Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson says his players can put the club among Europe's greats with victory in tonight's Champions League final.

He said: "There's an opportunity for us to put ourselves alongside Europe's great teams. This is a squad with a great future, a young team with experience to do well in the next few years. On Wednesday we can endorse that.

"To be considered a great team, you have to win the European Cup again. But there have been unlucky teams down the years. You have to win this cup, it's a prerequisite. Teams like ourselves and Barcelona have to win this trophy to be considered in that regard. But not everyone can win it.

"Nobody has retained the trophy," he adds. "But we're good at firsts. We have a opportunity to repeat that. It's interesting - unusual - that nobody has retained the trophy since the Champions League started. It was done regularly in the sixties and seventies. There were cycles of great teams, like Ajax, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. We have an opportunity to change that; I hope we take it."