Manchester United v Arsenal: Ryan Giggs insists defending title harder than winning it

Ryan Giggs has claimed that retaining the Champions League crown this season will prove an even greater achievement for Manchester United than winning it in Moscow against Chelsea last May.

• United face Arsenal at Old Trafford tonight in a semi-final first-leg that has been billed by Sir Alex Ferguson as potentially the ‘perfect semi-final’ due to the attacking principles of both himself and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
• No team has defended the Champions League in its current form, however, and United could be forced to overcome both Arsenal and Chelsea, who earned a 0-0 draw against Barcelona in the Nou Camp last night, in order to hold onto the European Cup and claim a fourth triumph for the Old Trafford club.
• And United midfielder Giggs, who could make his 800th club appearance against Arsenal this evening, admits that the size of task facing his team cannot be underestimated.
• Giggs said: “It’s a massive challenge to retain the European Cup because everybody wants to beat you when you are the champions.
• “As soon as the final had finished in Moscow last season, a lot of the players were determined to get that feeling again, but we knew it was going to be tougher than last year. Last year was tough, but this year is proving to be even tougher.
• “I’m obviously proud of what I have done, though, but I’m still hungry and I want to win more major medals at United.” Arsenal go into tonight’s game with the confidence booster of having already beaten United in the Premier League this term with a 2-1 November victory at the Emirates.
• And Giggs, 35, concedes that Wenger’s team are more than capable of making United fight all the way for a passport to Rome for next month’s final in the Olympic Stadium.
• Giggs said: “Arsenal have got individuals who can win games, the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott, with his pace.
• They have got players that can hurt teams.
• “We are two very good teams who play great football and we are going head-to-head. It’s something that both sets of players will be looking forward to.” United manager Ferguson has a virtually full-strength squad for tonight’s game, with only defenders Gary Neville and Wes Brown unavailable due to injury.
• Ferguson’s major selection dilemma revolves around whether to play a four-pronged attack of Carlos Tevez, Dimitar Berbatov, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.
• Tevez, who impressed as a substitute in the 5-2 win against Spurs at the weekend, is likely to face a battle with Berbatov for the third attacking berth, however.