WE'VE ONLY WON IT TWO TIMES

"But when you look at the winners of the competition, yes, we could have done better," said Ferguson.

"I exclude the likes of AC Milan and Real Madrid who have been exceptional winners of it but other clubs like Ajax, Bayern Munich and Liverpool have won it four or five times, whereas we have only won it twice.

"I really think we should do better and hopefully, over the next few years, we will do that."

However he insists he would not see it is as a failure if he never won the European Cup again.

"I wouldn't look upon it as a failure in my life if we didn't win it again," added Ferguson.

"I should be satisfied and lucky to have achieved what I have.

"Football is an industry where you have to win all the time, particularly at a club like Manchester United, so the desire will always remain.

"But when I lock the key on the door of my football life, I will not be dissatisfied with what I have achieved."

Perhaps the fact that the Champions League isn't the main priority has something to do with Ferguson only winning it once.

"We have not built a team to win the European Cup, we have just tried to reconstruct one we knew was getting older," said Ferguson.

"The main issue at the moment is to be successful in our own country.

"It is difficult to say how long players like (Ryan) Giggs, (Paul) Scholes and (Gary) Neville can play at the very top but the younger players are the future. They are the ones who can stay together and grow for the next six or seven years.

"We expect and hope that our calculations are right about them and we have a big chance of winning things. Hopefully, the European Cup is one of them."