Fergie urges Devils to beware the detail

Champions' League: United manager, still irked at that Real reverse, is prepared for a reprise - with added spice

Purists may yearn for the old European Champion Clubs' Cup, which for almost 40 years did what it said on the tin: a cup competition for national champions, played over the classic formula of home-and-away legs. But when as dedicated a follower of international football fashion as Sir Alex Ferguson glows with excitement at the prospect of the Champions' League beginning this week, it may be time to acknowledge that Uefa, though maligned, have got something right.

"All the big names are there," he said on Friday. "There's a lot of quality. When I first came here, there was the expectation of Manchester United versus Real Madrid or Inter Milan, or Juventus. That's what you want, and you've got a tournament now with all these names."

After reaching the last eight of the competition for seven seasons in a row, United know their way around. Their initial difficulty this time - while respecting the talents of Tuesday's visitors, Panathinaikos, and the emerging Vfb Stuttgart - is to avoid being swamped by the hype surrounding two successive ties with Ferguson's old club, Rangers, inevitably being billed as a British championship. "That's unfortunately going to dominate it," he admitted. "If we're not careful, we could get sidetracked. We need to get this England and Scotland thing out of the road." Hype aside, United will aim to collect the 10 points required to achieve qualification by winning their three home games and picking up a draw somewhere.

Old Trafford on European nights has traditionally been a daunting venue for visitors. So was Highbury until last season, when Arsenal managed no more than one win in six games, which cost them a place in the quarter-finals. "Our home record was not good enough," their manager, Arsène Wenger, admitted. "In the second stage we got a great result away at Roma, but then we could not win at home. That is where we must improve." Internazionale, beaten by their co-tenants Milan in the semi-finals last season, will provide a stiff first test this week.

For once Ferguson and Wenger, the old adversaries, are united in their assessment of which teams are most likely to be involved in the later stages: the Italians and Spaniards, Bayern Munich - and each other, with Chelsea as the unpredictable wild cards. "There are 10 or 12 teams who can win the Champions' League, and we are one of them," the Arsenal manager said. "It looks to me that Bayern and Real Madrid are stronger [than before]. Milan and Juventus will be there as well. From the English teams, Manchester United and Chelsea are stronger as well. With Chelsea, it is very difficult to know, because they have bought so many players. But I would say that United are certainly one of the favourites to win it."

"Chelsea are born again, but we now have to become an established team," said Claudio Ranieri. "I remember Valencia got to the final twice in a row, but when you have Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and the Italians, sooner or later they're going to get to the final."

Chelsea have already succeeded where Newcastle expensively failed in coming through a dreary two-legged qualifying round that highlighted a problem with the old format: with Europe having frag- mented into more than 50 nations, there is too much dead wood. If a fault remains, despite Uefa's brave decision to cut out one of the group stages, it is arguably that they have chosen the wrong one, and would have been better grouping the last 16 clubs, the crème de la crème, in mini-Leagues than the current 32. Whatever the merits of that argument, British clubs able to come through the first stage - definitely Arsenal, Chelsea and United, and possibly Rangers and Celtic - should benefit from the reduced programme.

Spain and Italy have the seeded clubs in the four groups without home representation. Deportivo La Coruña are fancied in Group C ahead of the Dutch champions, PSV Eindhoven; Juventus, whose coach, Marcello Lippi, has done what United and Arsenal dare not and declared the Champions' League to be the top priority, should skate Group D from Galatasaray, Olympiakos and Ferguson's outsiders Real Sociedad. David Beckham's Real Madrid will find neighbouring Porto particularly keen opponents in Group F, but ought to be too good for Marseille and Newcastle's conquerors, Partizan Belgrade; the questions over their further progress concern depth of squad and solidity in defence, where the young Francisco Pavon has replaced the 35-year-old Fernando Hierro.

Real's eventful 6-5 aggregate success over United last spring still irks Ferguson, who said: "I've analysed those games and I think we were unlucky. Their goals were soft. It wouldn't bother me meeting them again." And imagine the hype if that happened. After failing to make the Glasgow final the previous year (when they unexpectedly fell to Bayer Leverkusen in the semi-finals), it was a double blow for Ferguson and United not to be given the opportunity of becoming champions of Europe on their own ground in May. That honour fell instead to Milan, who, with Filippo Inzaghi already in fine fettle (ask Wales) and Brazil's Cafu now at right-back, should make a strong defence of their title. They will be expected to see off Celta Vigo, a denuded Ajax and Bruges for starters. This time it is Bayern, strengthened by the £12m striker Roy Makaay, who have the added incentive of a final in their own country (at the indoor AufSchalke stadium in Gelksenkirchen).

Entirely in character, Wenger is cautiously optimistic, Ranieri merely cautious - and Ferguson defiant: "Over the 10 years we've been in it, there have been years we felt we should have done better. A couple of years we felt we were unlucky. And sometimes it's just a little detail. That's what European football is - you lose a game in a second and you're out. We really feel we can be in Germany in the final." Even without El Spice, United have a better chance than most of those starting out on the long march this week.