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Sir Alex Ferguson admits sentiment will influence his team selection if Manchester United reach the final of the Champions League.
The Red Devils meet Lyon in the second leg of their last-16 encounter at Old Trafford on Tuesday, with the tie finely poised after a 1-1 draw in France.
Ferguson is not taking progression for granted, but concedes Paul Scholes has already been pencilled in for a starting role should they make it to the final in Moscow in May.
Scholes missed the club's Champions League success over Bayern Munich in 1999 through suspension and Ferguson believes the veteran midfielder would deserve to play in the Russian capital.
"Hopefully we can get to the final again and this time Paul will get his opportunity," said Ferguson in the Sunday Mirror.
"I'm not a sentimentalist by any means. My one aim has always been to manage the club in the right way.
"But if we got to the Champions League final again then I'm telling you that I would have to be sentimental when it came to choosing my team for that one. I'd have to pick Paul to play because he deserves it.
"Paul doesn't say much about missing out in 1999, but it must have hurt him. He will still feel it because players like that always do.
"Players with his calibre and with his record of being a winner will have felt bad about missing out. It would have hurt Paul just as much as it hurt Roy Keane.
"To miss the biggest club game in the world must have an impact.
"Paul won't talk about things like that because he is not the kind of man to let disappointment destroy him. You only have to see what he has won in the game to realise that."
eurosport.co.uk....
The Red Devils meet Lyon in the second leg of their last-16 encounter at Old Trafford on Tuesday, with the tie finely poised after a 1-1 draw in France.
Ferguson is not taking progression for granted, but concedes Paul Scholes has already been pencilled in for a starting role should they make it to the final in Moscow in May.
Scholes missed the club's Champions League success over Bayern Munich in 1999 through suspension and Ferguson believes the veteran midfielder would deserve to play in the Russian capital.
"Hopefully we can get to the final again and this time Paul will get his opportunity," said Ferguson in the Sunday Mirror.
"I'm not a sentimentalist by any means. My one aim has always been to manage the club in the right way.
"But if we got to the Champions League final again then I'm telling you that I would have to be sentimental when it came to choosing my team for that one. I'd have to pick Paul to play because he deserves it.
"Paul doesn't say much about missing out in 1999, but it must have hurt him. He will still feel it because players like that always do.
"Players with his calibre and with his record of being a winner will have felt bad about missing out. It would have hurt Paul just as much as it hurt Roy Keane.
"To miss the biggest club game in the world must have an impact.
"Paul won't talk about things like that because he is not the kind of man to let disappointment destroy him. You only have to see what he has won in the game to realise that."
eurosport.co.uk....
