Fergie backs United to succeed
29 Apr 2008 - 07:41:25
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson believes he has the players to beat Barcelona and reach next month's Champions League Final.
United have failed to reach the Final of Europe's premier competition since their famous 1999 victory against Bayern Munich but, after drawing 0-0 in last week's semi-final first leg in the Camp Nou, Ferguson expects to finish the job off at Old Trafford.
He said: "The first thing is I trust these players. I'm happy for them to represent Manchester United in any shape or form, in any game.
"I think I'm a lucky manager to have such good lads. Character-wise, they're fantastic. You saw that in the second half against Chelsea when they were absolutely magnificent.
"Silvestre has only had one game in nine months, Fletcher had been out for several weeks. That character is a part of Manchester United. It epitomises the kind of player who needs to play for Manchester United and I'm absolutely proud of the players who'll be representing me and the club.
"I've given my side the best possible chance. I think we have a very good team with big-game players who can win matches.
"If you go back to semi-finals in the past and the times we've lost, sometimes we've been unlucky - like against Dortmund and Leverkusen.
"Maybe if we'd been fresher for the semi-final against AC Milan, it would have been different. But we weren't good enough on the night, Milan were much better prepared than us.
"So there have been mixed fortunes in that respect. Of course, we had that sensational victory against Juventus the year we won it. I think we have a marvellous chance. We're asking the players to win a game of football."