Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson heads into the Champions League last eight second leg tie against Roma with quiet confidence.

United hold a 2-0 advantage over Roma going into the second leg and look set to face Barcelona, 1-0 winners against Schalke in their opening match.

Responding to a suggestion that his side are the form team in the Champions League, Ferguson was cautious.

He said: "I watch games in Europe and see different types of football.

"That makes it difficult to assess where we are. The best way to assess it is if we get to the final.

"You can be the best team and lose. That's why we are not in the FA Cup final.

"We are looking for consistency. If we can get it in Europe, like we have at home, then we have a chance.

"Barcelona are a marvellous club and have a good team. But these things are never easy."

Roma still harbour hopes of winning Serie A but have beaten United only once in five previous meetings in the last year.

Ferguson said: "We have one foot in the semi-final and the clock is against Roma.

"But nothing is certain in football. You cannot take anything for granted.

"We have been involved with Roma a lot recently and I do not think they will change anything in their approach to this match.

"We have to counter any danger. When you are at home you have to express your performance in a big way and hopefully we can do that."

Ferguson will make a decision later this morning as to Rio Ferdinand's fitness after he suffered a foot injury at the weekend.

Should the England defender fail to make it then either Gary Neville or Mikael Silvestre are poised to return to the team.

Ferguson said: "I am hoping Rio will play. His scan was clear, that was the important thing.

"Therefore we are hoping we can get him fit to face Roma."

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head record:

Played: 5

Wins: Manchester United 3, Roma 1, Draws 1

Goals: Manchester United 12, Roma 4

Previous games:

CL: QF 3.04.07 Roma 2 Manchester United 1

10.04.07 Manchester United 7 Roma 1

CL: GP 2.10.07 Manchester United 1 Roma 0

12.12.07 Roma 1 Manchester United 1

CL: QF 1.04.08 Roma 0 Manchester United 2

Previous appearances in last four:

Champions League - Manchester United 4, Roma 0

European Cup - Manchester United 9, Roma 1

All European competitions - Manchester United 12, Roma 5

Leading Champions League 07-08 scorers:

Manchester United - Cristiano Ronaldo 7

Roma - Mirko Vucinic 4

* Manchester United, meeting Roma for the sixth time in the Champions League in just over a year, have won their last 10 Champions League home games and are unbeaten in 14. But the last team to beat them in the competition at Old Trafford was Italian - Milan in the knockout round in 2005.

* United's Wayne Rooney has scored in four of the five games against Roma.

* United are unbeaten in all nine Champions League games this season in which they have scored 17 goals and conceded only five.

* Roma have won just once on 13 previous away games in England, a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the UEFA Cup seven seasons ago.

* In their 13 trips to England, Roma have scored a total of just seven goals. The only time they scored twice was on their first visit in the Fairs Cup final when they drew 2-2 with Birmingham City in 1961.

* Roma's chances look close to nil. Manchester United have lost seven of 67 Champions League home games but none by the minimum two-goal margin that Roma need to reach the semi-finals.

TeamTalk / Reuters