Ferguson claims Arsenal won't recover from their European exit

Sir Alex Ferguson believes Arsenal will struggle to recover from their dramatic Champions League exit and even the perfect finish to the season may not be enough for the Gunners to win the title.

The Manchester United manager was at Anfield for the epic clash with Liverpool on Tuesday and left early thinking Arsene Wenger's side had done enough to reach the semi-finals.

Ferguson said today: “It was a fantastic game [at Anfield] and the emotions of the game seesawed so much, it had everything.

“I left when it went to 2-2 because I thought Arsenal were through but I got down the stairs and Liverpool had a penalty. It's hard to recover from these things but we've got to look at ourselves and make sure we keep going.”

Ferguson stated last week he felt Chelsea were United's main rivals for the title and today reiterated that he thinks it will be extremely tough for Arsenal to overhaul his team.

In bullish mood after his side booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals with a midweek win over Roma, Ferguson said: “If we beat them, it makes it difficult for them, no question.

"But it's difficult anyway because they're six points behind us and three points behind Chelsea.

“With five games to go there's not a lot of leeway and they can't afford to drop anything really.

“But that doesn't make it any different in how we prepare because Arsenal games are always very competitive anyway.”

Ferguson believes that injuries to key players is the main reason for the Gunners' miserable run of just two wins in 12 matches, which started with a 4-0 defeat in the FA Cup at Old Trafford.

Some observers have pointed at that heavy defeat as the turning point in Arsenal's season but Ferguson disagrees.

He said: “I'm not sure how much of an effect that FA Cup game had. I think Arsenal have had injuries in the second half of the season that has made it difficult to rest players.

“They lost [Abou] Diaby, Denilson, [Tomas] Rosicky, [Robin] van Persie, and you can't win games consistently without your best team.

“You just can't do it, not at the level we're at and we suffered with that last season. You can't get the best results without your best players.”