MANCHESTER UNITED V BORUSSIA DORTMUND
ALEX Ferguson has fired an early broadside at Borussia Dortmund as the countdown to Manchester United's European Cup semi-final D-Day begins in earnest.
The Old Trafford manager is in belligerent mood after seeing his side strengthen their grip on the Premiership crown with a 3-1 victory at Liverpool on Saturday. However, he is desperate to see his men become kings of the continent as well, and yesterday he insisted United will be able to overturn a 1-0 deficit in tomorrow night's second leg clash with Dortmund at Old Trafford.
''We are well capable of beating Dortmund,'' said a defiant Ferguson. ''They think they are through, but anyone who does that with us gets a fright.
''I can accept that some of the press are writing us off and I understand it to a certain degree because the Germans are a strong side, but these are the same people who had us relegated last season after we had lost our opening match.
''Wednesday could be the night which will make a lot of our players, because there is no saying what level this team can get to. They're young and they have got to keep proving themselves.
''We have improved with each game in the Champions' League and now we need further improvements which we are capable of achieving.''
The absence of Roy Keane through suspension will be a major blow for United to overcome, but Ferguson could move Ronny Johnsen into the midfield holding role in which the powerhouse Irishman excels. Much also depends on Ryan Giggs, the mercurial Welsh winger who suffered a groin strain in Dortmund that has ruled him out of the last two Premiership matches. Giggs trained yesterday but remains the major doubt.
Yet confident Ferguson is not even looking on the loss of Keane as the devastating setback most observers feel it is. ''Roy wasn't available for the game against Porto at Old Trafford,'' he said.
United, of course, won 4-0 that night to ease past the Portuguese in the quarter-finals for the first time since 1969. Their hopes of producing another memorable Old Trafford night were boosted by yesterday's news that Borussia's libero Matthias Sammer, the European Player of the Year, is almost certain to miss the game through injury.
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