Come on Alex, whilst I admire your optimism, do you really believe we are anywhere near Barca or Madrid? We were comprehensively beaten in both CL finals, and since then have been knocked out of the FA, Carling and European Cups! You be-moan not having the likes of Fletcher in the team, that's how far we have sunk. When you can no longer compete with these teams financially, for the best players, then you will never be able to compare us with these Spanish giants. Of course to be where we are at present is a remarkable achievement, taking injuries and lack of money into consideration, and to win the league with this setup would be your finest hour.

Please get real, we are short in too many departments.

I don't know who he's trying to convince but he definitely needs a reality check. Does Basel and Benfica not mean anything to him. If that's what he thinks then United are a long way from getting to Barcelona/Real Madrids level. As always you have to know you have a problem before you can fix it.

I think most people can see that the cream of the EPL is well below the cream of the Spanish League so a couple of wins against some poorly playing teams in the EPL does not equate to being on the same level of the 2 Spanish teams.

A little bit further behind than what HE thinks, me thinks.

While it might be nice to be there, it's really an unfair comparison. Those two have almost unlimited budgets with their ability to negotiate their own TV contracts. If we never win another CL, but keep hauling in PL trophies (and, hopefully, FA Cups!), I'll be just as satisfied. The fact that SAF has guided United to so many PL championships, despite the pooling of monies, says it all.

I thought it was Valentines day not April Fools day.

barca are in transition and real are the team to beat-that said barca are too good for united or any other team on their day-which is 9 times out of 10 still. real proved with the 2-2 in the camp nou that they can mix it-they had a good goal disallowed too and should have won and gone through to the next round of the copa del rey.
united on their day are very good too-the wins at arsenal,beating of liverpool which was easy apart from a nervy last 10 mins and the performance at chelsea-winat citeh in the cup shows they are still a good team.valencia, rooney and scholes have been brilliant and considering the massive injury list we are in contention. that said we need a midfielder and some fullbacks as evras getting on in footy tems and we dont have a rightback apart from the injury prone da silvas(smalling and jones are not comfortable in this position and give more elsewhere). we are not as good as real and barca this is obvious but neither is anyone else-i believe on a one on one basis we would lose to both but not by much but thats good enough is it?!

I'd still fancy United's chances against Barca and Madrid over 2 legs.

Havin a laugh, probably dont need any more signings as well, until May that is for season ticket sales with Gill joining in.

Oh what a lot of rot you do talk fergie!!!!

I think that Sir Alex isn't far of the mark. People should remember that, because of the way TV money is distributed in Spain (ie Barcelona and Real negotiate their own deals and are the only sides earning substantial money from that source) other than a few sides, the Spanish League is not competitive. This does enable Spanish sides to stay fresh throughout the season and gives barcelona and Real a strong advantage towards the end of the season when the Champions League plays out. Although Barcelona and Real Madrid have decent sides, I'm not too sure that they would consistently win the English premier League, which is a marathon slog and one that they are unaccustomed to. You only have to look at the success of 'United rejects' such as Pique, Rossi and Forlan, who looked average in England but world beaters in Spain, to understand how the general level of their football falls below ours. Undoubtedly, we were poor during the Champions League Group stage but I do recall that we were handicapped by a spate of injuries at that time, which didn't help our cause but, if we had have progressed, with the players now available and the team's form substantailly better, I'm sure that SAF is right is thinking that we could have gone a long way in the competition. After all, we have reached three finals out of the last four which, I would have thought, gives credence to SAF's statement that we're not far behind Barca.

The article poses the question "How do United compare with Barcelona and Real Madrid? Have your say."

As other fellow United forum contributors are probably aware, I am an extremely staunch United supporter, and I love and support my beloved Reds with all my heart. I believe that SAF is one of the two greatest managers throughout all football history. It is purely down to SAF that, although for financial reasons not of his doing, we are still in the strong position that we presently find ourselves. Our record during our austere period is incredible, and is testimony to his wonderful managerial capabilities.

The answer to the article's question is that we compare fairly well with the two Spanish clubs, but we are most certainly trailing behind them at the moment - but with our heads held high!

One day our financial esteem may improve, and then the above question will be rhetoric, because we will return to being the number one club in the World!

United 'til I die!

Fergie has put a brave face on things for a while now, while it's great to see Welbeck & Cleverley come through and we have coped tremendously well with the injury list, there is still too much mediocrity in the squad - especially central midfield. Anderson, Carrick, an aged Scholes & Giggs are a country mile away from Iniesta, Xavi et al...
There are probably 10-12 midfielders from the 2 squads (Real & Barca) that would walk into the UTD 1st team...

Wow SAF you really have me worried now. Barca demonstrated in no uncertain terms in the two hidings they gave us in the last 2 finals that they are on a different planet to us. And they have added Fabregas and Sanchez to their side. And they are currently 10 points behind Real so i dont think we've made ground on Real either!! I very much doubt having 37 and 38 yr olds in your engine room represents a basis on which to close the gap to Barca

The only chance we would have had this season, had we stayed in the Champs league, would be Barca running out of steam, which seems to be happening in the league at the moment. The core of the Barca team has been the core of the the Spainish side for the past few seasons and they have played absolutely non stop, from Confederations Cup, World cup, European Championships, right up to the final stages in the Champs league, and the various nonsense FIFA club competitions they have had to play in. They've barely had a break in the last 3-4 yrs and its showing just now. But even allowing for that I'm still pretty sure we wouldnt come near them.

And before Alias and T&C come on and try to reassure themselves that its just a good cycle for Barca and we're going to wait them out, all their main players bar Puyol have plenty of yrs ahead of them. Other than Puyol, Xavi at 31 represents their oldest player of note. Abidal maybe if youre clutching at straws, is tipping on also. Meanwhile in the 30+ category we are more than well represented by a clutch of first teamers. So no, we are getting closer, and unless we invest properly and stop trying to do it on the cheap its further away we're going to get

True SAF,we ain't too far,talking about united in the same breath as Barcelona and Real is an insult.But at least its comforting that we are not too far from crystal palace and Basel.

I have to agree with Sir Alex. Look at Barcas recent form. They struggle against the teams the rough them up. They've dropped points to teams that would struggle in the premier league.
You only have to look at the young lads coming through now. There is a definite improvement in quality. As he says we are not that far away. He doesnt say we are there yet, but give the likes of pogba, cleverley and the current first team a few months injury free and who knows.
We all throught it was possible at the start of the season when we were knocking 8 past the arsenal, then all the injuries happen and most fans forgot to support and started to moan,

We'll DO IT!!!!

I don't think that we are very far from Barca, at all. The differences are quite slight. It's tiny things that make them currently better than us.

Things like:

They have the ultimate game changer in Messi.He can win a game on his own and often does. He's far better than any other current player.

They have luck with injuries. Would Barca be able to compete if they had our injury list? Of course not. If they lost their first choice centrebacks they have little or nothing to come in in their place. If they lost Messi their goal threat is reduced by more than 50%.

They play in a much less physical league, which allows them to play the high-tempo pressing game when they lose possession. That's a key part of their success and they admit to modelling that on United of a few years ago, just when we were having to drop the tactic because of the physical toll it takes on players in England. Playing in Spain is also the reason that they get less injuries.

Their league is weak and most matchdays they are pretty much assured a win if they turn up. They can play league games at 75% and still normally win. We can't. The results of the top teams in England show you that you can't take any game for granted.

There's also the fact that we are in the middle of our squad rebuilding and the bulk of Barca's team have been together for years. That particular element will start to swing back to us next season.

I've said this before but it bears repeating. If United and Barca swapped leagues United would run away with La Liga while Barca would eventually suffer due to the nature of the English league. I'm not saying that they wouldn't win the English league but they'd find it a hell of a lot harder than the Spanish and they'd need a bigger and deeper squad, which they can't afford.

By the way, money isn't the deciding factor between Barca and us. Indeed, Barca have had to sell many of their best young players to fund the wage bill. Their best first team players and their system cost them nothing. When they've spent big they've normally been distinctly average buys. Hence their financial difficulties. Where the Spanish clubs and Barca in particular have a huge advantage is in recruiting to the youth systems. That is being addressed, at last, but it has set English football back and meant that it's often cheaper and easier to buy a mid-ranking foreign player than to create your own home-grown talent.

f much fairer comparison would be basle and benfica after all we pushed these 2 european giants all the way in our qualifying group

We're not going to match either when it comes to money for players, but I would be comfortable with emulating a bit more of their positive style of play in Europe. Really looking forward to the game against Ajax, couldn't care about being on channel 5 on a Thursday night

Is it good enough for us to be 'not too far behind'?

And can Fergie explain how we are going to catch up, because I don't see Utd improving over the last 3 seasons and Giggs/Scholes will be gone soon.

Come on SAF we will be better than Barca and RM when we have beaten them to the CL trophy and not until then. It took us 7 years from your first EPL to winning the CL

We sound like the deluded Berties who were 'better than Barca' after winning the FAC for crying out loud.

If we win 1 trophy this years we have over achieved with the injuries we have had since day one but please don't get carried away. This is quite a mediocre/ageing bunch of players.

We must win at Spurs and City away to win the league. No more away draws.

Living here in Madrid, I get a extensive look at Real and Barca each year and I agree with SAF we are not that far away. In fact if healthy I think we would beat Real Madrid but against Barca we just don't match up well with them at all. Messi, Iniesta, and Xavi are midfield 3 that are hard to match up with for any team. Real Madrid are not equal to Barcalona and the 2 -2 at the Nou Camp was only because Barca decided to turn off, committed two glaring errors to allow Madrid back in the game. The league standing this year is a blip but could be important if Barca cannot stay healthy in the next couple of years. Our core players just like Barca have played a lot of football in the last 5 years and like us are playing the price for each extended season. Last year was the first extended season for Real Madrid in a while add to that the fact they have spent close to a billion euros in transfer fees and salary to catch Barcelona in the last 5 years.

Reds will win Europa but not the Championship.

Don't flatter yourself Fergie. This is the worst midfield United has had in the past 2 decades and our "world class" player Rooney is nowhere near the likes of Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. If we face Real or Barca with this current team, we will get ripped to shreds time and time again...