Sir Alex Pleased With Point

Sir Alex Ferguson declared himself pleased with a point following United’s 1-1 draw with Benfica in the UEFA Champions League.

The boss paid tribute to the Reds’ ability to come from behind, after Ryan Giggs cancelled out Oscar Cardozo’s superb opener for the hosts with an equally impressive leveller.

“We went 1-0 down and coming back was a good part of the game for us, " said Sir Alex. "I thought we played very well for the first half an hour of the second-half and maybe we should have finished it then.

“But in the last 15 minutes I think Benfica came into it a bit and Anders (Lindegaard) made one or two terrific saves to keep us in it. We had one or two chances ourselves but I think a draw was a fair result.

“You’ve got to expect a tough game with Benfica and one of contrast. When they had possession they did well and when we had it, we played well. That’s what good teams can do. It was that type of match and both teams played their part.”

One of the most pleasing aspects of Wednesday’s match at the Estadio da Luz was the opportunity to field some of the players who'd previously been on the fringes this season.

“Most of them have had good game time," observed Sir Alex. "Ji-Sung Park and Michael Carrick had a full game. Antonio Valencia and Darren Fletcher both played a good part of the game, as did young Fabio.

“We needed that because we have important times coming up in the Champions League, the Carling Cup, and the Premier League.”

Attention will now turn to Sunday’s top-four clash with Chelsea at Old Trafford and Sir Alex has already hinted at again changing his starting line-up. The boss revealed: “David De Gea will play on Sunday. That was the understanding we had before the Benfica game and it doesn’t change.

“We gave Ashley Young a rest tonight as I felt he needed a little break after the two games he played for England and the one for us at Bolton. He is new to the club and obviously every game is massive for him here, so he’ll be nice and fresh for Sunday.”

Sir Alex was speaking to both MUTV and ITV.