Fergie wants Barca rematch

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he would relish another chance to take on Barcelona in the Champions League final.

After Manchester United lost to Barca in Rome, Ferguson went back to the drawing board. The Red Devils boss now wants to see if his changes have improved the team as a whole.

The Champions League group stages start in midweek and Ferguson would love nothing more than another bout with La Blaugrana at the Santiago Bernabeu next year.

"I would love the chance to redress the situation with Barcelona. Absolutely. I would love another final with them," was quoted as saying by the Daily Star.

"You look at that defeat and you can look at reasons and excuses. But it's always better to look at the reasons."

"We're now quite clear about where it went wrong and that's always helpful."

"There were valid reasons and so we were able to move on. I wouldn't go into the reasons for the defeat but I did take the DVDs with me on holiday and watched the game again."

"We went through everything too, with my backroom staff. The whole build-up. Everything. Was it the right hotel, was the training right? So we are quite clear about where we are now with that defeat."

"I quite like these games. It's not a problem. What went wrong against Barcelona can be put right. Certainly it will all be put right."

"I didn't kick myself over the summer. I have been long enough in the game to know that you can't win them all."

"Sometimes you just have to accept that bad days come along and you move on from there. It was disappointing, though."

"You don't like losing finals of European games. It was the first one I have lost so it was really disappointing for everyone."

Lineker: Ron should have stayed

Gary Lineker believes Cristiano Ronaldo should have stayed at Man United if he wanted to win another Champions League title.

Lineker claims that he cannot see how Real Madrid's new Galacticos can gel quick enough to win it all in Europe.

The former Barcelona forward insists that Ronaldo has made a mistake in joining Real Madrid, especially if he wants to lift the Champions League trophy again, after watching Los Merengues play in the Primera Liga's opening weekend.

"I had no problem with Cristiano Ronaldo joining Real Madrid this summer. Players want to move clubs for lots of different reasons. Sometimes they just fancy a fresh challenge," he wrote in his Mail on 'Sunday Column'.

"I understand that, I did it myself. But for this season at least, I think Ronaldo would have had a better chance of winning the Champions League if he had stayed at Old Trafford."

"[Madrid president] Florentino Perez tried it before, of course, but it did not work then, with Zidane, Beckham, Figo and the Brazilian Ronaldo because the balance of the team was not right. Great going forward - but always likely to concede goals."

"I can see the same problem for Real this season. I watched their first La Liga game, against Deportivo."

"They won 3-2 but it could have been 12-10. Real defended awfully and the top sides in Europe will fancy their chances, even though Ronaldo threatens danger at the other end."

"Manchester United will miss him. I do not buy the theory that losing Ronaldo has its upside because it frees up other players like Wayne Rooney. But what United have that Real lack is a balance in the team and a very strong defence."

"People talk about match-winners in the Champions League but if you defend well and do not concede goals, you are always likely to do well. It is what Liverpool's European success has been built on."

"I still make Barcelona favourites. Their forward line of Messi, Ibrahimovic and Henry, backed up by Iniesta and Xavi, is as good as Real Madrid's and their defence is better."

"But United and Chelsea will be major threats. Just ask John Terry, with time running out on him to make amends for that penalty miss in the 2008 final in Moscow."

"I will be hosting coverage for the television station Al Jazeera. It is going to be fascinating and exciting to see if Ronaldo and Real Madrid can prove me wrong."

Robinho out for four weeks

Manchester City are set to be without Brazilian forward Robinho for at least four weeks due to an ankle injury.

The former Santos prodigy picked up the injury while on international duty and skysports.com is reporting that the striker has been diagnosed with a stress fracture of the ankle.

The injury sidelined the 25-year-old in Man City's 4-2 win over Arsenal but he is now scheduled to spend more time with the physios for at least a month.

This means that Robinho will miss the Manchester derby and is also set to miss games against Fulham, Aston Villa and West Ham.

However, after winning four-out-of-four games in the current campaign so far, the mood at Eastlands is a fairly confident one, so much so that Man City feel that they can go on winning without their record signing.

Mark Hughes and his Sky Blues are third in the table and having bagged four goals against the Gunners on Saturday, certainly do not appear to be lacking in firepower.

Barca in for Fab and Masch again

Txiki Begiristain has hinted that Barcelona are set to pursue midfielders Javier Mascherano and Cesc Fabregas again.

The Barca director of football was quoted by Spanish daily Sport as saying that La Blaugrana's alleged bids for both players is "something the club has left for later".

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez dismissed a move to the Argentine international in the last offseason, having left Xabi Alonso depart for Real Madrid. However, Barca are set to renew their effort to land the midfield destroyer.

Meanwhile, Arsenal skipper Fabregas has been the centre of many rumours linking him to a return to Barcelona. Fabregas his rubbished the rumours, saying that he is focused on the Gunners, but Begiristain says that him and Mascherano can be signed if their valuations can be met.

Begiristain slammed the mega-money buys of bitter rivals Real Madrid as the reason why both players are ridiculously expensive.

"Mascherano and Cesc did not come because of financial difficulties. It was impossible to pay the kind of money asked for after the spending of Real Madrid," he said.

Yossi proves worth to Rafa

Rafael Benitez hailed the contribution of hat-trick hero Yossi Benayoun after Liverpool's 4-0 demolition of Burnley.

Benayoun was at the heart of a dominant Reds display, scoring in the first half and then having an effort palmed out by Brian Jensen for Dirk Kuyt to add the second.

The Israel skipper then took advantage of great passes by first Steven Gerrard and then Andriy Voronin to grab two more goals after the break to cap a virtuoso display.

Liverpool boss Benitez said: "Yossi had been away on international duty in midweek and done a lot of travelling, but he wanted to play. It is important to him to show his quality in every training session and every match.

"Over the seasons he has shown his value coming off the bench, but now he is showing how important he can be with movement and passing ability from the start."

Benitez also revealed midfielder Javier Mascherano has yet to return from international duty with Argentina having picked up a pelvic injury in midweek.

It was initially believed he had just returned late, but Benitez said: "He has still not returned. He picked up an injury and it was decided that he needed to have tests.

"Our doctor was in contact with the Argentina medical team and it was decided it was best that he stay there for the tests, and he will be back in England next week before the Champions League game [against Debrecen].

"The problem was a minor one, but we needed to have the checks made straight away."

Burnley boss Owen Coyle admitted his side must learn not to give away soft goals to quality opposition.

He said: "We started really well, and looked comfortable. But if you switch off against players like these, you will be punished.

"I can't argue with the result, we were playing against world-class players. But I was annoyed with the first goal we conceded, we backed off into the box and allowed Benayoun to get his shot in.

"Their second looked offside, Dirk Kuyt seemed a yard offside, and that put them in the box seat.

"We have now lost at Chelsea and Liverpool in succession, but these are not the teams we will be competing with for league positions, we are not in their group.

"But as long as my lads keep giving that effort, we will be able to take points off lesser teams. We will take our medicine and go home and prepare for the next one.

"We have played four of last season's top five now, and won twice. We have shown that if we are on top of our game we can give the best a real battle."

FA unimpressed with Ade's actions

Ian Watmore has confirmed the FA will take a "good close look" at two incidents involving Emmanuel Adebayor against Arsenal.

Adebayor was involved in a few incidents during Manchester City's 4-2 home win over Arsenal on Saturday.

The former Gunners forward courted controversy by running the length of the pitch to taunt the Arsenal fans after scoring City's third goal, having earlier appeared to stamp on former team-mate Robin van Persie, leaving the Dutchman with a gashed face.

Referee Mark Clattenburg booked the Togo striker for his celebrations, which provoked fury among many Arsenal fans who had to be restrained by pitchside stewards, one of whom needed hospital treatment after being hit by a flying object in the melee.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme, Watmore confirmed Adebayor's actions would come under scrutiny in the coming days.

He said: "I was pretty unimpressed really because the problems between the Arsenal fans and Adebayor are well documented, and he ran the whole length of the field to celebrate, so I think we're going to have a good close look at that one on Monday when we see it properly in the cold light of day.

"I thought the stewards did a great job of calming the situation down and it was to Manchester City's credit nothing worse happened.

"Our governance team will take a good look at both of the incidents that have been highlighted and will come to the media with the answers early next week."

Watmore refused to be drawn on the possible extent of any punishment which could be meted out to Adebayor, saying: "The punishments are the decision of the individual commission, if we get that far."

Ancelotti delighted by late show

Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti insisted that his side were good value for their last-gasp victory at Stoke.

It needed a goal from Florent Malouda in stoppage time to extend the club's 100% record under the Italian to five matches.

Malouda's effort from inside the box following a cutback from Nicolas Anelka came after a spell of sustained pressure in the second half.

Stoke had taken the lead through skipper Abdoulaye Faye in the 32nd minute with a towering header after Glenn Whelan had delivered the cross.

Didier Drogba equalised in first half injury time with his fourth goal of the season after shrugging off Faye following a superb through ball from Frank Lampard.

It was then all hands to the pump for Stoke until Malouda struck late on to cement Chelsea's place at the top of the table.

Ancelotti said: "We got what we deserved because we tried to attack all the time. I am very happy because it was a difficult game.

"We maintained good control throughout the match and that was important. We applied a lot of pressure and were rewarded for our play.

"We know all about Stoke and were not surprised by the way they play. We were ready for a physical match and knew how to deal with the long ball.

"A victory is always welcome and this is a very important period for us as we now have the Champions League ahead.

"To be top of the league is very important. We have good confidence in our play and a very good atmosphere in the dressing room.

"We are doing very well and want to continue in this good position for as long as we can. We have a very good squad."

Ancelotti could have Deco back for the visit of Porto in the Champions League on Tuesday after the Portugal playmaker was sidelined with a calf injury sustained playing for his country in midweek.

"We have to look at him as he has an injury," said the Chelsea coach. "We hope he can be ready against Porto."

Stoke manager Tony Pulis was left dejected not just by the manner of the defeat but also because they lost two players to injury in the first half.

Striker James Beattie was injured when he scuffed a shot wide in the ninth minute when clear on goal.

Then Thomas Sorensen limped off with after apparently pulling a muscle. Both will be assessed over the weekend.

Pulis said: "The result is disappointing for us because we battled really hard and defended well.

"They had a lot of possession second half and got a lot of bodies forward. We have given them a game and made them work hard.

"We haven't got the quality Chelsea have. I hold my hands up to that. They are a very good side. But our attitude and commitment and everyone's willingness to work will take us a long way."

Meanwhile Ancelotti refused to comment on FIFA's ruling that the transfer embargo means they will not be allowed to recall players on a season-long loan deal.

He said: "We are appealing to FIFA, so we have to wait. All I am thinking about is the next game against Porto, that's all."