Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson claims Chelsea’s luck of the draw has guaranteed them easy cup runs in recent years, ahead of the side’s quarter-final replay.
United travel to Stamford Bridge for the third time this season, defeating the Blues in the league before crashing out of the Capital One Cup days later.
And it is a fixture the Red Devils could have avoided – giving up a two-goal lead at Old Trafford – with Ferguson believing it poses Chelsea’s toughest cup test in many seasons.
“In the last few years, we’ve had some very difficult draws in the FA Cup,” he told the club website.
“Chelsea have enjoyed a great benefit of home draws and I don’t think they have had one hard game in the run-up to the semi-finals over the years.
“That helps, no doubt about that, but they have us to play at Stamford Bridge and we won’t be easy for them.”
Ferguson admitted his side allowed a certain amount of complacency to creep into their game when the sides drew 2-2, but excused his players for suffering an onset of fatigue.
“I thought we were lucky to be honest with you,” he added. “I thought that tiredness had got into the team.
“From a comfortable position for the first 20 minutes, you could see the signs when we started to give the ball away just before half-time – that is a definite sign of tiredness.
“The tiredness came, possibly, from the emotional intensity of the Real Madrid game and also the way we lost it. I think that affected two or three players.
“In the second half in particular there was no doubt that Tom Cleverley’s and our two full-backs’ legs had gone.
And the Scot claimed his United outfit have shot-stopper David De Gea to thank for place in the semi-final draw which, should they beat Chelsea, pits them against rivals Manchester City.
“They really deserved to win the game in the second half, although we could have been four-up in the first 20 minutes,” said Ferguson.
“De Gea’s save was one thing, but I also thought we were scrambling about to get through the game – but we’re fresher now and we’ve got a strong squad in terms of picking two teams.”
Image courtesy of BBC Sport, via YouTube, with thanks
For more on this story and many others, follow Mancunian Matters on Twitter and Facebook.
