Fergie still determined to top group

Manchester United will be going all out for victory against Bayer Leverkusen on November 13 in a bid to ensure their dominance of Champions League Group F doesn’t go unrewarded.

After winning their opening four matches, a makeshift United side went down 3-0 to Maccabi Haifa in Cyprus last night as the Israelis boosted their own chances of sealing a UEFA Cup spot.

The absence of David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Juan Veron was keenly felt and all should be fit to face the Germans, with a point the minimum requirement in the November 13 Old Trafford showdown with last season’s runners-up.

“We want to go through as group winners,” said Ferguson, whose side defeated Leverkusen 2-1 in their previous meeting last month.

“We have both qualified, so it will be interesting to see what their approach will be.

“But despite the result, I have no regrets about leaving those players behind. There is not even a hint of remorse about it.”

Ferguson praised the defensive partnership of Rio Ferdinand and John O’Shea, who will almost certainly be asked to hold down the centre-half duties next season.

He also claimed that he had been impressed by the performance of 18-year-old Kieran Richardson on his first start, while taking the opportunity to blood Daniel Nardiello and Mads Timm ahead of their likely Worthington Cup appearance against Leicester next week.

“We wanted to give them a smell and feel of it,” said the United boss. “There will be more chances in the future and we feel Daniel in particular has got something.

“They are only young, so maybe it is not completely fair to bring them into a Champions League game, but they can only learn from that.”

The defeat was the biggest United have suffered in Europe since the 4-0 hammering by Barcelona in 1994, when Ferguson’s team selection was hampered by the now-defunct foreigners rule.

Yaniv Katan and Raimondas Zutauttas struck either side of the interval, both launching bullet strikes at the United goal which Ricardo couldn’t keep out on his first appearance for the club.

But while the Spaniard couldn’t be faulted on those occasions, he was the man who brought down Zutauttas, giving Nigerian striker Yakubu Ayegbeni the chance to seal a famous victory 13 minutes from time.

“We played really well in the first half and dominated the game. But three or four minutes prior to them scoring, they put on a bit of pressure for the first time and once they got the second we were chasing the game,” added Ferguson.

“You can’t deny them their victory but with 10 internationals in the side we expected to win.”

Maccabi just need to avoid a three goal defeat against Olympiakos in Athens in a fortnight to grab a UEFA Cup third round spot.

“For two wonderful hours, everyone in Israel can forget all the problems we have,” said Maccabi coach Itzak Shum. “I am proud we have managed to do that.

“Maybe United thought it was going to be easy but we have faith in our own ability and were without a couple of players when we lost at Old Trafford.

“Our supporters might have been disappointed at the team they played but they had four England internationals, a striker from Norway and another from Uruguay.

“Virtually all of them were in the squad which beat Olympiakos last week, so you can hardly dismiss them as a poor side.”