Wayne Rooney has revealed Sir Alex Ferguson hated the manner in which Manchester United beat Barcelona in the semi-final of the Champions League in 2008.

United would go in to defeat Chelsea on penalties in the final in Moscow that year.

But Ferguson's side would lose to Barcelona in the final the following year, and Rooney says it was the Scotsman's desire not to repeat their defensive victory over the Spaniards which scuppered their chances at Wembley.

Speaking to Jamie Carragher in his The Greatest Games book, Rooney said: "He hated playing defensive. Really hated it.

"When we got to the final in 2009, he said to us he knew we could beat them playing that way, but then he said, 'We are Manchester United and we are not going into the Champions League final to sit back all game.

"'We are going to attack them and do it the right way.' We were all sitting there in the team meeting thinking, 'Oh f***.'

"Sir Alex went through their side, saying, 'Let's go at them.' Then you saw the names like Messi, Eto'o and Henry!

"I was like, 'F****** 'ell, how much pace do you want in one team?'"