Champions League wide open, says Ferguson

MANCHESTER, March 8 (Reuters) Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson believes the race for the Champions League title is wide open after his side added their name to the list of eight potential winners.

United reached the quarter-finals for the first time in four years by beating Lille 1-0 last night to complete a straightforward 2-0 aggregate victory.

They will now join two other English clubs - Chelsea and Liverpool - in tomorrow's draw where there is no longer ''national protection'' but Ferguson has no preference his side's their next opponents.

''No matter which team you look at it's a big game. I think the quality is there,'' he said. ''There is not a lot between the sides left in the competition so we have as good a chance as anyone.

''There's no outstanding one. There was a spell last year when everyone was saying 'we don't want to get Barcelona' but I don't think anyone's saying that this year. I hope I'm right.'' Ferguson had stressed at the start of the season that United needed to improve their recent record in Europe.

But he is not satisfied yet as his team pursue a possible repeat of the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup treble they achieved in 1999.

''Being there (in the last eight) is important. We have had a couple of bad years in terms of qualifying for this stage,'' he said.

''Before that we had a great record of getting to the last eight but the last-eight is not our aim. We want to go as far as we can and we want to be there in the final.'' United secured victory with a 72nd-minute header goal by Henrik Larsson from an excellent Cristiano Ronaldo cross.

But Ferguson again insisted after the match that despite a four-week injury absence for Louis Saha, Larsson would end his loan spell from Helsingborg after United's FA Cup tie at Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Lille coach Claude Puel felt his side might have gained a draw in Wednesday's match but admitted that United deserved to win over the two legs.

He said that the bad blood generated between the two clubs in the aftermath of Ryan Giggs's controversial winning goal and United's unhappiness with the treatment of their fans in the first meeting was a thing of the past.

''It's part of the folklore of football. It's not really that important to me. It's all a bit orchestrated. There's no problem for me whatsoever.'' REUTERS SAM VC1035