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The head coach Sir Alex Ferguson defended his team's players after suffering a defeat to "Lille" with a score of 1-0 in Wednesday's UEFA Champions League match.
A.Ferguson, whose team lost 4-1 to "Middlesbrough" over the weekend, claimed that one of the reasons for the loss was the poor state of the "Stade de France" pitch.
"It was a tough match," summarized A.Ferguson, who refused to shake hands with "Lille" coach Claude Puel after the final whistle. "The pitch was bad. We didn't deserve to lose, even though we weren't worthy of a win either."
After this defeat, "Man Utd" shares second place in Group D with five points alongside "Lille". "Villarreal" leads the group with one more point, having won 0-1 away against Lisbon's "Benfica" on Wednesday.
"I think my players did their best," defended the coach. "They were properly motivated. They are young, inexperienced. You must trust young players, but you can't expect them to change the game."
On Sunday, "Man Utd" will play against the "Premier" League leaders "Chelsea" in London, with Manchester's club trailing by 13 points. "It will be a tough match, but at least the pitch will be better."
"Lille" coach C.Puel claimed that his team deserved to win.
"It was a wonderful game, our game is improving in every match," said the Frenchman. "Man Utd may be dissatisfied, but we deserved the victory."
It's worth mentioning that Wednesday's match was record-breaking - it gathered the highest number of spectators in the history of French clubs' battles in European tournaments. 66,470 spectators watched these matches at "Stade de France". The match took place in this stadium because "Lille's" home ground does not meet UEFA safety requirements.
The previous record - almost 57 thousand spectators - was set in 1999 at "Stade Velodrome" stadium when "Marseille" defeated the "Man Utd" club in the Champions League.
