Ferguson braced for tough encounter

Sir Alex Ferguson claims Manchester United face a tougher test against Bayer Leverkusen tonight than they did when they famously beat Juventus three years ago.

United’s 3-2 win in Turin has gone down in folklore as one of the club’s finest European nights and Ferguson can see parallels with tonight’s Champions League return against Leverkusen.

However he feels United’s task is harder now because of their 2-2 draw in the semi-final first leg at Old Trafford, whereas in 1999 they drew 1-1 at home to Juventus.

‘‘I think it’s harder,’’ said the United manager. ‘‘Two-two is more difficult than 1-1, but after 10 minutes in Turin it was incredibly hard.

‘‘There are similarities and we’re going out with the attitude that we need to win both games.

‘‘We felt we had to win the game in Turin and we have to win this game too.’’

Ferguson is adamant United will score in the BayArena - they have netted in their last nine European away games - and he feels they need to score twice to make his dream final at Hampden Park a reality.

‘‘We will score,’’ he said. ‘‘We know that and Leverkusen know that. I feel we have to score two goals against Leverkusen to win.’’

Ferguson was in relaxed mood before the game and he caused some amusement during his pre-match press conference when he kept confusing Leverkusen with Kaiserslautern.

He joined in the laughter and his laid-back demeanour reflected his unshakeable belief in his side’s ability to win, even though they have been victorious in just one of their last nine games against German sides.

Ferguson reckons there will be goals at both ends because of the teams’ natural attacking instincts.

‘‘I think it’s in their nature to attack,’’ he said. ‘‘I don’t think their coach Klaus Toppmoller can say to his players ‘right lads, 0-0’ because they’ve not done that all season.

‘‘They may be a bit tentative and a bit careful, but their natural thing is to attack and it should be a fantastic game.

‘‘You don’t set out to lose goals, no-one does, but the way we play it’s very likely because we will certainly be trying to win the match.

‘‘It should be a good game, although in saying that I would be happy to win 1-0.

‘‘We know it will be a very difficult game, but we’re a good side and the players will be reminded of

that before they go out.’’

Leverkusen’s season is in danger of falling apart and on Saturday the Treble-chasers suffered their second successive Bundesliga defeat to Nuremberg to slip to second in the table.

Leverkusen are known as the nearly team of German football and they have a history of choking.

Ferguson is not sure if this will extend to tonight and he said: ‘‘I would think it’s a big disappointment the last two games.

‘‘How it affects them, though, is difficult to say.’’

United welcome back Ronny Johnsen from his hamstring injury and Laurent Blanc from his knee problem to leave David Beckham and Gary Neville as their only injury absentees.

Manchester United (probable): Barthez, Brown, Johnsen, Blanc, Silvestre, Keane, Veron, Butt, Scholes, Giggs, van Nistelrooy.