Sir Alex Ferguson will be an interested spectator at the Champions League final at Old Trafford on Wednesday night and while he backs Juventus - the 'old lady' of Italian football - to win, he hopes to lift the famous trophy with his own side for a second time before he retires.
The United boss will be watching with envy as Italy's two biggest rivals battle it out for the honour of being crowned the best club side in Europe on The Red Devils' hallowed turf.
He does have quite an interest in the game as a contest however, admitting to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport: "As host I should be neutral, but the truth is that I believed since the second phase it was going to be Juventus."
Marcello Lippi's Juvé overcame Barcelona in the quarter-final stages to progress to a semi-final meeting with defending champions Real Madrid. They slipped to a 2-1 first-leg defeat against the defending champions at the Bernabeu and went into the return leg as the underdogs before coming back in style to win 3-1 at the Delle Alpi stadium.
"I was certain that they would overcome the quarter-final stage and that they would take out Real Madrid even after the 2-1 result at the Bernabeu because the Spanish were already tired against us, psychologically and physically," continued Ferguson.
In the other semi-final, AC Milan were fortunate to reach the final after progressing thanks to the away goal rule following a 1-1 draw at the San Siro with neighbours Inter Milan.
That makes Juventus the team to beat, according to Ferguson.
"I have not made a mistake so far and I would be surprised if the Bianconeri fail me in the end," he said.
"At Juve, everyone circulates the ball well and they all work for the team, including (Czech striker Pavel) Nedved who is the crucial player in the team."
Nedved, however, will miss the game after picking up too many bookings, but Ferguson does not expect his absence to have a crucial impact on the outcome.
"Lippi knows his players very well, he knows how to motivate them and how to use them in every situation," the Old Trafford chief added.
"The best signing by the Bianconeri club has been Lippi."
Ferguson also rates AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti, who joined the Rossoneri in May 2001 after three seasons at Juventus, but thinks Lippi has that something extra special.
"Ancelotti is a first-class coach," he said, but added: "When in 1999 we took out Juventus in the semi-final you could feel that the Lippi factor was missing."
Despite backing Juvé for victory, Ferguson is wary of completely writing off the hopes of AC Milan and revealed the key to their success could be how Ancelotti organises his talented players.
Milan have more European experience than Juvé having won the title five times in comparison to their old rivals' two European trophies.
"Milan are a collection of match winners, like Rui Costa, Rivaldo, Shevchenko, Inzaghi, Serginho, but Ancelotti never plays them all together," said Ferguson.
"To decide when and how to use them will be the difference."
Ferguson will be envious of the two coaches on Wednesday as he goes through the strange experience of watching a game at Old Trafford from the stand rather than the dugout.
Despite beating Juventus twice en route to the quarter finals, United failed to get beyond the last eight after losing out to the holders and while this season's failure in Europe hurt Ferguson badly, the resilient Scot is still confident that his team can win the Champions League again before he retires as manager.
He said: "We can be proud of what we have contributed to the Champions League over the last couple of seasons, and I honestly believe that we are very close now to where we want to be.
"We are improving all the time and I think the only thing we lack now is experience - particularly in defence.
"The game in Madrid illustrated just what is so good about Manchester United, and the things we have to improve on.
"My defenders didn't want to be left alone with the likes of Ronaldo or Raul. They didn't have the belief to handle them one-on-one. I know they are good enough to do it. I know they can handle the best players in the world and in the next couple of seasons they will start to share that belief.
"I've got another two years left on my contract and I think we are definitely capable of winning the Champions League in that time."
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