Ferguson sees United as ready to dominate Europe

By George Burns May 26, 2009, 17:02 GMT

Rome - Sir Alex Ferguson believes his young Manchester United team is capable of dominating European football for years to come, starting with victory in Wednesday's final against Barcelona at Rome's Stadio Olimpico.

United are looking to become the first team to successfully defend a Champions League crown since the format was introduced in 1992 and the first side since AC Milan in 1990 to win back-to-back European titles.

'We are good at doing things for the first time,' said Ferguson at his team's final press conference Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's match.

'It is an opportunity to get that victory that would put us alongside the great teams of Europe.'

Fresh from claiming a third English Premier League title in succession, Ferguson now wants his United team to secure a fourth European crown to go with the successes of 1968, 1999 and last year.

Real Madrid top the winners' table with nine titles, followed by Milan on seven, Liverpool on five, and Bayern Munich and Ajax Amsterdam on four apiece.

'It's something I've repeated many times that there are times we should have done better in Europe,' admitted the Scot.

'But this a young team that can do well over the next few years and I hope tomorrow we can endorse that.'

Ferguson was given a boost in the form of defender Rio Ferdinand declaring himself 100-per-cent fit for the clash with Barca.

'I have been training for three or four days now so I don't see any problems, I am fine,' said Ferdinand.

Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo said he was simply focusing on winning a second successive Champions League title and had not been putting in any extra practice on his penalty kicks, despite missing his spot kick in last year's penalty shootout win over Chelsea.

'I believe Barcelona are a strong team and deserve respect but that we are better and will show it tomorrow,' he said.

Ronaldo also appeared to rule out any immediate move to Spain but, as usual, left open the possibility of playing in La Liga at some stage in his career.

'I like the Spanish league,' he said. 'I feel good in England and in the Premier League. 'I believe it is the strongest league at the moment.'

For his part, Ferguson singled out his attacking players, like Ronaldo, as the key to prevailing against the newly-crowned Spanish champions.

'It is the players who can score and create who will win the game for us,' he said.

'It has the capability of being a fantastic final, and hopefully we will play a part in that.'