Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was upbeat after their 0-0 Champions League draw with Villarreal last night.

"I thought we did well," said the Scot.

"The players expressed themselves well, Jonny Evans hit the post and Ji-sung Park should have had a penalty in the first-half.

"There were also a number of players who will benefit from the game such as Park, Owen Hargreaves, Nani and Gary Neville, so that is positive as well."

Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini admitted United posed more of a threat after Cristiano Ronaldo was introduced.

"He did cause us one or two problems," he said.

"Ronaldo is obviously a great player but he was quite fresh as well and we had one or two tired legs out there."

In fact, Villarreal came closest to scoring through Guille Franco, who might have done better going for goal in conventional manner rather than attempt the audacious flick that bounced back off the inside of a post.

"It is a difficult one," said Pellegrini.

"In a situation like that you have a millisecond to make a decision.

"It would have been a great time to score and if it had gone in we would have been talking about a fabulous goal and a great decision to do what he did.

"Unfortunately he did what he did and the ball did not go in."