Sir Alex Ferguson acclaimed his
Manchester United side for producing
one of the more devastating European performances of his 24-year
tenure to overwhelm Schalke and put themselves on the
verge of a third Champions League final in four
years.
In a one-sided Champions League semi-final the Schalke
goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer, resisted almost unremitting pressure from
Ferguson's team before United finally established a position of
command with two goals in the space of three minutes midway through
the second half.
Wayne Rooney, exceptional in a slick and controlled team
performance, set up Ryan Giggs to slide his shot past Neuer for the
opening goal. Then Javier Hernández helped on Antonio Valencia's
cross for Rooney to give United what looks like an unassailable
lead before the second leg next Wednesday at Old Trafford, where
they are unbeaten all season.
"We've had some fantastic performances in Europe and Juventus
[in 1999] will always be high on the list but this certainly ranks
as one of the best," Ferguson said. "Our concentration and the
intensity of our play and the speed of our passing was outstanding.
It was a really top performance and credit to the players for
having the belief in themselves and the trust in one another.
"It was a fantastic atmosphere but it never cowed them once.
They kept on playing their football. They had confidence and trust
in each other. I think we are coming to a peak."
United are now the overwhelming favourites to reach the final at
Wembley on 28 May and are the first side to reach this stage of the
competition without having conceded a goal on their travels. Yet
Neuer was single-handedly threatening to make it a frustrating
evening for the Premier League leaders at one point.
"In my time at United it's the finest display of goalkeeping
against us," Ferguson said. "I'm sure there have been other feats
but tonight I saw a really good one. He was incredible. We were
getting frustrated towards the end of the first half and after his
final save [of that half] I could see our players started walking
back and a sense of frustration. That was something I had to
address at half-time. But the Chicharito [Hernández] goal that was
disallowed for offside [early in the second half] was the straw
that broke the camel's back. It showed we could beat the guy ...
but [it was] not easy."
Neuer has announced he will leave Schalke at the end of the
season but the Germany international is bound for Bayern Munich and
he discounted the idea that he could take over from Edwin van der
Sar. "Manchester United was never an option," he said. "Only in the
media."
Van der Sar later reiterated that he would not change his mind
about retiring and Ferguson also seemed resigned to the idea that
Neuer would be staying in Germany. "I think he's going somewhere
else," the United manager said. "We know [he's going to
Bayern]."
Neuer, applauded off the pitch by his team-mates, admitted they
had been outplayed. "We had too much respect for Manchester United;
we never got into the game."
Schalke seldom looked like the side that had put seven goals
past Internazionale over the two legs of their quarter-final and
the defender Christoph Metzelder summed it up: "Against Inter
everything we tried worked. Against United we couldn't even try
anything."
Ferguson was enthralled with Giggs's performance. "It's a
strange thing because his peak seems to have lasted so long now.
When you get a player of 37 you think he will be showing signs of
waning but I see no evidence of that. It doesn't show any signs of
receding at all. I just wish I could find a way to keep Giggs going
for another 10 years. He's an incredible man."
United have now lost only one of their past 23 away matches in
the Champions League and Ferguson said: "We've shown not only
throughout this campaign but the past few years that we've got a
way of playing away from home. Confidence and possession of the
ball is important. We seem to be better away from home in Europe
than anyone else."
His team now head to Arsenal on Sunday looking to consolidate
their position at the top of the Premier League, six points clear
of Chelsea in second. "Sunday will be a different team," Ferguson
said. "That's a very important game for us now."