UEFA Champions League/Group D: Alex Ferguson last night declared Manchester United have "no reason to panic" despite their wretched start to the season, but nevertheless he summoned his squad to a specially convened meeting to prepare for tonight's match with the French champions Lyon.
United's manager is understood to have made it clear, in typically forceful terms, that his squad should be robust enough to cope with injury problems.
Several of his players were described as "stony-faced" when they left the 30-minute inquest.
"We get on with it, we don't panic," Ferguson said later. "If it's affecting the supporters, fine. And if it's in the media, fine again. As long as it does not get to us.
"We've got to be objective and say, right, we trust these players, they're all internationals, they're all experienced. It's quite obvious we're going to be much better when everyone is back."
Ferguson argued, with some justification, that his squad is superior to one which beat Bayern Munich in the 1999 final, when they had Jonathan Greening and a 19-year-old Wes Brown on the bench.
He has spent £190 million on players since that night in Barcelona, bringing in 27 players of 15 nationalities. However, his first-choice XI has yet to provide evidence that they are capable of returning the European Cup to Old Trafford, something that is clearly playing on Ferguson's mind.
"Ajax and Bayern Munich have both won it four times, including three in a row," he said. "It's something we want to emulate. We need to win this competition more than once."
Ferguson, who denied suggestions that the goalkeeper, Tim Howard, will be left out in favour of Roy Carroll, pointed an accusing finger in the direction of the English Football Association and the Premier League, both of whom, he said, should take some responsibility for the fact no English team has reached the final for five years.
"Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United are as good as any team in this competition - there's no doubt about it. But we suffer from the number of games we have to play.
"By the time it gets to the later stages of the European Cup in April, English clubs are not at their best physically.
"Compare us to other nations. In France they move league games to Friday nights if there is a European tie the following Wednesday.
In Portugal they cancel the league match and have the weekend off. The assistance they get from their football associations is an advantage we don't have."
Lyon's new Brazilian striker, Nilmar, will probably make his Champions League debut from the bench. The 20-year-old scored twice in seven minutes after coming on in the weekend's 2-1 win at Rennes.
"He is a rare breed, he has the same qualities as (Brazil's) Ronaldo when he joined PSV Eindhoven (in 1994)," claimed Marcelo, a former Lyon defender who now works as an agent in Brazil.
Nilmar cost £5.5 millon from Porto Alegre last summer and has already been called up to the Brazil national team, scoring in a 6-0 win against Haiti last month. Indeed Brazilians form the spine of Lyon's team with Cris and Claudio Cacapa the centre-back pairing and Juninho pulling the strings in midfield, from where he scored five Champions League goals last season when they reached the quarter-finals, a round further than United.
"Manchester (United) has the means to win the Champions League. We're not talking about Anderlecht, here," Juninho said. "We need to keep the ball and free-kicks will be important. We have less experience but our young players will want to make an impression."
Pierre-Alain Frau, a summer signing from Sochaux - who reached the third round of last season's UEFA Cup - is another who is looking forward to the challenge.
"Manchester United is one of the biggest clubs in the world. I love English football. There is always lots of space, although I don't think they will leave us any on Wednesday night."
PROBABLE LINE-UPS
LYON (4-2-3-1): Coupet; Reveillere, Cris, Cacapa, Abidal; Essien, Juninho; Govou, Wiltord, Malouda; Frau.
MANCHESTER UNITED (4-4-2): Howard; P Neville, Brown, Silvestre, Heinze; Ronaldo, Scholes, Keane, Giggs; Smith, Van Nistelrooy.
Referee: W Stark (Germany)
