Manchester United have to start thinking in double Dutch tonight. A win at Old Trafford against an off-form Feyenoord would set up Alex Ferguson's side for another victory in Rotterdam in two weeks, and, should that happen, United's already rosy Champions' League prospects would take on an even ruddier glow.

What a difference a year makes. Round about the same time last season Manchester United reached their nadir in this tournament when a shot from Elvir Bolic took a steep deflection off David May and sailed beyond the reach of Peter Schmeichel to give Fener bahce the lead with 11 minutes remaining. The Turkish team, defeated 2-0 by United in Istanbul a fortnight before, held on to end an unbeaten home record in Europe which had stood since 1956.

Another defeat at Old Trafford, by Juventus, quickly followed, and although United scraped together enough points to reach the knockout stage, redeeming earlier failures with a stirring victory over Porto before going out to Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals, those sceptical about their chances of ever winning the Champions' Cup a second time remained unconvinced.

Until recently that is. Three weeks ago Juventus returned to Manchester where, despite being given the lead by Alessandro Del Piero after just 20 seconds, they were this time defeated 3-2 and in a manner which recalled United's grand old days of European triumph.

Now Ferguson's players have the chance to harden up their chances of reaching the last eight by winning their Champions' League group. This season the two best runners-up join the six group winners in the quarter-finals, and while Manchester United, having beaten Kosice 3-0 in Slovakia before overcoming Juventus, are already well-placed in that respect, Ferguson is all too aware that his team end their qualifying programme in Turin on December 10th.

"Even if we win all our games before we play Juventus again we could still come second," Ferguson warned yesterday, but he was stating a fact rather than a foreboding. The United manager has rarely appeared so relaxed before such a fixture. Clearly the win over Juventus has broken a spell.

"I think the players have realised that they can do well in Europe," Ferguson reflected. "We're playing better teams this time, but the players have learned from last season's experience. There's more tactical discipline now and greater concentration.

"Looking back to the Fener bahce match here, maybe we showed too much patience. We're better when we're fired up for a game, as we will be tomorrow. We were very disciplined in Kosice, but in both that match and the game against Juventus we showed a lot of penetration. We're better when we're doing that."

Henning Berg, who suffered a slight strain at Derby on Saturday, is United's only doubt against Feyenoord. Should he not be fit, then a fellow-Norwegian, Ronny Johnsen, will play alongside Gary Pallister at centre-back.

Against Juventus, Johnsen was employed in midfield to stop Zinedine Zidane resuming his reign at Old Trafford. But tonight, with Manchester United looking for goals, Ferguson may prefer to have Paul Scholes on at the start to augment the attacking threat of Teddy Sheringham and, in all probability, Andy Cole.

Feyenoord, already thrashed 51 by Juventus in the Champions' League, are still not in particularly good shape. They will be missing a suspended striker, Julio Cruz, while another Argentinian, Patri cio Graff, is doubtful for their defence with a groin strain. Already one defender, Henk Fraser, is out with an injured heel.

While Manchester United would never underestimate any sort of Dutch opposition, however multi-lingual, this is clearly not the Feyenoord of Wim van Hanegem. Arie Haan's team are 10 points behind Ajax, the Dutch league leaders, having lost 2-0 to Willem II on Sunday.

"I didn't see any lack of confidence in Feyenoord's performance," said Ferguson, but his expression suggested that he had not seen much to worry about either.

Embattled Feyenoord coach Haan will combat United's individual attacking brilliance with sheer weight of defensive numbers. "We have three points and it is important that we remain in the same neighbourhood as United and Juventus after tomorrow night," said Haan. "It is important that we don't lose the game so that we have opportunities to qualify in the future."

Manchester United (probable): Schmeichel; G Neville, Berg, Pallister, Irwin; Beckham, Butt, Scholes, Giggs; Sheringham, Cole.