will also provide “a showreel showcasing the best of Sky 3D” to run on its new 3D channel, which the company says is the first of its kind in Europe, during the daytime.

The 3D channel will initially be available at no extra cost to the million-plus Sky high definition TV subscribers who also pay for its premium sports and movies services.

Later in the year, Sky 3D will offer a range of movies, sport, documentaries, entertainment and arts content.

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• Arsenal face champions; United play old foes Bayern Munich
• English sides to meet in final if they overcome tough opponents

Arsène Wenger thinks Arsenal still have a 50-50 chance of reaching the Champions League semi-finals despite being drawn against the team no one wanted – Barcelona – in the quarters.

Barcelona are the holders, the bookmakers’ favourites at 7-3, and play the decisive leg at home. “I believe we will not be favourites,” admitted Wenger, “but for me it will be a 50-50 game. That’s how we have to take it. Of course they are a good side, so are we.”

In the other fixtures, Manchester United face Bayern Munich, who have lost just twice in this year’s Bundesliga, a fixture Sir Alex Ferguson called “very tough”. In an all-French game Lyon face Bordeaux, and José Mourinho’s Internazionale play CSKA Moscow, who look the weakest of the remaining sides. The two English sides will meet in the final if they progress.

Arsenal’s secretary David Miles admitted they had been landed with the team everyone wanted to avoid. “I’m sure the other clubs felt the same thing,” Miles said. “But, having said that, the draw gives us what it gives us, we can only play, and hopefully beat, what’s in front of us. We owe Barcelona one and we’ll certainly be up for it.”

Barcelona’s sporting director Txiki Begiristain said: “This will be the most spectacular of all the quarter-finals in terms of football. These are two teams that play open football and the match will be a duel to keep hold of the ball.

“We are two teams who don’t shut up shop and play long ball football, and this tie will be nice for the fans. It will be a good spectacle and we’ll see if we are a little stronger than them. In any case, the best news is knowing that we will be playing the return leg at home. We are strong at home and we’ve shown that.”

United are second favourites at odds of 3-1 with Ladbrokes, after being handed a repeat of their famous “football, bloody hell” final of 1999, when they scored twice in the dying moments to pickpocket Bayern.

Germany’s biggest club currently sit top of the Bundesliga, though they were twice beaten by Bordeaux in the group stages.

Ferguson is wary of an under-rated Bayern side. “The history of playing Bayern in past European ties tells you it’s going to be a very difficult tie for us,” he said. “It’ll be a fantastic atmosphere. They have a great stadium and good pitch and we’re up against a good, experienced team.”

Bayern chairman’s Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said his side’s draw was “tough but attractive”. He explained: “Manchester are a team who are ranked right at the top. We will have to push ourselves to our limits and possibly even beyond to go through. Manchester are the favourites, but that is where the attraction lies: to try to beat a favourite.”

There will definitely be a French side in the last four after Lyon and Bordeaux were paired together.

The Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas told Eurosport: “It will be a peculiar tie, but it will mean there will be a French side in the last four for the first time since Monaco [in 2004].”

“I’m a little bit disappointed,” said the Bordeaux president Jean-Louis Triaud. “We talked a lot about it before, about the possibility of this. We were chatting with Jean-Michel Aulas before the draw and agreed we did not want to face each other. Our advantage is that we will play at home for the return leg. Their advantage will be that they have much more experience than us at this level.”

Inter are favourites against CSKA Moscow, arguably the weakest side left in the competition. But their chief executive Ernesto Paolillo was taking nothing for granted. “This isn’t an easy tie,” he said. “It would be wrong to underestimate it for two reasons. First CSKA Moscow are at the start of their season. So they are rested and fresher than any other team at the moment. Secondly, they play on a synthetic pitch, which favours less technical teams because players have less control of the ball.”

Luís Figo was pleased his old side Inter had avoided United and Barça. “You cannot choose, they’re all good teams with quality, but theoretically you don’t want to play against Manchester or Barcelona.”

Eight teams from six different countries reached the quarter-finals, the most varied group since 1998-99.

Quarter-final draw

Lyon v Bordeaux

Bayern Munich v Manchester United

Arsenal v Barcelona

Internazionale v CSKA Moscow

First leg 30 and 31 March; second leg 6 and 7 April.

Semi-final draw

Bayern Munich or Manchester United v Lyon or Bordeaux

Internazionale or CSKA Moscow v Arsenal or Barcelona

First leg 20 and 21 April; second leg 27 and 28 April.

• I would prefer to avoid Manchester United, says Barça director
• United could be motivated by revenge, says Txiki Begiristain

Barcelona sporting director Txiki Begiristain has singled out Manchester United as the team to avoid in tomorrow’s draw for the Champions League quarter-finals.

The European Champions have faced Sir Alex Ferguson’s men three times in the past two years, with United knocking them out at the semi-final stage two seasons ago before Barça triumphed in the final last year.

Begiristain admits he would be wary of United’s desire for revenge should the two be pitted against each other again.

“We are strong and, if we want to be champions, we have to beat everyone,” he told Barça TV. “At this moment all the rivals are very strong but I would prefer to avoid Manchester United.

“I would not like to meet the club who were our opponents in the final last season because of the motivation they could have.

“I’m not scared about facing teams like Arsenal or Manchester United, because they would be great spectacles.

“The French have teams that play well too and we have the experience of facing Lyon last year.”

Barcelona cruised through to the quarter-finals with a convincing 5-1 aggregate victory over Stuttgart thanks to last night’s 4-0 second-leg triumph at the Nou Camp.

Begiristain hopes they have the fortune to be drawn to play the second leg at home. “The ideal would be to face the second leg of the tie in our stadium,” he added. “Last year we had bad luck and we played the return legs in Munich and London [against Chelsea].”

• Midfielder to make return in reserve fixture tonight
• ‘Capello was happy how I played for England’

Owen Hargreaves has not ruled out his chances of playing in the World Cup this summer although he admits he would need to make “progress pretty quick” in order to convince Fabio Capello of his fitness.

The Manchester United midfielder is due to make his return in a reserve match against Burnley in Altrincham tonight, having spent 18 months out of the game with tendinitis in both knees.

Now 29, Hargreaves is still unsure of how his knees will stand up to competitive football but remains optimistic that he can play again at the highest level.

“The World Cup is an incentive. Absolutely. But I need to see progress now, pretty quick, for the World Cup to become even a realistic option,” he told the Daily Telegraph.

“[Capello] was happy with how I played for England. When he saw me play for Man United he was happy with how I played. Whether in Germany or England, a manager has always played me, especially to win big games. Maybe he sees that and would like me to have an impact on the World Cup. I would love that.”

Such an outcome would help soothe the memories of a torturous period for the Canada-born player. “I could never have imagined in my darkest dreams something like this would happen to me,” he said. “My athletic ability has taken me everywhere I wanted to go, from Canada to Germany, playing for England, playing for Man United. To have that temporarily taken away is humbling.”

Hargreaves believes that the problem began in 2007, when he rushed to overcome a broken leg sustained while playing for Bayern. “I didn’t have the same quality muscle as before. Instead of muscles taking the shock absorption, my tendon was. But when I got an ache, I didn’t stop. I kept playing.

“It wasn’t dealt with the way it should have been initially. I saw so-called specialists who said ‘this is what you need and you will have absolutely no reaction’ and I had a massive reaction. You like to think you will get the best advice possible but that is not always possible.”

Hargreaves, nonetheless, rejected the idea that he might adapt his competitive style of play when he finally does return to United colours. “Injuries take time. It’s not a question of can I go into a 50-50? I wouldn’t hesitate in the slightest. It’s more about managing my training, making sure I don’t do too much. If I play, shall I do 30 minutes? 40 minutes? Only I can feel it. If you have had double knee surgery you’re going to feel it.”

• Chief executive’s son booed before Fulham match
• Fans see Gill Jr as a way of getting at his father

David Gill’s increasingly fragile relationship with Manchester United’s supporters has led to concerns within Old Trafford that the bad feeling could have a negative impact on his son’s breakthrough into the first-team squad.

Oliver Gill, a 19-year-old centre-half, was on the bench when United returned to the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 defeat of Fulham on Sunday but his name was booed when it was read out before kick-off.

The teenager has also been verbally abused during some of United’s reserve matches and conducted one post-match interview on the in-house TV station while supporters in the background responded by singing a song to denigrate Malcolm Glazer’s ownership of the club.

United are hoping the crowd’s reaction last Sunday was a one-off during a highly sensitive timeat Old Trafford with Gill, the club’s £1.8m-a-year chief executive, facing heavy criticism for aligning himself with the Glazers having previously sided with the protesters when he tried to talk down the takeover in 2005. Several banners have appeared at matches, one accusing him of “protecting his salary not the club”. Security has subsequently been tightened, with the club employing bouncer-style minders in and around the directors’ area .

The targeting of Gill’s son, albeit by a minority, is the first time that an element have gone against Sir Alex Ferguson’s request to ensure that the protests do not affect the team. On the fans’ websites many have objected to one of the club’s up-and-coming players being made a scapegoat. Equally, others have talked openly about targeting the player as a way of getting at his father.

Gill signed his first professional contract last July and the Surrey-born defender has impressed Ferguson with his performances for the reserve team. The manager and the rest of the coaching staff are aware of the booing and Ferguson is understood to be disappointed. Other officials have insisted it is not a serious cause for concern but acknowledged that it goes against the manager’s request for everyone to get behind the team.

United’s supporters usually pride themselves on not turning against their own players but this has not always been the case, as Darren Fletcher and Kieran Richardson could testify – or, indeed, Rio Ferdinand after he was photographed dining with Chelsea’s then chief executive Peter Kenyon when he was in dispute about the terms of a proposed new contract.

Even Ryan Giggs has been targeted, with ironic cheers when he was substituted during one poor patch, but this is the first time a player has been targeted because of his surname.

Gill was promoted to the squad on Sunday because of injuries to Wes Brown, Rafael da Silva, Jonny Evans and John O’Shea. He is now expected to return to the reserves, with Evans and Rafael expected to be fit for Sunday’s game against Liverpool, and it has become apparent to United’s coaching staff that he may need strength of character, as well as ability, to continue his progress.

• Club says worker refused to follow ’strict uniform policy’
• Players and MUTV banned from discussing dissent

A student working part-time in an Old Trafford catering kiosk has become the latest individual connected with Manchester United to claim he has felt the strength of the club’s backlash against protests targeting the Glazers.

Jerry Vyse, a first-year anthropology student at Manchester University, said he bought a green and gold scarf outside the ground and wore it during his half-time shift at last week’s Champions League match against Milan only to be sacked when he refused to remove it.

He said that supporters stocking up on half-time pies and Bovril cheered his stance and booed when his supervisor put the queue on hold and asked him to leave the kiosk, marching him to the office of the catering manager.

“I turned to the supervisor and asked him why I could not continue doing my job,” Vyse told Student Direct, the Manchester University newspaper and website. “He said it was not because I was wearing a scarf because, if it had been a different colour, he would not have minded.

“MUFC will no doubt state that the decision was based on uniform policy – what he told me surely refutes that. He said it was because it was ‘anti-Glazer’. Does it not sniff a little bit like a dictatorship if not even the smallest of dissents can be made about an incredibly rich man who has more or less taken over the club?”

The Champions League tie was largely seen as a triumph for the protesters targeting the Glazers and supporting a potential takeover bid from the self-styled Red Knights, with David Beckham donning a green and gold scarf as he left the pitch following loud protests during the game.

In an attempt to quell the dissent United have banned players from discussing the campaign, forbidden the inhouse TV channel MUTV from mentioning it and sacked a steward after 19 years’ service for attempting to return an anti-Glazer banner to its owners.

A spokesman for United said that Vyse did not comply with the club’s uniform policy and refused to remove the scarf when asked.

United’s chief executive, David Gill, today again defended the club’s business model as he unveiled its latest overseas sponsorship deal, with Turkish Airlines. “People presuppose we have financial problems,” he said. “We do not believe that is the correct situation. We are very comfortable and we have a sensible business strategy that will continue for many years to come.” The Glazers have hugely increased the club’s commercial revenues and plan to agressively target further expansion in overseas markets.”We have 333 million followers and yesterday we celebrated 100 years at this great stadium,” said Gill.

“Our history and heritage means we can bring a lot to the table. There is also a professionalism about us, so, whilst we are in an economic downturn, there are still many successful companies in the world who are investing in the future. We are one of the quality partners big entities can still associate with.”

• Alex Ferguson says Arsenal may mount biggest title challenge
• Real Madrid want Wayne Rooney says former president

Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken of his belief that Arsenal, not Chelsea, might pose the greater challenge to Manchester United’s aspirations of winning the “tightest title race ever” and being crowned champions for a record fourth successive time.

Two more goals from Wayne Rooney, taking his total for the season to 32, and a late Dimitar Berbatov header took United two points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 win against Fulham and Ferguson has told his players they may need to win their final eight games.

“We are back in the lead, but Chelsea have a game in hand,” Ferguson said. “It’s also going to be a hard-fought tussle with Arsenal coming strongly now and I have a suspicion that they might yet mount the biggest challenge.

” To a certain extent, the title is in our hands because Chelsea have to come to Old Trafford and, naturally, that will be a massive match but, as I say, I am wary of Arsenal if they don’t suffer too many more injuries to key players.”

Rooney has now scored 24 times in his past 22 games after a relatively quiet start to the season and Ferguson believes the England striker has become the irresistible choice to be named footballer of the year. “I think he’s a certainty,” the United manager said. “You can’t ignore his form and I think he has a great chance of winning both the players’ award and the football writers’ prize. He’s been absolutely brilliant and is developing his game all the time. He’s spending a lot of time practising and that’s paying off on the football field.”

Rooney, chasing Cristiano Ronaldo’s target of 42 goals last season, is now two ahead of his former team-mate at the corresponding stage two years ago, and it will be of no surprise to anyone at Old Trafford that the former Real Madrid president Ramón Calderón spoke yesterday of there being an “obsession” at the Bernabéu to sign him.

Calderón believes his successor, Florentino Pérez, wants to capitalise on the financial uncertainty at Old Trafford by persuading Rooney to follow Ronaldo to Spain “if it is possible to spend again another €100m or €80m”.

Berbatov described Rooney as “the best player in the world” after his two second-half goals and backed him to finish the season with more than 40 goals.

Ferguson agreed: “I said a while ago it would be impossible for him to get to 42 but he’s on 32 now, so there’s a challenge there. He’s capable of scoring goals in our final eight games and maybe five more Champions League games. He’s got 13 more games possibly to come so I’m not putting it beyond him.”

The manager had a broader task for his team. “I have set us a target: win every game between now and the end of the season. Obviously it’s a big ask, but that’s what we must aim for if we are to achieve our objective of winning the championship again.”We are in a good run of form in the Premier League, but our rivals are going well, too, and it’s as well for everyone to understand that’s what it could well take to come out top.

I have built a squad that should enable us to compete on all fronts and I am not going to prioritise except to say that it is essential we strain every sinew to win the league. That’s the expectation and there is no hiding from it. Consistency is the name of the game now, and if I am honest we have had more off days than I would like.”

• Strikers came face-to-face at Old Trafford on Sunday
• Fulham man resigned to not making England World Cup squad

Fulham head to Old Trafford tomorrow for the next stop in their relentless season with Bobby Zamora claiming that England can win the World Cup if Wayne Rooney maintains the “unbelievable” form he has shown in a Manchester United shirt when the finals get under way in South Africa in June.

Zamora is enjoying his most prolific campaign in top-flight football and has been widely praised for the contribution he has made to Fulham’s season, yet the 15 goals he has scored represent only half of Rooney’s remarkable haul for United.

“He’s been brilliant, top-drawer,” said Zamora. “I suppose [Cristiano] Ronaldo going has made him a better player. He’s stepped up and been unbelievable. I just hope that he can continue that into the World Cup because when he’s on fire England have every chance of winning it.”

There was a time not so long ago when Zamora’s performances for Fulham were prompting suggestions that he might have a chance of joining Rooney in Fabio Capello’s squad, but the former West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur striker admitted he is resigned to spending the summer watching, rather than playing alongside, England’s talisman.

He has already made holiday plans and while cancelling a trip to Las Vegas to go the World Cup would not be much of a hardship, the prospect is far from his mind. “I’m pleased by the way the season has gone so far and just want to continue that,” said Zamora. “It’s nice [people talking about a call-up] but it’s not something I’m thinking about. I’m doing my stuff for Fulham and what happens, happens. But I will be watching the World Cup on the box wherever I am.”

The United match will be the 47th game of Fulham’s season – more than any other Premier League club – and there were signs during the 3-1 defeat in Juventus on Thursday night that an unforgiving schedule is beginning to catch up with Roy Hodgson’s players. Dickson Etuhu’s away goal has, however, given Fulham hope that Juventus can be vanquished in the second-leg at Craven Cottage on Thursday.

“We’re disappointed because two of the goals were conceded through set-plays,’ said Zamora. “On the other hand we dominated the second half and created a few chances. But we will go back to Craven Cottage where we are good and hopefully can get something. The tie is certainly not dead.”

• Ferdinand has had to alter training programme
• Ryan Giggs should be back for Liverpool game

Rio Ferdinand has spoken of his hope that he is over the worst of his long‑standing back issues, the Manchester United defender “staying positive” about his chances of being injury-free in this summer’s World Cup. Ferdinand is encouraged by playing successive games for the third time this season, resuming a partnership with Nemanja Vidic that Sir Alex Ferguson identified today as a key element to the club’s aspirations of defending the Premier League title.

When Ferdinand takes his place in United’s back four against Fulham on Sunday it will be the first time since October he has played three matches in a row. The new England captain was out for three months and Ferguson described him as having “panicked” when the problem flared up again recently. However, Ferdinand is encouraged by the way he coped with Milan’s forward line in the 4-0 win at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

“It is still taking time,” the defender said. “The more games you get the better you feel, and I would put myself in that category. But I don’t think negatively about it. I just think about staying positive and staying fit, being on the pitch. That is what I aim to do.”

Troubled by the injury for 18 months, Ferdinand has played 13 times for United this season and specialists have warned him the problem could recur at any time, but he has minimised the risk with an individually tailored fitness programme. “It is what I expected. Once you get to 30 you have to adapt your training anyway,” he said.

The Ferdinand-Vidic axis has been the bedrock for much of United’s success over the past few seasons, and the resumption of that partnership has helped the team to keep successive clean sheets against Milan and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

“They haven’t played a lot of games this season and to have them back at this stage is fantastic for us,” Ferguson said. “Rio’s training well now. He missed a couple of games and panicked a little bit, as we all did. We were all thinking ‘here we go again’, but he’s fine and looking good. He and Vidic were brilliant on Wednesday and it gives us a big chance. I see the two of them together and there’s a sense of security with their experience, their authority, that understanding with each other. It’s great to see.”

Ferguson is also encouraged by the latest diagnosis on Ryan Giggs, who is expected to be back from his broken arm when Liverpool visit Old Trafford next Sunday while Owen Hargreaves is scheduled to play in a reserve game against Burnley on Thursday after 19 months out. Hargreaves pulled out of a reserve fixture this week and has seen another knee specialist. “He’s training again,” Ferguson said. “He’ll play in the next game, he has to because he’s ready to play.”

United equalled the heaviest defeat inflicted on Milan in the history of the Champions League and Ferguson was so impressed by the performances of Paul Scholes and Gary Neville on Wednesday he indicated they could both follow Giggs and Edwin Van der Sar by signing one-year contract extensions.

Scholes has already been told a new deal is waiting to be signed and Ferguson said: “I expect Scholesey to stay although I haven’t spoken to him about it yet.”

Neville, like Scholes, is 35 and out of contract at the end of the season. “He’s a player of will and he’s got where he has in life because he’s got the will to do it,” Ferguson said. “We don’t bring him in every week, because we know the nature of his body, but on Wednesday he was outstanding. His drive - every time the ball went forward, Gary was up in support of the game. He’s a good example and I can see him playing next season.”

• Red Knights step up pressure on Glazer family
• Seats would be given back cheaper if takeover was successful

The consortium of businessmen putting together a takeover bid for Manchester United has guaranteed the club’s season-ticket holders that they will get their seats back if a mass boycott pressurises the Glazer family to relinquish their ownership.

The Red Knights group, led by the former United director Jim O’Neill and involving the former Football League chairman Keith Harris, is urging fans not to renew their season tickets to help force out the Glazers.

Asked if there would be a guarantee for people relinquishing their season tickets, Harris said: “We can give that, yes. If there were people who were considering giving up their season-tickets on account of what they’ve heard about the Glazers’ plans … then in the event that our takeover was successful we’re sure it could be worked out so that they regained their places.”

Harris, chairman of the stockbrokers Seymour Pearce, also said in an interview with Red Issue fanzine that the new regime would lower the price of season tickets as opposed to the Glazers’ regular increases. “Our intention is to set aside 25.1% of the shareholding in a supporters’ trust so that any future takeover would become impossible. Season-ticket holders would get their seats back at a lower price and become shareholders in the club.”

Want to be loved? Don’t own a football club

Kraft’s Irene Rosenfeld is not alone in receiving a frosty reception after a takeover. Nowhere is this more apparent than in football, where fans have a public platform to make their feelings known.

The Glazer family faces huge pressure to sell Manchester United. Fans have unfurled “Love United, Hate Glazer” banners at Old Trafford and thousands have reverted to wearing the club’s former green and gold colours. Some 10,000 have signed up to an anti-Glazer Facebook page in the last two months and are threatening to boycott matches.

Mike Ashley’s stewardship of Newcastle United – which saw him sack local hero Kevin Keegan – caused such anger that the tycoon said it was too dangerous for him to go to matches, and he put the club up for sale. With United leading the Championship wounds have healed and Ashley is back at St James’ Park.

In Liverpool, angry fans have launched a billboard campaign against the club’s US owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. Hoardings around the city are emblazoned with “Tom and George: debt, lies, cowboys. Not welcome here.”

• Fan ejected from club TV show for wearing scarf
• Steward sacked for returning confiscated banner

Manchester United are so concerned about the increasing success of the green-and-gold protests that the club have effectively forbidden Sir Alex Ferguson’s players from speaking about it publicly and imposed a series of other measures aimed at counteracting the kind of publicity generated by David Beckham’s endorsement of the campaign.

Beckham’s parting statement after United’s 4-0 defeat of Milan on Wednesday, leaving the pitch with a protest scarf around his neck, is being described as “an iconic moment” by the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (Must), and senior figures at Old Trafford are worried about the significance of the most famous sportsman on the planet attaching himself to a movement aimed at deposing the ruling Glazer family.

In response the club have already:

• Banned players from discussing the campaign in the media.

• Forbidden the in-house TV station, MUTV, from referring to the rebellion and edited questions about it from broadcasts of Ferguson’s press conferences.

• Ejected a supporter from the audience of an MUTV show after he refused to remove a green-and-gold scarf.

• Sacked a steward after 19 years’ service for attempting to return a confiscated anti-Glazer banner to its owners.

The club has reluctantly accepted the protests will continue for as long as the Glazers are in power. David Gill, the chief executive, predicted yesterday that would be “many more” than five years.

While Beckham’s latest fashion statement has been shown around the world, attracting headlines from the Boston Herald to the Times of India, MUTV has chosen to ignore what happened. Similarly Ferguson’s remarks about the protests in recent weeks have been edited out when the rest of his press conferences have been aired in full. One supporter was ejected from the audience of the MUTV show, Red Cafe, when he refused to remove his green and gold scarf, security staff telling him that the colours were not allowed inside the studio, and a steward was dismissed by CES, the security firm employed by United, after attempting to return a confiscated anti-Glazer banner during the home game against Burnley.

The initial hope inside the Old Trafford boardroom was that the protests would eventually fade out but the club’s attempts to quell the uprising have been unsuccessful. Protests were so widespread during the Milan game that CES had to abandon its usual policy of trying to remove the many banners criticising the Glazers and Gill.

Avram Glazer was at the game, smuggled into the stadium in a car with blacked-out windows and shadowed by a personal bodyguard, and United employees noted how calm and unmoved he seemed.

“Everyone has the right to protest and there was certainly a lot of green and gold there,” Gill said at the announcement of a five-year sponsorship deal with Telekom Malaysia. “But this partnership demonstrates the strength of the club. We will be around for the length of this five-year deal and many more in addition to that.”

Beckham produced the perfect publicity coup for Must and an organisation whose membership has now passed 130,000 has also been buoyed by the appointment of the Japanese investment bank Nomura to advise the alliance of wealthy United followers who are planning a takeover bid. Nomura will “coordinate and formulate the proposal to be put to the Glazer family” and Must’s spokesman, Duncan Drasdo, described the appointment as “hugely significant because it will start to crystallise the offer. We’ve seen a lot of interest from the so-called Red Knights and Nomura’s job will be to organise it.”

In the meantime Must has written an open letter asking for other “United legends” to follow Beckham’s lead and attach themselves to the cause. “David courageously showed his true colours,” the letter says. “The movement for change is becoming unstoppable and we know that David is not alone. From Eric Cantona to Andrew Cole, former players are making their feelings known.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the club’s reserve coach, is a patron of the organisation and has spoken out against the Glazers in the past but the only current player to sympathise has been Patrice Evra, in response to a French journalist who asked why the United end at Wembley was decked out in green and gold. “They are the original colours of Manchester United [as Newton Heath] and the fans wear them because they love this club,” Evra said. “They have their reasons for doing it and we don’t think that they’re crazy.”

Otherwise the players have been warned to say nothing. The captain, Gary Neville, was twice asked after Wednesday’s match and kept to the party line, saying only: “I’m not getting involved in that.”

• United looking to tap in to Far East market
• David Gill delighted about five-year deal

Manchester United have signed a five-year sponsorship agreement with Telekom Malaysia, continuing the strategy of trying to widen United’s sponsorship base and hoping to tap into the club’s fan base in the country.

“Anyone who went on our tour of the Far East last summer knows the strength of feeling that Malaysians have for the club,” claimed United’s chief executive, David Gill. “Over 40,000 attended our training session and another 40,000 came to the second match in Kuala Lumpur, despite only having 48 hours’ notice of the fixture.”

• Manchester United striker has scored 30 goals this season
• ‘I have not set myself a target. I just want to keep scoring’

Wayne Rooney is refusing to set himself a goals target for the season despite reaching the 30 mark at Old Trafford last night. Rooney continued his incredible recent run of form for Manchester United by grabbing a double in the stunning 4-0 Champions League demolition of Milan.

It meant the 24-year-old scored four of United’s seven goals over the two legs and left him just 12 away from the number Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the double-winning season two years ago.

With nine Premier League games remaining, plus up to five more in the Champions League, the odds on Rooney eclipsing Ronaldo’s feat are tumbling fast. But the England striker is refusing to look too far ahead, and insists his major priority is looking forward to the last-eight draw tomorrow week.

“I am delighted to get two more goals but I have not set myself a target. I just want to keep scoring,” said Rooney. “Overall, it was a great result and we are delighted to get through. Now we can just look forward to the draw and see how it goes from there. There is no preference. They are all difficult games at this stage of the competition.”

United already know Lyon, Bayern Munich and Arsenal are potential quarter-final opponents, while the holders Barcelona, Internazionale, Chelsea and Sevilla appear to be the strongest sides left in the other half of the draw, which is concluded next week.

However, after ripping apart the seven-times winners in clinical fashion last night, United are bidding to reach a third successive final for the first time in their history.

“The first goal was vital,” said Rooney. “We set out to get an early goal to kill the game off and when we got it we shattered Milan’s confidence. That was the major turning point.”

• Leading investment bank agrees to advise potential investors
• Nomura advised United board during Glazers’ takeover

The battle for control of Manchester United has taken another twist following confirmation that a leading global investment bank has agreed to advise on a possible acquisition of the Old Trafford outfit by the Red Knights group.

Nomura will work closely with the Red Knights, the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust and other potential investors to “coordinate and formulate the proposal to be put to the Glazer family”.

The Nomura team will be led by Guy Dawson and Andrew McNaught, both of whom advised the board of Manchester United plc when the club was sold to the Glazer family in 2005.

Nomura is beginning its role by contacting those who have made offers of financial support to the Red Knights.

Whether that number includes David Beckham is not known but the former England captain did the entire campaign a favour by donning a green and gold scarf after Milan’s 4-0 Champions League defeat at Old Trafford last night.

Protesters against the Glazers have adopted the green and gold colours which have been highly visible at United matches in recent weeks.

“I’m a Man United fan. I saw the scarf there. I put it round my neck, it’s the old colours of Man United, that’s all I knew,” Beckham said. “To be honest it’s [the protest] not my business. I’m a Manchester United fan. I support the club. I always have done and I always will do. It’s nothing to do with me the way everything is run, that’s to do with other people, but I’m a Man United fan and I support the team. I will always support them.”

With United over £700million in debt, many now see the Red Knights as the only salvation for Old Trafford, even though the Glazer family insist it is business as usual and the club is not for sale.

• Midfielder’s comeback from knee injury again put on hold
• United say match does not fit into Hargreaves’ fitness plan

Owen Hargreaves, Manchester United’s injury-plagued midfielder, has suffered another setback after being pulled out of his comeback match in a move that significantly damages his already slender and rapidly diminishing hopes of a late call-up to England’s World Cup squad.

Nineteen months since he was last seen on the pitch at Old Trafford, Hargreaves was due to play in a reserve game against Manchester City at Altrincham tonight, and had been encouraged by noises emanating from the Football Association that Fabio Capello still regards him as a possible contender to be involved in South Africa this summer, provided he can prove his match fitness in the meantime.

The 29-year-old has not played since September 2008 because of a knee problem that the world-renowned specialist Richard Steadman described as the worst he had seen from 35 years of working in the medical profession. Hargreaves has been suffering from chronic patellar tendinitis and needed operations on both knees, having made only 25 starts since signing from Bayern Munich for £18m, despite having the problem at the time of the transfer.

Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, said last Friday that Hargreaves had been training with the first team and was “pencilled in” to play for the reserves, but the club confirmed after last night’s 4-0 defeat of Milan that the player would not be included in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad. United say his withdrawal is because the match does not fit into the player’s fitness programme.

• Manchester United face biggest potential exodus of supporters
• Rising living costs behind thoughts not to renew next season

Up to one in four season ticket holders of Premier League clubs are considering not renewing for next season in a bid to cut costs, according to a survey published today.

The Virgin Money’s authoritative Football Fans’ Inflation Index shows 25% of season ticket holders are thinking of giving up at the end of the season with 4% planning on no longer going to any games while 21% intend to buy tickets when it suits them.

Manchester United face the biggest potential exodus of season ticket holders with 15% giving up going to games entirely while another 44% will only buy tickets when it suits them. United, currently facing supporters-led green-and-gold protests against the Glazer family, who own the club, could see up to 59% of fans cancelling season tickets with Wolves the next most at risk in the Premier League with 54% of supporters considering giving up for next season.

The backlash against season tickets comes despite Virgin’s index showing that the cost of attending games has fallen by 6.8% in the past year. Lower ticket prices and reduced costs for replica kit means the match-day cost has fallen to £89.09 compared with £95.60 in January 2009.

That is still 14.29% higher than the match-day cost when the index was launched in January 2006 but is substantially lower than the all-time high of £106.21 in October 2008. Average match tickets across all leagues peaked at £27.38 in July 2009 but have now fallen to an average of £22.59.

The research among more than 3,896 fans representing all 92 clubs in the Football League shows fans of Liverpool and Stoke City are the least likely to give up their season tickets next year with just 9% of supporters considering cutbacks.

“The drop in costs is welcome but season tickets are still priced astronomically compared with other major European leagues such as Spain, Italy and Germany,” said Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters’ Federation. “At many clubs there’s little or no recognition of loyalty in the prices charged compared with buying match by match. Prices for essentials like food, rent, transport and petrol are going up and football fans like everybody else are struggling with frozen or declining pay and unemployment. Clubs need to bear this in mind when setting next season’s prices.

“Shamefully, Manchester United was the only Premier League club that put up their prices for the current season. Every other club froze or reduced them. Huge numbers of United fans are in open revolt against the Glazer family’s huge cash drain on the club. They’re paying the price for the leveraged buyout in 2005 that has loaded a massive £700m debt on to United’s books. The Glazer regime has put up ticket prices by half in less than five years. No wonder almost six out of 10 Old Trafford season ticket holders are thinking of not renewing.”

Percentage of Premier League club supporters considering cancelling their season tickets next season

Manchester United 59%

Wolves 54%

Burnley 31%

Fulham 29%

Everton 28%

Blackburn 28%

Portsmouth 28%

West Ham 27%

Aston Villa 24%

Sunderland 23%

Wigan 21%

Tottenham 19%

Manchester City 18%

Birmingham 17%

Chelsea 17%

Hull 17%

Arsenal 14%

Bolton 13%

Liverpool 9%

Stoke City 9%

• Preparation involves ‘discretion and secrecy’
• Manager has personal experience after incident in 2005

Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken of his concerns about the news that one of Fabio Capello’s team-talks was bugged during England’s preparations for their friendly against Egypt last week.

Ferguson was speaking from personal knowledge after a device was planted in the home dressing room at Old Trafford before a game against Chelsea in 2005 and the tape was offered to newspapers.

‘It happened to us once before,’ Ferguson said. ‘I would be concerned about it. Preparation involves discretion and secrecy. I haven’t revealed one bit of my tactics ahead of the match [against Milan] tomorrow. I haven’t been asked [by reporters] and do you know why? Because I wouldn’t tell anyone. Why should I tell anyone? Capello may have been discussing some important issues about his team and all of a sudden someone else has got it. So it is a concern.’

• United manager warns 3-2 first-leg lead is precarious
• Wayne Rooney will be fit to play despite knee injury

There are some nights in the Champions League when it is more than just a football match; it is an occasion. Manchester United versus Milan, under the Old Trafford floodlights, is one of them – even if Sir Alex Ferguson is right and David Beckham is left out by the Rossoneri tonight. Milan will have to be bold and adventurous if they are to recover a 3-2 deficit from the first leg and Ferguson’s hunch is that the most recognisable player on the planet will be sacrificed in a game that reads like a Who’s Who of the Champions League elite.

Beckham being Beckham, he needed a police escort when he arrived at Manchester airport yesterday, the latest instalment of what his former manager witheringly described as “the David Beckham media circus” a few weeks ago. He was also due for a charm offensive at Milan’s press conference until it was pointed out that Uefa rules do not allow the same player to face the microphones before the home and away legs and that Beckham had told us enough times how thrilled he would be to run out at Old Trafford again.

Ferguson, however, does not envisage his former player starting the tie. “He has not started a game since the last time he played us,” the United manager pointed out. “I don’t know if Beckham will play. I haven’t got him down in my conclusions.”

Whether it was deliberate or not, the impression from United’s manager was that there were other players who concerned him more anyway. Pato is expected to have recovered from a thigh strain while Ferguson has already pinpointed the fit‑again striker Marco Borriello, absent from the first leg, as a serious threat – and that is all before considering the way Ronaldinho tormented Rafael da Silva in the first leg.

Older, leaner, wiser maybe, Ronaldinho has played a part in 24 of Milan’s 46 league goals this season, scoring nine and setting up 15. Ferguson could ask Gary Neville to replace Rafael but, at 35, the former England defender now counts as a veteran in football terms and his lack of mobility threatens an even more harrowing ordeal should Ronaldinho be in the same mood. Wes Brown was lined up to play at right‑back but suffered a broken metatarsal in Saturday’s win at Wolverhampton Wanderers and has been ruled out for up to six weeks.

The better news for United is that Wayne Rooney is fit after missing the weekend game because of a knee injury. “I looked at him on Friday and didn’t think he had any chance,” Ferguson reported. “But he has progressed and he plays and, on this form, he would be a threat to anyone. That is what he will provide for us: a real threat up front.”

Rooney, in all likelihood, will operate as the lone striker in the 4-3-2-1 system that Ferguson prefers on European nights, which would mean no place again for Dimitar Berbatov, increasingly a fact of life for a player who has started only six of 19 Champions League ties since becoming the club’s most expensive player in a £30.75m transfer from Tottenham Hotspur 19 months ago.

Michael Carrick is suspended, while Ryan Giggs, Anderson and Owen Hargreaves are injured, which reduces the options in the midfield, but there should be no undue concern even if Ferguson was determined not to say anything that could be considered presumptuous.United’s is a formidable position of strength considering that, in 54 years of European football at Old Trafford, no side has ever beaten them by the two clear goals that Milan will need if they are to turn this tie upside down.

Ferguson, though, senses a renaissance in Serie A. “European football is an ever-changing process. The challenge last year was to get past Barcelona to win the trophy and the Italians were not as good as the Spaniards. But there has been a little shift and the Italian teams are better this year. That’s why winning in Milan was a big step forward for Manchester United. It was the first time in four attempts that we had done it. I was delighted with it because, historically, we were playing against one of the best European teams of all time. So it was a landmark victory for us. I can’t help but think it was a really, really important win for us – a psychological thing.”

A different manager would try to suffocate the game and wind down the clock, but that is not the United way. “I don’t think we are very good at defending leads, to be honest,” Ferguson said. “The nature of our club is that we have to have a positive attitude. When we went 3-1 ahead in Milan, for instance, it would have been easy to shut up shop but we kept looking for that fourth goal and sometimes it makes games more exciting than they need be.

“We maybe should have killed off the game but then [Clarence] Seedorf’s goal near the end keeps the match on a tightrope. Sometimes you get the benefits, sometimes you don’t, but the most important thing is that the philosophy is the right one. So we will try to do it our normal way and it will be an open game. I don’t think we should be confused by the score of 3-2 – it does not represent a bye into the quarter-finals.”