Sir Alex Ferguson last night declared that Manchester United had "no reason to panic" after their wretched start to the season but nevertheless summoned his players to a meeting to prepare for tonight's match with the French champions Lyon.
United's manager is understood to have made it clear, in typically forceful terms, that his squad should be robust enough to cope with injury problems. Several of his players were described as "stony-faced" when they left the 30-minute inquest.
"We get on with it, we don't panic," Ferguson said later. "If it's affecting the supporters, fine. And if it's in the media, fine again. As long as it does not get to us. We've got to be objective and say, right, we trust these players, they're all internationals, they're all experienced - it's quite obvious we're going to be much better when everyone is back."
Ferguson argued, with some justification, that his squad is superior now to when United beat Bayern Munich in the 1999 final, when they had Jonathan Greening and a 19-year-old Wes Brown on the bench. He has spent £190m on transfers since that night in Barcelona, bringing in 27 players of 15 nationalities. However, his first-choice XI have yet to provide evidence they are capable of returning the European Cup to Old Trafford.
"Ajax and Bayern Munich have both won it four times, including three in a row," he said. "It's something we want to emulate. We need to win this competition more than once."
Ferguson pointed an accusatory finger in the direction of the Football Association and the Premier League. Both, he said, should take some responsibility for the fact no English team have reached the final for five years.
"Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United are as good as any team in this competition. But we suffer from the number of games we play. Compare us to other nations. In France they move league games to Friday nights if there is a European tie the following Wednesday. In Portugal they cancel the league match and have the weekend off. The assistance they get from their football associations is an advantage we don't have."
Lyon (4-2-3-1; probable): Coupet; Reveillere, Cris, Cacapa, Abidal; Essien, Juninho; Govou, Wiltord, Malouda; Frau.
Manchester United (4-4-2; probable): Howard; P Neville, Brown, Silvestre, Heinze; Ronaldo, Scholes, Keane, Giggs; Smith, Van Nistelrooy.
Referee: W Stark (Germany).
SkySports 2: kick-off 7.45pm
