SIR Alex Ferguson has rejected criticism of the Champions League.

Although UEFA president Michel Platini has attempted to inject some life into the group stages of the competition by widening the number of countries who have an interest, many still believe the format is flawed.

With England providing three semi-finalists in each of the last three seasons, a sense of predictability has surrounded Europe’s most prestigious club competition.

Indeed, with the exception of 2004 when Jose Mourinho’s Porto defeated Monaco, the only countries who have supplied finalists in the last 13 years are England, Spain, Italy and Germany.

Some feel the answer is to revert back to the old system of only league winners from each country being eligible. Others feel the present method of seeding teams should be scrapped. There is an even more radical argument that the entire tournament should be abandoned in favour of an even more elite European league.

Yet Ferguson feels the criticism is wide of the mark.

“I do not agree the preliminaries are meaningless and simply a money-making exercise,” he told United Review.

“People are arguing that the big clubs always come through and that the seeded fixtures are a waste of time.

“Obviously the group games are not as dramatic as the knockout final stage, but the critics are missing the point.

“The group system is a league. All sports competitions have a starting point that includes the minnows, from the FA Cup to Wimbledon in tennis, or the Open in golf.

“You can’t start with the FA Cup final, or Wimbledon final and cut out the competitive build-up.

“When you put it like that, it is nonsense of course. But that has not prevented a spate of recent criticism and accusations of the game exploiting the fans.”

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