Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Nemanja Vidic will miss the rest of the season after x-rays showed the defender had ruptured a cruciate knee ligament.
Vidic suffered the injury in the Champions League defeat against FC Basel that demoted Ferguson's team into the Europa League. The United captain faces a nine-month layoff in what threatens to be a devastating blow for the team's chances of catching Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
"It's not unexpected but it's still bad news," Ferguson said. "We thought it was a bad one and unfortunately he's out for the season. He sees the specialist on Monday to work out the progress of when he has his operation. It won't be immediately as we have to let the swelling come down. It's a blow."
Vidic was taken off on a stretcher shortly after a challenge with Marco Streller and left the stadium on crutches.
After the defeat in Basel, Ferguson had said that a Europa League campaign was "our penalty for not qualifying", prompting the Uefa president, Michel Platini, to make his irritation at the comments known. However, Ferguson attempted to defuse any potential row, saying: "It is a good competition, a strong competition, you only have to see some of the teams that are left in it.
"The point I made about it being a punishment was only in the sense of for 20 years, this club has only thought about the Champions League. We have just thought about winning that European Cup. The punishment is the big disappointment of not challenging for it this year, having been in three finals in the last four years. It was not a slight against the Europa League. It is a competition we want to win."
Platini had launched a defence of the Europa League following Ferguson's initial comments. He said "the world does not revolve around England" and "you shouldn't criticise the Europa League just because you've played in three Champions League finals".
Platini, speaking yesterday at the Uefa executive committee meeting in Venice, added: "The Europa League is a brilliant competition. It's amazing. I know Mr Ferguson would have preferred to be in the Champions League, but so would many clubs who don't have that possibility."
In addition to City and the holders, Porto, who have both fallen in through the Champions League trapdoor, Atlético Madrid, who defeated Fulham in the 2010 final, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Schalke, whom United defeated in the Champions League semi-final last season, will also be involved in the knockout stages. Stoke are already through and Fulham are fancied to join them to swell the Premier League representation.
Ferguson has already raised the issue of playing on Thursday evenings and then on a Sunday, and he also realises Europa League participants can be asked to play in the Premier League on a Monday before the competition.
"According to some of the information we've got today because there are two teams from one city, one may need to play on a Tuesday," he said. "I don't know the full impact of that. We'll need to wait and see how that pans out.
"It does make a change – there's no doubt about that. If it works out that we have a long run it could mean eight Thursdays and Sundays. But even in the Champions League the TV people let you down sometimes – we had to play in Barcelona [in 2008] and then had a lunchtime game against Chelsea, which we lost. That could have easily have cost us the league.
"I always think when you're playing in Europe you want that three-day break because it does take it out of you, especially if you're travelling."
