Defence was key - Ferguson

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson praised his centre-back partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Laurent Blanc as the Reds weathered a second-half storm to emerge from Leverkusen with a 2-1 victory.

Ruud van Nistelrooy scored twice before the interval but Ferguson made two changes at half-time and Leverkusen hit back through Dimitar Berbatov.

But Ferdinand, who could have been dismissed in the first half for raising his hands to Thomas Brdaric, was imperious at the back.

Ferguson said: “We had some defending to do in the second half and we did that well. When Brdaric dribbled through, Ferdinand got back and blocked.

“I thought he and Laurent (Blanc) were magnificent.”

It was United’s first win on German soil for 36 years and Ferguson said: “If we play like that it is not surprising.

“I was disappointed in the second half in terms of possession, but there were fantastic counter-attack opportunities.”

Van Nistelrooy blasted United ahead after a pin-point ball from Juan Sebastian Veron, though neither player lasted the full 90 minutes.

The Dutchman’s hamstring injury will cause the most concern in the United camp, and Ferguson revealed: “He has a tight hamstring and he will maybe miss Saturday’s game.”

Van Nistelrooy was replaced by Diego Forlan at the interval and with Gary Neville coming on for John O’Shea, who was suffering from double vision, Ferguson felt the side lost a bit of their momentum.

“The substitutions didn’t help but the counter attacking opportunities were there,” Ferguson said.