Manchester United boss Sir Alex
Ferguson has launched a scathing
attack on the Premier League,
accusing them of putting his side
at a disadvantage by not
changing Sunday's match against Everton at Old Trafford. • Ferguson fined by FA United will travel to Spain on
Wednesday to face Real Madrid in
their Champions League round of
16 tie and Ferguson is furious
that their European counterparts
will have an extra day to prepare. Real host Sevilla on Saturday,
prompting Ferguson to call for
the Everton clash to be brought
forward a day, although his
appeals were turned down by the
Premier League due to TV commitments. Ferguson claims United's match
could have been switched with
Saturday's fixture between
Tottenham and Newcastle, which
was originally an option if the
European match was set for Tuesday, and believes English
teams are often at a
disadvantage in the Champions
League. "The Premier League agree the
contract with TV and they are in
control," he said. "But they are
not giving our teams a chance to
be successful in Europe. It is
ridiculous to think we are playing on Sunday and Real Madrid have
an extra day's rest. "It is not fair. France play Friday
nights. Why? Possibly we (England)
get more money out of television
I don't know. Other countries
make sacrifices for their top
teams in Europe. What can you do? Not turn up? I would like to
do that by the way." Ferguson was also infuriated at
having to play Saturday matches
after a Wednesday Champions
League fixture, which is inevitable
during the quarter and semi-final
stages of the competition. But United's predicament is far
better than the situation
Tottenham faced in April 2007
when they were forced to play
against Chelsea on a Saturday
after travelling to Sevilla for a Europa League match on the
Thursday, leaving Ferguson
bemused at why it has taken so
long to find a solution. "It is pointless complaining about
these things all the time," he said.
"You know full well after an away
game in Europe you are not
getting back until two or three in
the morning and then are playing again on the Saturday. "There was an even more
ridiculous case than ours when
Tottenham played on a Thursday
night in the Europa League and
then had to play on the Saturday
against Chelsea. How many times have I complained about it?
You've heard my complaints. Do
they listen?" Ferguson is likely to make a
number of changes to his line-up
against Everton in a bid to select
the strongest possible squad
against Real, with Wayne Rooney
likely to sit in the stands at Old Trafford after playing a full 90
minutes in England's win over
Brazil on Wednesday.