Sir Alex Ferguson Believes Manchester United's Defence Will Be Crucial Against Bayern Munich In Champions League Clash

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has identified his defence as the key factor in the club's Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich.

United will play the first leg against the German side at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday and, after a season of injuries to his first-choice defence, Ferguson believes having them back and fit at this stage of the campaign will prove crucial.

Gary Neville is expected to start at right-back withPatrice Evra on the left, leaving Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand as centre-backs and Edwin van der Sar in between the sticks.

"The back four have been solid, together again," Ferguson said in his pre-match press conference, noting that his side have kept four clean sheets in their last five games.

"[Edwin] Van Der Sar has returned again, because there was a time in the season when all those players were injured and it wasn't easy, we were very fragile.

"But you can see the solidity now, you can see the experience of these players and it is making a massive difference to the performance of the team.

"It is a true saying, 'strong at the back, strong as a team', and we are looking very strong now." With a potential title-decider against Chelsea coming up on Saturday before the return leg against Bayern at Old Trafford next week, United face three significant games in the space of eight days. But Ferguson is confident his side are in the right frame of mind to rise to the challenge. "I think it is a big week, it is a massive week for us," the Scot agreed. "Eight days for us and we have two great games for us against

Bayern and a great game on Saturday against Chelsea. "This is the time of year where you have to enjoy it and also know that things can be crucial — like a mistake or error in an area when you are hoping you are not going to make any." United have profited from 11 own goals - only one less than Dimitar Berbatov has contributed - in the Premier League this season, and Ferguson sees no reason why errors could not continue to benefit his side in forthcoming games. "Mistakes will happen that will win games for you," he said. "You saw that on Saturday [against Bolton Wanderers], we got an own goal to begin with and after that we played exceptionally well. "So it is going to be an exciting week."