Timing is everything in football and Sir Alex Ferguson believes his Manchester United side will be meeting Barcelona at precisely the right stage of the season."I think it should be one of the most attractive Champions League semi-finals for a while and I'm looking forward to it," enthused the manager, who trusts United will hit their peak at the end of this month.
"With their attacking emphasis Barça represent the way the game should be played. Hopefully, by the time we play them we'll have a fully fit squad. We're carrying a few injuries at the minute but we should have a full squad by then and it will give us a better chance. We should have a real chance.
"I think we've something really special here, there's something really special with this team, and we want to go there and show we're a special team. Barcelona have a marvellous history, they're a wonderful club, but we can't go there and be negative. We have to be really positive."
Before then United have some Premier League obstacles to surmount, starting with Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday. Arsène Wenger's impending visit informed Ferguson's team selection against Roma, prompting him to gamble on resting Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, with the latter coming on as a late substitute. "Of course it was a gamble but you have to look at the big picture sometimes and we've got Arsenal on Sunday," said United's manager.
Ferguson took a risk of a different kind in fielding Rio Ferdinand only three days after the centre-half limped away from Middlesbrough with his left foot in a surgical boot. Here Ferdinand required three stitches in a gash to his right foot, rather than the bruised left one, at half-time. "Rio should be fine for Arsenal. His foot was OK, it was only bruising - and he cut the other one," said Ferguson.
Mikaël Silvestre at left-back played his first game since sustaining a cruciate knee ligament injury in September, and Gary Neville also made a comeback from long-term injury as a late substitute. "It was very good to have Gary Neville and Silvestre back," said Ferguson. "It just gives us a little bit of experience."
