Ten teams are in it to win it - Ferguson

Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson has claimed that any one of 10 teams could land the prized Champions League trophy next May.

United launch their latest quest for European glory at Old Trafford tonight when they entertain Greek league leaders Panathinaikos.

With the ’Battle of Britain’ double-header with Rangers to come and German outfit FC Stuttgart making up Group E, Ferguson knows his side need to claim maximum points if they are to cruise into the last 16 as he demands.

However, once the real action starts after Christmas, the Red Devils chief is expecting most of his club’s fellow European heavyweights to be in there as well.

“Any one of 10 teams could easily win it,” said Ferguson.

“You have so many with such great history. Ajax have won it four times, AC Milan, Bayern Munich and Juventus have won it on a number of occasions, we have won it twice and that’s without even mentioning Real Madrid.

“The format of the competition has been changed now, so the first stage does take on greater significance and we won’t be taking any chances.”

After four controversial seasons, UEFA have decided to scrap the second group phase which means the top two in all eight groups will head straight into a knock-out competition.

And, while Ferguson criticised the change when it was first announced, the Scot does believe it will produce some added interest.

“It has condensed the competition a bit more but should add a bit of extra spice,” he said.

“But my philosophy remains the same. We will look to get 10 points as quickly as we can and that should see us into the second round.”

The ankle injury skipper Roy Keane picked up at Charlton on Saturday has not completely cleared up, so the influential Irishman will not even be on the bench providing Mikael Silvestre recovers from a minor knee knock.

Ferguson is close to deciding whether to send Paul Scholes for his third hernia operation, but the midfielder will definitely miss tonight’s encounter, as well as long-term absentees Kleberson and Wes Brown.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looks set to return, while Eric Djemba-Djemba and Phil Neville are vying for the right to replace Keane and partner Nicky Butt in central midfield.

Dazzling Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo should also be handed a Champions League debut as United tackle Greek opposition for the third successive year.

With five wins from those six games, the omens look good for Ferguson’s men, even though Panathinaikos coach Itzhak Shum masterminded United’s defeat to Maccabi Haifa last season when he was in charge of the Israeli outfit.

However, Ferguson also recalls the 1-1 draw when his side travelled to Athens to face tonight’s opponents three seasons ago.

“Panathinaikos have some good players, with plenty of experience, who play good football,” he said.

“They have played in Europe a lot, so that won’t be an issue, and they gave us a really tough time in Athens the last time we played them.

“It is not a question of us ignoring them, it is a matter of remembering what happened when we played them before.”

It is almost five months since the Red Devils tumbled out of last season’s competition after two thrilling outings with Real Madrid, since when Ferguson has done plenty of reflection on what went wrong.

For all the attacking quality his side showed during their epic 4-3 second leg win, in truth, the tie was gone the moment United slid three goals behind during the first encounter in the Bernabeu Stadium.

With all but one member of his defence retained since then, Fabien Barthez appears to have been fingered for the calamitous opening.

“When you score five goals in a European quarter-final, you expect to reach the semi,” he said.

“If we had maintained the defensive solidity we had shown for most of the season, we would have been into the next round, but we went to Madrid and conceded some soft goals.

“You are always looking for improvements and one thing about our defence now is that they are all young, they haven’t had the experience of playing together for two or three years like Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister did 10 years ago.

“That was a great period for us in terms of people playing together for a long period of time. Now we are looking for that same consistency of performance.”