Sir Alex was understandably sullen after United´s 2-3 aggregate defeat to Porto, which saw the Reds knocked out of Europe at the Last 16 hurdle.
This is what the boss had to say...
Immediate Reaction
" You get shocks in life, I couldn´t see that one coming."
Good Defensive Display
" Defensively we were brilliant tonight. They got a half chance from Carlos Alberto in the first half, which Tim Howard dealt with OK, but after that nothing."
Porto Posession
" They had a lot of possession of the ball, but you expect that when a team is 1-0 down. But I thought we dealt with that."
Hopes For The Rest Of The Season
" Obviously we are out of the European Cup, which is disappointing because we have done so well in this competition over the years. Therefore, we have to ensure we are involved in European football next year, that is without question. We don´t give up on the league because there is no reason to give up. We know what football is, that´s proved itself tonight. Everyone can see what happened in that last minute. We´re in the semi final of the cup, which won´t be an easy game for either team."
Porto Goal
”To be honest, I haven’t even looked at that incident again. We haven’t reacted to the rebound, and that is the first thing you have to do as a defender; react to the ball going towards your goalkeeper.”
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United 1 Porto 1: Match Report
Scholes’ Disallowed Goal
”I saw the replay of that at half-time and I couldn’t believe it. Everybody had been telling me it was onside. One player can maybe player you onside and it is difficult for the referee’s assistant to judge it, but three players were playing him [Scholes] onside. That’s football though. It would have put us in a very comfortable position – 2-0 up.”
Confidence Shaken?
”You can’t tell if the confidence is shaken at all. How can you tell that? They’ve had a terrible blow tonight, but you can’t say the confidence is shaken. We have to see how the players react to the next game, against Manchester City on Sunday. It’s only when you see the effects of tonight that you could say there is any lack of confidence. There is nothing to be ashamed of tonight, they’ve really given everything. We were the one team that made chances in the game. I don’t think it was a great Manchester United performance, but it was laced with a lot of good play. I think we deserved to win the match.”
Porto Celebrations
”They’d got out of jail so they were delighted. It’s not a problem – everyone should celebrate goals, it’s part of the game.”
Picking Up The Pieces
”I’ve had disappointing moments in my career. That’s the nature of the job, it’s part of it. You have to react to adversity. When you join the management club, one thing you can be sure of is that you are going to have a defeat. How you recover from that is down to you as a person. I´m quite convinced that we should have won tonight."