Fergie braces for crucial week
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Schalke's Peruvian striker Jefferson Farfan (left) vies for the ball with Manchester's French defender, Patrice Evra, during their Champions League semifinal, first-leg match on Tuesday in Gelsenkirchen, western Germany. Man United won 2-0. Daniel Roland / Agence France-Presse |
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson basked in the 2-0 Champions League semifinal first leg win over Schalke on Wednesday and admitted his team now faces a crucial seven days.
United tackles Arsenal on Sunday and fellow Premier League title rivals Chelsea the weekend after with the return European leg against Schalke sandwiched in between.
"I hope we get a positive result on Sunday against Arsenal and then from there, depending on that result, I may well make three changes for next week's second leg as we've got Chelsea the weekend after," said Ferguson.
"It's a crucial seven days coming up for the club. I think we've come to our peak."
United is on the verge of a record 19th English league title, standing six points ahead of Chelsea and nine in front of Arsenal with just four matches left.
And after Tuesday's impressive win, it is virtually assured of a place in the May 28 final of the Champions League where either Barcelona or Real Madrid will be its opponent.
Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, a reported United target, kept the three-time champion at bay almost single handedly on Tuesday before quick-fire second-half goals from Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney brought United victory.
The result puts Ferguson's side firmly in the driver's seat ahead of next week's return leg at Old Trafford, when it will seek to book its place in the Champions League final for the third time in four seasons.
"It was a very professional performance tonight," said Ferguson. "The concentration, intensity and passing were all top class. They have all done fantastically well."
Neuer admitted United was just too good.
"We had too much respect for our opponents," said Neuer. "We weren't compact enough, we weren't aggressive in the tackles. We can be proud of what we have done. We will try and keep the adventure going to the end."
Ferguson was impressed by Neuer, who seems set to move to Bayern Munich in the summer.
"Manuel Neuer was incredible, it was perhaps the best performance I have seen by a keeper against us in my career."
Rooney, sent off on his last appearance at this venue in the 2006 World Cup, believes United could have scored more goals after dominating from the early stages.
"We're delighted but a bit disappointed in terms of not scoring more," he said.
"We have done very well. We have to be professional for the second leg as Schalke can't be taken lightly. They went to Inter and won 5-2 (in the first leg of its quarterfinal)."
Giggs was always confident of victory.
"I thought if we kept creating chances then they would go in," said the Welshman who, at 37, became the oldest player to score a Champions League goal. "We could have been four or five up at half-time. Before the match we would have taken 2-0 but it's quite disappointing in terms of the final result now."
Schalke defender Christoph Metzelder admitted his side were outplayed.
"We have to recognize that we were dominated by a team playing in a different dimension," he said. "We still have hope, anything is possible. We'll try and do everything to win at Old Trafford."
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