Fergie backs special United
10 Apr 2008 - 07:10:44
Sir Alex Ferguson believes a 'special' Manchester United have what it takes to win the Champions League after reaching the semi-finals for the second successive season.
The Red Devils produced a professional display to edge out AS Roma 1-0 in the second leg at Old Trafford to secure a 3-0 aggregate quarter-final win over the Italian side.
Carlos Tevez scored the only goal of the game in the second half, while there was a first appearance in 13 months for fit-again skipper Gary Neville.
The result set-up a mouth-watering semi-final showdown with Barcelona and afterwards Ferguson backed his side to get the better of the Spaniards.
"If we've got a full squad we've got a chance - somebody has got to lose," he said. "We're looking forward to it.
"You have opportunities in life when you've got something special and we want to go there and show that - we have to go there and be positive.
"Barcelona are a wonderful club but we can't go there and be negative."
Meanwhile, Ferguson admitted he opted to rest the likes of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Scholes with Sunday's Premier League meeting with Arsenal in mind.
"We have Arsenal on Sunday to think about and you have to look at the big picture at times," he told MUTV.
"We were going into a game at Old Trafford with a two-goal lead and I have to trust the players in that situation.
"I keep saying it's the best squad I've ever had so if that's the case then why shouldn't I play them?
"I took out Scholes, Rooney and Ronaldo but Ji-Sung Park, Carlos Tevez and Owen Hargreaves were our three best players."