Hard work pays off for satisfied Smith

Sir Alex Ferguson called Manchester United FC's opening scoreless draw with Rangers FC "a blemish" but joined his proud counterpart Walter Smith in praising the visitors' defensive determination.

Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager
You have to give them credit, their system of playing was very difficult to break down. We played with great commitment and a good intensity, the players all worked their socks off, but Rangers went back to their penalty box. That's what they did and it was successful. They have a formula for playing away from home that's successful.

Our home record is normally very good so it's a blemish but we know that ten points will get us through. We didn't really make too many chances; all the attempts were from outside the box from Darron Gibson.

Walter Smith, Rangers manager
We are obviously pleased to get a point in our first Champions League game. We worked very hard for it. The boys showed great concentration and limited United to long-range shots. I'm proud of the way my players played. We were not very tidy in possession at times but I'm obviously happy with a point.

With more care we could have created more but we expected to come here and defend and we did that well. The game was as I thought it would be. We tried to nullify them and we managed to do that. In the Champions League you have to do that.