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Champions League

Manchester United will bid to confirm their status as Group B winners when they host Besiktas at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.

However, victory would by no means result in a more straightforward route to a third successive final for Sir Alex Ferguson's Red Devils.

A host of United's biggest rivals are battling to get through the group phase, something Ferguson believes proves his side's achievement in reaching consecutive finals has been badly underestimated.

Liverpool and Bayern Munich may have captured most of the attention, but Barcelona have also struggled and AC Milan and Real Madrid have hardly confirmed themselves among the tournament favourites with their performances in a group also containing Marseille and FC Zurich.

Their results are the ones Ferguson is alluding to when he outlines his case for United to be lauded.

"There are one or two more difficult groups than we anticipated," he said. "The one with Rubin Kazan, Barcelona, Dynamo Kiev and Inter Milan is a real group of death.

"Madrid and Milan are in the same group and they are finding it difficult. Bayern Munich are struggling and Liverpool could be another big team out.

"It shows how tough it is to retain the cup as we nearly did and maybe our achievement has been underestimated because you see how difficult the others are finding it."

Ferguson will give youth a chance tomorrow when the likes of Danny Welbeck, Gabriel Obertan and Federico Macheda all expected to play, along with Darron Gibson, who was part of the Republic of Ireland squad so shattered by Thierry Henry's handball in Paris last week.

Ferguson bristles at the thought of his team being involved in a "dead-rubber".

"We could have a non-event game if we wanted to," he said. "But that is not the way we want it to be.

"We want an exciting game and we will do our best to challenge the young players who do play."

There is something for United to play for, although they would also require Wolfsburg to falter in Moscow for top spot to be assured tomorrow.

Besiktas coach Mustafa Denizli admits he would prefer to be meeting United's established stars.

"I would prefer to play against a more familiar United team," said Denizli. "It is easier to plan for.

"The young players are still good players but, as a team, they are also an unknown quantity.

"What I do know is that some of these guys will be stars in the future. When you are talking about Rafael I would say it is 100% guaranteed."

He added: "We all know about Manchester United.

"We all know about the success they have had and the trophies they have won under Sir Alex Ferguson.

"It will be an honour to walk out with him as an equal at Old Trafford tomorrow. But it would be even better to win."