Boss: It's A Tough Draw

Sir Alex admits United have been dealt a difficult draw in the Champions League Group Stages.

The Reds were paired with Russians CSKA Moscow, Turkish outfit Besiktas and Germans Wolfsburg in Group B on Thursday's draw. And it is the travelling distances as well as the quality of the teams poses a stern test at every turn this year.

"These are difficult ties especially the trips to Russia and Turkey," Sir Alex told ManUtd.com. "CSKA have developed strongly in the last few years and games in Turkey are always difficult.

"We also know the quality that we're up against with Wolfsburg, with what they achieved in the Bundesliga last season."

The United boss believes no English team will face a tougher group this season. “I think it’s a difficult group and certainly the toughest of all the English teams.

“Looking at the teams in the draw before it was made, we were saying, ‘well, we don’t want to go to Russia, it’s a four and half hour journey. We don’t want to go to Turkey it’s a four hour journey’.

"But the draw was made and we were paired with both of them. It's difficult especially as after both away games we come back to important games in the Premier League against Manchester City and Liverpool.

“The Champions League for a few years has always had a tremendous amount of quality. I think Russian teams in particular have improved a tremendous amount in the last few years with a big financial investment into their football.

"There are a lot of Brazilian players playing in the league, so we can expect a difficult game there.

“We’ve had experiences of playing in Turkey in the past and it is never easy. The atmosphere is quite volatile.

"Then our last game is against Wolfsburg who won the Bundesliga last season. Their home record is very good.”

Euro fixtures
Tues 15 Sept - Besiktas (A)
Wed 30 Sept - Wolfsburg (H)
Wed 21 Oct - CSKA Moscow (A)
Tues 3 Nov - CSKA Moscow (H)
Wed 25 Nov - Besiktas (H)
Tues 8 Dec - Wolfsburg (A)

The Other Groups
Group A - Bayern, Juventus, Bordeaux, Maccabi Haifa
Group C - Milan, Real, Marseille, Zurich
Group D - Chelsea, Porto, Atletico, APOEL Nicosia
Group E - Liverpool, Lyon, Fiorentina, Debreceni
Group F - Barcelona, Inter, Dinamo Kiev, Rubin Kazan
Group G - Sevilla, Rangers, Stuttgart, Unirea Urziceni
Group H - Arsenal, AZ Alkmaar, Olympiakos, Standard Liege