Vidic Pleased At Pole Position

There were mixed emotions in the United dressing room following the Valencia game – satisfaction at topping the Champions League group was tinged with regret at the scoreline.

The 1-1 draw at Old Trafford meant the Reds narrowly failed to become the first team to advance from the Champions League group stage without conceding a goal.

That distinction would have been particularly proud for defenders like Nemanja Vidic, who told MUTV: “We’re a bit disappointed [with the result] because we obviously we wanted to keep a clean sheet and break the record.

“But the most important thing was to finish where we wanted to, first in the group, and we've done it. We'll avoid some big teams and hopefully that will help us.”

First place was keenly contested by a lively Valencia side, not least in the closing stages of the match when the Spaniards seemed to sniff a potential surprise win. The visitors were buoyed, no doubt, by only conceding one goal – Anderson’s equaliser – despite being under the cosh for most of the second half.

“We have to be pleased with how many chances we made but we didn't take them,” reflected Vidic.

“In the end it was a bit of a nervous game. In the last ten minutes we had to make sure we didn't concede a goal so we could achieve what we wanted to achieve, to be first.”

After landing first place in Champions League Group C, the next summit on United’s minds is in the Barclays Premier League.

“At the moment, it is not going that bad for us,” said Vidic.

“We are in the second stage of the Champions League which was our target and we are in a good position in the Premier League table. We just have to improve on a few details, keep going and keep playing well.”