Vidic earns reward at United with new contract

Such is the ease with which Manchester United are scoring at the moment that Nemanja Vidic seemed to have forgotten precisely how many times they found the net in their stroll past Dynamo Kiev. "We kept a clean sheet, scored three goals and had chances to score more," he said after his side's qualification.

Perhaps Vidic – whose immense value to Sir Alex Ferguson saw the announcement yesterday of a two-year contract extension that will keep him at the club until 2012 – had his mind on other matters. The question of whether United really can move a stage further than last year's Champions League semi-final might be one.

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Sir Alex Ferguson has made no secret of his convictions on the subject but Vidic spoke with rather less certainty, yesterday. There is greater playing strength, he says, but even this new team of many talents cannot legislate against an off night or some freak occurrence. "We are stronger than last season," the Serbian said. "But... you know, sometimes you play well but you need a bit of luck to win – (maybe) in the last minute. Are we stronger than last season? We will see in the future."

Another of his observations on what it often takes to win the Champions League might also give United food for thought. "Teams who don't have chance to win their own leagues play better because they have power and just focus on the Champions League," he said. "Last season Milan didn't play very well (domestically) but went to the final and won [it]." It is virtually inconceivable that United will be in the Milan bracket.

When a side is scoring as many goals as United – Wednesday brought the fifth four-goal haul in six games – there is also protection against unexpected setbacks. Ronaldo was especially excited about the burgeoning Rooney-Tevez partnership yesterday. "They've got the understanding together and it's making a big difference for us," he said.

Sir Alex acknowledged this week that injuries could hamper him, though the performance of Gerard Pique alongside Vidic on Wednesday offered the promise of genuine depth.

Pique must have wondered at times whether he would make it at Old Trafford as he watched his old friend from the Barcelona youth set-up, Cesc Fabregas, break through so extravagantly at Arsenal. "Fabregas made his breakthrough much younger but we had to point to Gerard that his physique was nothing like as advanced as Fabregas and he has to strengthen up," said Sir Alex. A loan spell at Real Zaragosa enabled him to do that and left United fending off a £7m offer for him from the Spanish side.

Ronaldo also pointed out the importance of "qualifying quick" so United can focus solely on the League until late February. United may potentially re-enter European competition a little short on tough competitive action. Only Liverpool of the "big four" are on the fixture list before then, with the Manchester derby on 10 February the other major test, on paper. For Sir Alex, it is an agreeable problem to have.