Source: Eurosport
Fergie: Premier League will rule Europe
Sir Alex Ferguson is convinced England's top clubs will continue their dominance of the Champions League this season. [LNB] The Premier League has supplied three of the four semi-finalists for the past three seasons, plus a finalist in each of the last five, but there are some who claim a weakening of standards in England, coupled with the huge amounts of money spent by a Real Madrid outfit desperate to reach the final in their own Bernabeu Stadium next May, will ease that stranglehold. [LNB] "The English teams will be involved in the semi-finals again," he said. "They have been very dominant in the tournament for the last six or seven years. That is shown by the evidence of the latter stages and I think it will be the same this year." [LNB] Manchester United will book their place in the last 16 with two games to spare if they beat CSKA Moscow at Old Trafford on Tuesday night. [LNB] Chelsea are similarly well placed after their opening three games, while it would be a major surprise if Arsenal did not make it through after collecting seven points so far. [LNB] In contrast, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich are currently outside the automatic qualification spots, while AC Milan and Real Madrid have already lost matches in a group they were expected to dominate completely. [LNB] "Obviously Barcelona are one of the favourites," he said. "You cannot dismiss them. But there is no question in my mind that the English teams will compete for the trophy."