The European Champions League draw will take place in Monaco within the next 24 hours. UEFA’s rules will see the 32 qualified teams allocated into eight groups of four. Each will contain a top seed, plus one club from the second, third and fourth pots. These are determined by a UEFA ranking system which makes it virtually impossible to work out who exactly Manchester United will be drawn against BUT there are a number of clubs who will definitely be avoided.

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A five match USA tour by Manchester United possibly requires a bigger entourage than a world concert tour by U2 or The Rolling Stones! Okay, that may be a little over the top – although it cannot be far fetched, because I don’t have the slightest idea of how many people rock bands take with them but as David McDonnell reports in the Daily Mirror, United requires no less than a party of 80 to ensure that the multi million dollar pre season circus goes off without a hitch.

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Sir Alex Ferguson has been labelled ‘Sir Pinocchio’  by Sky Sports Italia. “He does not tell the truth all the time, especially when it comes to buying or selling players” it warned its readers. So what can we make of Ferguson’s insistence that Dimitar Berbatov is over the disappointment of being left out of the Champions League final squad? The Bulgarian was joint top scorer in last season’s Premier League but failed to make the bench at Wembley with Michael Owen preferred after the manager agonised over his selection. The omission led to inevitable speculation in the press that the former Spurs striker would be leaving Old Trafford this summer but the manager insists there are no issues to resolve.

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Sir Alex Ferguson has been labelled ‘Sir Pinocchio’  by Sky Sports Italia. “He does not tell the truth all the time, especially when it comes to buying or selling players” it warned its readers. So what can we make of Ferguson’s insistence that Dimitar Berbatov is over the disappointment of being left out of the Champions League final squad? The Bulgarian was joint top scorer in last season’s Premier League but failed to make the bench at Wembley with Michael Owen preferred after the manager agonised over his selection. The omission led to inevitable speculation in the press that the former Spurs striker would be leaving Old Trafford this summer but the manager insists there are no issues to resolve.

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Rio Ferdinand is fuming that Manchester United are not the automatic choice to retain their Premier League title. Rather than reflect on a fourth championship in five years, and a record 19th overall that allowed them to eclipse Liverpool as England’s most successful team, much of the summer debate around United has centred on that Champions League final failure against Barcelona. Sir Alex Ferguson’s insistence that he currently has no interest in acquiring Wesley Sneijder will merely fuel a sense of weakness given it was general opinion at the end of last term that United badly needed a midfield general to replace Paul Scholes.

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“The only thing we did differently from that 2-0 defeat in Rome was to score”. It’s hard to argue against that blunt assessment from the now retired Manchester United legend Paul Scholes who has no hesitation in admitting that his side were no match for Barcelona during the Champions League Cup final at Wembley in May – but believes that manager Sir Alex Ferguson will do what is necessary for the team to improve further.

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