Keane’s Champions League dream

MANCHESTER UNITED skipper Roy Keane has admitted he would travel to the moon to get his hands on a Champions League winners medal.

United resume their quest for a third European title when they take on Juventus in a double-header next month.

With six points in the bag from their opening two second-phase games, Sir Alex Ferguson’s men look well placed for a quarter-final berth and on course for a final appearance at their Old Trafford home.

Keane remembers all too vividly the build-up which accompanied United’s run to the last four 12 months ago when Bayer Leverkusen denied Ferguson a dream encounter with Real Madrid in his home city of Glasgow.

And having taken no personal satisfaction from the last-gasp 1999 win over Bayern Munich when he was forced to sit in the stand through suspension, the combative midfielder is not getting too hung up on the possibility of making amends at the Theatre of Dreams.

“I don’t care where the final is as long as we win it,” said the 31-year-old. “I’d be happy to win it on the moon.

“I felt we could have gone all the way last year but I think that every season.

“We’ve had a decent start but we must be careful not to get carried away and start thinking our name is on the trophy.

“Last season we were supposed to win it because it was supposed to be the manager’s last season and it was in Glasgow.”

Keane has highlighted Catalan giants Barcelona as the most in-form team in the competition while also pinpointing the twin threat from Milan.

“Both Inter and AC look very strong, and their results in Europe and Serie A show they will be strong challengers,” he said. “They have a great chance this year.

“But then you can’t rule out Real Madrid. They always seem to come good at the right time. We can accept one year without a trophy, that’s the way it goes sometimes,” said Keane. “Two years is unthinkable.”

Meanwhile, his United team-mate Ryan Giggs admitted yesterday that his recent form has been below-standard and that “no-one’s place is sacred” at Old Trafford. But he is adamant that he would like to finish his career with the Manchester giants.

“I know in myself that I haven’t played well in recent games but I’m confident that my form will return. I’ve almost lost count of the number of times in my career when I’ve had a poor run of games and I’ve learnt over the years that just as it’s inevitable you’re going to have periods when you don’t hit top form, it’s inevitable that you have times when everything goes right for you. It’s all part and parcel of being a footballer.

I set myself high standards and I know I haven’t met those standards lately. There’s no-one more frustrated than me at this but I’m not worried about meeting those standards in the future. As long as I’m forcing the manager to pick me on a regular basis and continue to get games under my belt, I’m confident that I’ll be back to my best sooner or later.