FCBARCELONA.CAT

21.04.2008 10:39

Ferguson: "It will be a fantastic match”

David Puig

Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United, is approaching his team’s tie with Barça with respect for his opponent but also with ambition. He says that his team will be on the attack this coming Wednesday at the Camp Nou.

The manager of Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, has very good memories of the Camp Nou. It was here that he won his first Champions League title as manager of the Red Devils in an unforgettable final against Bayern Munich. Plus the Camp Nou has also been the stage for some great matches between United and Barça, even though he’s never beaten the Catalans away from home. Speaking to Barça TV and www.fcbarcelona.cat, Ferguson thinks that this Wednesday will see a good game between two teams committed to the attack: “In 98/99 we drew 3-3 in Barcelona and 3-3 in Manchester. They were great games. But we also got beat 4-0 in 1994. Those results show that both teams like to play good football and attack. Maybe we’ll see that again in this semi-final. It’d be great.”

Barça’s missing players

Ferguson also spoke about Barça’s irregular performances this season. He thinks that injuries are to blame: “One of the reasons for Barça’s form, especially in the League, has been injuries to key players like Ronaldinho, Messi and Eto'o. They are really important players and it’s made things a lot harder for Barça.” As for Messi, Ferguson reckons that he’ll be playing this Wednesday: “It’ll make things more exciting and make the game more difficult but we can’t come to the Camp Nou in a negative frame of mind. We’ll play our own game, whoever’s playing against us. We’ll be on the attack.”

The Camp Nou atmosphere

Big European nights at the Camp Nou are nothing new for Sir Alex Ferguson as he’s seen a number of them from the Manchester United bench. ”I’m expecting a very special atmosphere. There’ll be almost 100,000 people in the crowd. I don’t know how many tickets we have, but if we had 25,000 we’d still sell them all. The Camp Nou is a tough place to win in. It’s also got a very big pitch and that favours Barça.”

Impressed by Giovani Dos Santos

In the summer of 2004, Barça’s under-16 side played in the finals of the Nike Premier Cup in Manchester, the official World Cup for the age group. Sir Alex Ferguson kept an eye on the young talent from Catalonia and was especially impressed by one of them. “I’ve seen Barça’s matches and numbers 10 (Walter Fernández) and 11 (Giovani Dos Santos) are really good players,” the United manager told Barça TV in the summer of 2004. “One’s Mexican, isn’t he? How football’s changing. Barça signs a 15-year-old and he’s from Mexico. It’s all very interesting. Giovani is a very talented player. I’m sure Barça is trying to create some top quality star players.” This Wednesday one of those young talents, Giovani Dos Santos, could be playing against Sir Alex’s side in one of the most attractive duels on offer in European football.