Fergie faces the Real threat

ALEX FERGUSON is looking forward to the Champions League tie he asked for after his Manchester United side were paired with mighty Real Madrid in the last eight.

As he reflected earlier in the week on the possibilities of the quarter-final draw, Ferguson said he would be quite happy with a two-legged encounter with the holders and nine-times winners.

If that was not enough, United also learned that if they emerge victorious, they will then face either Juventus or Barcelona in a mouth-watering semi-final, ensuring that, should they make the May 28 final at Old Trafford, they will have come home the hard way.

The omens are promising. On the three occasions the two giants of European football have met in the competition, the victor has gone on to lift the trophy.

“It is without a question a fantastic, attractive draw against the most successful European Cup team of all time,” he said. Ferguson has freely admitted he changed his own philosophy towards Europe following a 3-2 home reverse to Real in the same stage of the competition three years ago.

Even though his team had collected the trophy in Barcelona the previous season, Real picked United off to an alarming degree, cruising into a three-goal lead before the home side salvaged their pride with a late rally.

“When we met them three years ago, we played with our hearts and not our heads and it ended up being a disappointing night,” said the United boss. There is the added potential for a Milanese derby in the last four after AC Milan were paired with outsiders Ajax and Inter drew

Arsenal’s conquerors Valencia.

Ajax-Milan is a replay of the 1995 final when Patrick Kluivert became the youngest-ever scorer as the Dutch side won their fourth title.

Barcelona have gone 12 matches without defeat in the Champions League and club official Javier Perez admitted they were staking everything in the competition after being distanced in the Spanish league. The draw also afforded Italy the opportunity of three teams in the semi-finals after the Serie A giants avoided each other.

Juventus will face Barcelona, while Inter are up against Valencia and AC Milan play Ajax.

Although a Milan derby was avoided at this stage, the two Milanese clubs will meet if they reach the semi-finals. “We could have got them and it would have been a derby that everyone wanted,” said Inter captain Javier Zanetti.

“We might get them in the semi-finals if both teams get through the quarter-finals.”

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti was pleased to avoid Inter. “At this level of difficulty all games are going to be complicated,” he said.