United will avoid Barcelona and Real Madrid in the next round after last night's 1-1 draw with Valencia but Ferguson insisted he is relishing a battle with the Spanish giants.
It's always good to be first and that's important, he said. We are going to avoid the bigger names but hopefully we will come against them later on. Progressing is the important thing.
United recovered from a horror mistake from Michael Carrick in the first half, allowing Pablo Hernandez to put Valencia ahead and temporarily at the top of Group C.
Ferguson was staring down the barrel of potential clashes with Barca or Jose Mourinho's Real, until Anderson levelled in the second half.
It could have been better for United with Wayne Rooney hitting the bar and Dimitar Berbatov coming close on a number of occasions.
Ferguson believes his side are finally beginning to hit their stride as they head into the Christmas schedule.
There was some good football and a lot of chances, he said. Berbatov could've had five. He was unlucky.
The penetration of the team was good. In the five minutes after scoring, we should have gone 2-1 up.
Source: Manchester Evening News
Source: M.E.N.