Sir Alex Takes The Positives

Sir Alex Ferguson was pleased with his much-changed side's performance despite the 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray.

With United already safely assured of winning Group H, the boss elected to rest several key figures and handed starts to the likes of Alexander Buttner, Nick Powell and fit-again Phil Jones.

"I think they handled the atmosphere and the temperament was good," stated Sir Alex. "They handled that okay. Parts of the game were good but the area in which we were worried about - set-pieces - we suffered. That was always going to be a worry for us.

"Other than that, I was satisfied and it was a decent performance. We had some good attacking play in the first half and at that point the only trouble they gave us was from outside the box. It was a very competitive, good game."

The boss was upset with two dreadful tackles early in the proceedings. was booked for a two-footed lunge at Buttner while Felipe Melo inexplicably escaped any punishment for a crude foul on Tom Cleverley.

"I think they were lucky to keep two men on the pitch in the first 10 minutes," admitted the boss. "They were two shocking challenges. But, as we often see, so early in the match, you get away with that."

Sir Alex also felt that there should have been additional stoppage time after only three extra minutes were played at the death.

"I thought we should have had much more than three minutes," he complained. "Players had been lying down for long periods, which is understandable, but it's up to the referee to control that. I thought there should be more than three minutes added on."