27 March,2010 02:13 PM IST | | Agencies
Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson has admitted to having big-game jitters ahead of a quarter-final tie against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
"Whether you''re at the top of the league or the bottom that''s what football does to you. If it wasn''t that way, we are all in the wrong job. I think it tells that you still care about the game," The Sun quoted Ferguson, as saying.
"Managers are subject to that more than anyone - that uncertainty about winning a game, that anxiety, that apprehension about every game you play in simply because the result is important to you," he added.
The all-conquering 68-year-old revealed for the first time that beneath that confident exterior of a winner, there are still the same butterflies that hit other bosses.
"Some people are relaxed about the game and don''t show great emotions, but they still care," he said.
"Deep down, they are probably turning inside out like the rest of us because that is what the game does to you. There is no one in the game more directly responsible for results than the manager," he added.
Ferguson believes that it will go to the last game of the season to decide the title winner. And, even, the goal tally could be a deciding factor, he added.
"I''m trying to work out the run-ins and what the eventuality could be. I can''t see anything other than possibly the last game unless somebody blows up," he said.
"You look at Chelsea winning 5-0 at Portsmouth, and think goal difference could be a factor."
"That win brought their goal difference level with ours, and although I''ve said it over the years, I''ve got a feeling it could be decisive this season," he added.
