Sir Alex upbeat about United assignment

UEFA Champions League holders Manchester United FC were drawn with Villarreal CF, Celtic FC and Aalborg BK in Group E and manager Sir Alex Ferguson was satisfied with his lot. Celtic were up against United at this stage two years ago and defender Gary Caldwell told uefa.com he hoped it was a good omen. Villarreal's Robert Pirès said United were overwhelming favourites but AaB goalkeeper Karim Zaza was thrilled by the prospect of facing the champions.
Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United managerWe've had Villarreal and Celtic before, but Aalborg is a new one. The bonus for us is there's not much travelling to do. We're satisfied with the group and we hope to get the ten points to see us qualify. It's always nice to go to my home city and being drawn against Celtic adds a bit of spice to the group.
Robert Pirès, Villarreal midfielderThe rest of us will be fighting it out to finish second behind United and it would be very dangerous to assume we're favourites to do that. If we start thinking that way then we'll be out of the tournament. We must respect every team in our group – only by doing that will we have a chance of going through. First place already has an owner and we must scrap it out for what's left. Maybe people are thinking that Villarreal are favourites but we can't think that way. We have to be careful.
Gary Caldwell, Celtic defenderIt's another challenge for us having qualified for the knockout stage for the last two seasons and, with the draw we've been given, I think we can qualify again. We played United two seasons ago and lost the first game at Old Trafford before winning famously at home and going through. We know them well and we look forward to those games. We know how difficult Villarreal will be having played Barcelona last season. Aalborg are a bit of an unknown quantity but any team that qualifies for the group stage has to be respected.Karim Zaza, AaB goalkeeperIn drawing Manchester United, we have got one of the really great clubs, a team I have always dreamt of playing against. Villarreal are a technically superb team, while Celtic must be expected to try and get through with their physical skills. It is kind of a mixed draw, but they are all strong sides, of course.