Ferguson urges Man Utd to complete Champions League victory in Rome

By Ben James May 6, 2009, 10:32 GMT

London - Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is urging his side to complete a successful defence of the Champions League by going on to win the final in Rome later this month.

United cruised past the challenge of Arsenal with a 4-1 aggregate win, completing the job by trouncing them 3-1 at The Emirates stadium on Tuesday night.

Either Chelsea or Barcelona will face them in the final on May 27, but whoever it is, Ferguson believes his side is more than capable of becoming the first team since AC Milan in 1990 to win the competition for the second year in a row.

'From the club's point of view we should have won this cup more times and it's another opportunity for us,' Ferguson said.

'We have the quality, energy and ambition to do it again and it's a hungry team. When the chips are down they don't let me down. We're more than capable.'

United beat Chelsea on penalties for the 2008 title in Moscow. The two sides could meet again in Rome as Chelsea played to a 0-0 draw in Barcelona last week.

United stalwart Ryan Giggs, one of the few players remaining from their first triumph in 1999, said the club had played perfectly against Arsenal where they won from Cristiano Ronaldo's double and Ji Sung Park.

'We said last year we wanted to defend it, give it a big shot and that's what we've done,' he said. 'We've come out and produced an unbelievable performance.

'We knew we'd get chances because this team creates them, it's just about putting them away. We did and that put the pressure right back on Arsenal, knowing that they'd got to score three goals. That leaves gaps at the back for us to score more, and that's what happened.'

United defender Patrice Evra described the lopsided match with Arsenal as '11 men against 11 babies'.

'We never doubted ourselves,' he said. 'We have much more experience and that's what made the difference. We were always confident. It should have been that score in the first leg anyway. It is a great United team that won.

'Football today is not only about playing well, it's about winning trophies. Everybody talks about the way Arsenal play but, at the end of the day, it's about winning silverware.

'At United, we play well and we win. Tactically and technically we were superior. You look at our starting 11 and theirs and you see that we are well above.'