Smoggies Set To Go To War

United tumbled out of the tournament at the semi-final stage last night as a fitter, fresher AC Milan romped to a 3-0 win in the San Siro which sealed a 5-3 aggregate triumph and earned the Italians a rematch with 2005 conquerors Liverpool in Athens on May 23.

He does not believe the Premier League, who rejected a request to push Saturday's Manchester derby back by 24 hours, have helped them.

Ferguson: "We play in a very tough league and we have been using the same players with no respite for quite a while now. AC Milan have been able to rest their players at the appropriate times.

"In some countries, they help teams to prepare for European games. That is a problem. The Premier League have made an unfair decision against us by making us play Manchester City on Saturday.

"The TV people were happy for the game to be played on Sunday morning but the Premier League wanted to maintain the integrity of the competition. You can work out what integrity means. They are the ones who made Tottenham play Chelsea one-and-a-half days after a UEFA Cup tie."

We ask if the Premier League are also to blame for the war in Iraq and Global Warming, because they also come under fire from Wigan chairman Dave Whelan.

Whelan is considering legal action against either West Ham or the Premier League following the furore surrounding the signings of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

Lawyers are looking into the findings of an independent panel that last week ordered the club to pay a fine of £5.5million after finding them guilty of two charges of irregularities relating to the transfers.

Whelan believes they should have been deducted 10 points.

It is believed lawyers representing Fulham and Middlesbrough are at the forefront of deciding whether there are grounds to sue.

Whelan: "The legal issue is being looked at by lawyers and QCs. Whether anything comes of it I cannot say because we are waiting for their advice.

"But the chairmen and chief executives of the clubs involved have spoken quite a lot about this these past few days, and two of the clubs are obtaining legal advice.

"We, as a club, have not gone to the lawyers. If it is recommended we can take action with some element of success - we won't just be chasing nothing - then we will support it.

"If the advice we are given is positive and we can sue either West Ham or the Premier League, then I'm sure that will happen."