Manchester United manager David Moyes said on Friday that any concerns about facing European champions Bayern Munich should be weighed against the way his team reached the Champions League quarter-finals.
United were drawn to face the German giants in Friday's quarter-final draw in Nyon, Switzerland, after overturning a 2-0 deficit against Olympiakos with a 3-0 home win in the last 16 on Wednesday.
It was a significant result for Moyes, whose position has come under scrutiny in the British media since a demoralising 3-0 loss at home to Liverpool last weekend.
Pep Guardiola's Bayern are on the brink of successfully defending their Bundesliga title after surging 23 points clear at the top of the table, but Moyes believes that the tie is something to relish.
"I was thrilled that we were in that draw and in the quarter-final of the Champions League," he told reporters at his weekly press conference.
"When we were 2-0 down to Olympiakos, I don't think there were too many people putting us through into the quarter-final draw, so in a lot of ways it didn't matter who I drew.
"I've probably drawn out the favourites and the holders of the competition. It's a really tough draw for us, but one I'm looking forward to."
United, who famously scored twice in injury time to beat Bayern in the 1999 final, will play their home leg first, on April 1, and Moyes concedes that that hands another advantage to the Bavarians.
"I think if you're old fashioned, you'd say you always want to be at home second. I've got to say that would be the preference," he said.
"But the way the games are going now, with counter-attacking football there's a different approach from teams away from home.
"Thankfully we've got ourselves to the quarter-finals, but hopefully we can get to the semi-finals."
- Van Persie sidelined
Moyes also revealed that Robin van Persie, carried off with a knee injury after scoring all three goals against Olympiakos, will miss Saturday's Premier League game at West Ham United.
"We're getting him re-scanned again today (Friday)," Moyes said.
"We're not conclusive in everything we've seen yet, so we want to check that out and be sure. He won't be available for the West Ham game, but we'll try to give some update as soon as we can on the outcome of it."
Moyes has endured a difficult debut campaign at Old Trafford since succeeding Alex Ferguson last year.
While he is wary of describing the victory over Olympiakos as a turning point, he acknowledges that it produced a major shift in the club's mood following the embarrassment of the loss to Liverpool.
"The big thing was that I could look the supporters in the face after the game on Wednesday night, because I thought that we had given them something to shout about and we had nothing to be ashamed of in our performance," said the Scot, whose side host Manchester City on Tuesday.
"In some of the other games I've felt ashamed because the team haven't played well enough and I haven't got a team out that has got a good enough result.
"Our form hasn't been consistent enough or our performances haven't been consistent enough. We've shown some top performances and then some really low performances.
"We've got to get better at that, but it's going to take time. We're not going to be able to do everything immediately and because of the period we're in, that's happening a little bit.
"A good one and then a bad one at times, and my job over the years ahead is to make sure we get rid of that."
Source: AFP
