Ferguson eager for real show to start after Turkish defeat

Fenerbahce 3 Man Utd 0

After watching his second string slump to a 3-0 defeat against Fenerbahce in Istanbul, Ferguson learned his team will have a 60% chance of landing Italian opposition in the first knock-out phase next February, with Juventus, Inter and AC Milan all lying in wait.

Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen, both European conquerors of the Red Devils in recent years, are the other potential opponents when the draw for the last 16 is made in Nyon on December 17.

But Ferguson does not see that line-up as any more difficult than the one his team would have faced if they had emerged triumphant in the Sukru Saracoglu stadium.

With Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich - plus three more Premiership foes in Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool also among the qualifiers - Ferguson believes the Champions League is now firmly established as the biggest football tournament on the planet.

“When you start out as a coach, you hope for some moments in your life when you are going to prepare a team to play against the best teams in Europe,” he said.

“When the European Cup first started, there was only one qualifier from each country.

“Now you have the best three teams, and sometimes four, from the biggest countries in Europe.

“You cannot help but think it makes the Champions League the best tournament of all time. It is the hardest challenge any team or coach will face in the game.

“I didn’t think it made much difference whether we won the group or finished second and I still don’t.

“We could get Inter, AC Milan and Juventus but Bayern, Barcelona and Real Madrid were among the runners-up. All we can do is let fate decide how it works out.”

Ferguson’s major hope will be for all his senior stars to be fit when the competition resumes at the end of February, as the reserve team he fielded tonight was not good enough to defeat an enthusiastic Fenerbahce side, for whom Sanli Tuncay emerged a second-half hat-trick hero.

The United boss was particularly dismayed by the defensive effort of his team, which came as a major surprise since it contained four internationals and had been described by Ferguson in the pre-match build up as being worthy of inclusion in any Premiership game.

“Our defending was really poor,” he admitted.

“That was very disappointing given the experience we had there.

“But I have no regrets about playing the side I did. One of the major benefits of being a manager is you get to choose the team.

“I have no complaints about the result, Fenerbahce deserved to win but the young players I selected tonight will be far better when they come back here again.”

Ferguson will hope to be heading back to Turkey for the final in May, although there are some major obstacles to overcome before then.

To stand any chance of coping with the likes of top continental strikers such as Andrei Shevchenko, Adriano and David Trezeguet, his defence must be far more convincing than it was in the second period tonight after a goalless first half.

Tuncay deserved enormous credit for the outstanding volley that fired Fenerbahce in front two minutes after the break. But the Turkey international was left completely unmarked when he nodded home Alex’s near-post free kick from close range just past the hour mark.

United had abandoned any thoughts of victory long before Tuncay’s injury-time third consigned the visitors to their biggest European defeat since a similar strength side was beaten by the exact same scoreline against Maccabi Haifa in Cyprus two years ago.

Nevertheless, tonight’s victorious coach Christoph Daum doesn’t believe that this defeat will have a major effect on United’s chances of emulating their momentous triumph in 1999.

“Sir Alex Ferguson sets a great example for me,” said Daum, whose team have progressed into the knock-out stage of the UEFA Cup.

“I hope he gets his team into the place they deserve. I wish him every success.”

FENERBAHCE: Rustu, Turaci, Luciano, Cetin, Ozat, Balci (Yozgatli 71), Sahin, Aurelio, Sanli, Alex, Marcio Nobre, Akin (Demirel 90).

MAN UTD: Howard, Phil Neville, Brown (Pique 66), O’Shea, Fortune, Ronaldo, Djemba-Djemba, Fletcher, Richardson (Spector 68), Miller (Eagles 77), Bellion.

Ref: Arturo Dauden Ibanez (Spain).