Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar is one of the few players to have come close to retaining the Champions League trophy.

He won the Champions League with Ajax in 1995 and was also in goal as the Dutch side lost the final to Juventus on penalties 12 months later.

He believes United can go one better and hold onto their European crown.

Van der Sar said: "This side is much better equipped to retain the trophy than Ajax were in 1996.

"Then we had loads of injuries and we had a lot of young players who had to fill gaps left by older and more experienced players who had injuries and suspensions.

"We are certainly better equipped to do it and deal with it."

However, Van der Sar admits United cannot afford to make the same sort of defensive errors which saw Tottenham score twice in the first half on Saturday.

"The whole team was not happy the way we conceded against Spurs on Saturday," he added.

"You analyse it and learn from it. We have to make sure we have learnt our lesson. It is important in the first leg to keep Arsenal from scoring."