Following a 3-0 victory over Olympiakos in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 -- a win that propelled the club to the quarterfinal round via 3-2 aggregate win -- many within the Manchester United hierarchy believe the defending Barclays Premier League champs are capable of winning the popular tournament. The Red Devils may be out of contention for a repeat performance in the English League but after overcoming a two-goal hole heading into Wednesday’s final leg at Old Trafford, United and first-year boss David Moyes have something to be happy about mere hours before the draw for the Final 8 takes place.
“We will probably go into the quarterfinal tie as underdogs but I don’t see why we can’t win it,” Moyes said shortly after United’s impressive 3-0 victory. This football club is capable of it. If we play to our capabilities, which we've not shown that often this season, I think we can be a match for any team. This club has history in the competition. It knows what to do at this stage. We’re not shocked to be in the quarterfinals. It's something we do regularly. We will try to get into the last four now.”
Thanks to a Robin van Persie treble, United -- who currently sit seventh in the Premier League and 12 points behind fourth place Manchester City -- were able to rebound from a devastating opening loss to their Greek opponents, a loss that David Moyes deemed the worst performance of the season. Despite the early troubles and the consistent shortcomings in the Premier League however, Wayne Rooney holds a positive view for the remainder of the season, especially if United continue to get offensive support from key player such as RVP.
“We owed ourselves a good result,” Rooney said after the match. “Our fans, the manager, everyone deserved a performance. This is a great result and hopefully it can kick-start our season and be the start of something really special. It was just the desire to win. They support of our fans has been fantastic. Against Liverpool [last Sunday] they were fantastic. They were fantastic again against Olympiakos and we're delighted for them. This can be the start our season. Hopefully this is the start of something really special.”
The draw for the 2013-2014 UEFA Champions League Quarterfinals takes place on Friday, March 21 at 7 a.m., ET. Fans can watch the event live at UEFA.com.
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