By Shane Farrington
19 Jul 2011 15:49:00
Pep Guardiola – Barcelona & Sir Alex Ferguson – Manchester United (Getty Images)
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Sir Alex Ferguson is eager for Manchester United to play Barcelona in the Champions League final next season.
Despite losing to the Spanish giants in both 2009 and 2011, the Scot is eager to face up to the challenge of Pep Guardiola’s side once more.
“The target is to be in Munich in May next year,” he told reporters.
“Only then, if it’s Barcelona again, can we assess if we’ve been able to cope with that challenge.
“We tried to win the European Cup our way, but we were outplayed by Barcelona. They’re just in a great cycle at the moment. They’re an exceptionally good team.
“But that doesn’t mean to say it beating them can never be achieved.
“I’ve got young players coming into the club that I hope will take inspiration from what we experienced in the final and make sure we’re the challengers to Barcelona.”
However, the veteran boss has vowed that he is still as focused as ever on the Premier League and will not prioritise winning in Europe over domestic triumph.
He added: “You have to combine the two. The Premier League is such a tribal confrontation between different parts of the country that you’re forced into trying to beat them all the time.
“You can’t get away from that, I’m sorry, you can’t. We play every seven days, so you’re forced to go for the Premier League. AC Milan did that prioritised the Champions League and Real Madrid still try to do that.
“I’ve absolutely no doubt Real Madrid would give up anything to win the European Cup.
“Our mentality is different. I’ve got to try to show that we’re challenging for the league all the time, and hopefully have the bonus of winning the European Cup. We’ve only won it twice in my time, so that shows it’s not easy to combine the two.”