History beckons United boss

London: Welcome to the game beamed into 600 million homes around the world, the summit meeting of the Premier League's finest and the game that could end with Sir Alex Ferguson on the brink of making history with Manchester United.

Welcome to El Climactico, the deciding game of the season. Chelsea have the momentum, the manager of the month in Carlo Ancelotti and the midfield man of the moment in Frank Lampard.

United have the three-point advantage, the manager of the past two decades in Ferguson and the man for all Premier League seasons in Ryan Giggs. It is so evenly poised.

How will Giggs cope with a revitalised Lampard? Can Didier Drogba muscle past Nemanja Vidic? Can Ashley Cole deal with the elusive zephyr that is Antonio Valencia? Will United be caught out by one of David Luiz's rampaging runs like a runaway Dulux Dog? And should Liverpool fans retrieve their old Fernando Torres shirts from the thrift shop? Because if Torres, Drogba, Lampard, Cole and co fail to win, United will close inexorably on a record 19th title, shredding Liverpool's celebrated mark.

Touching distance

Ferguson admitted to surprise that he has come within touching distance of pushing the Liver Bird off its perch. His aim, on arriving at Old Trafford in 1986, had been simply to acquire a first championship for United since 1967.

"You don't think at that moment the number of titles we have gone on to win," reflected Ferguson on Friday before training at Carrington.

"Getting the first was the target. I got it. Since then the club has taken off. At that time, I couldn't envisage being here that long anyway. It's an exceptional period of time I have been here."

A quarter of a century. Take My Breath Away, the theme tune from Top Gun, was No 1 when Ferguson started work. And he had much work to do.

United were second bottom and it took until 1993 for Ferguson to land the league title. Another 10 have followed.

"I don't think it means anything to me personally at all," Ferguson said of the chance to eclipse Liverpool's record.

"It's more for the club. For the history of the club, it's important. It's like with the European Cup. You see the history of Real Madrid and AC Milan, and then there's another bracket, Liverpool, Ajax and Bayern Munich. We should definitely be in that bracket. Hopefully I can take that step towards that on May 28."

Wembley can wait. "Everyone is aware of the magnitude of Sunday's game and if we win we should win the League. We won't be going for a draw. Everyone knows that. Chelsea know that. Our fans know that. There's no point in discussing draws."

Talking of points, Chelsea lay 15 behind United (with a game in hand) when the teams met at Stamford Bridge on March 1. Chelsea's 2-1 win launched them on an unbelievable run and victory this weekend will take them top on goal difference. Even for such a studious racing man, Ferguson was not up for any Devon Loch references.

"I don't know how many points we were in front of Chelsea at any given time. It doesn't matter what happened last Sunday, four Sundays ago, four months ago, four years ago, we are where we are. We have three games left, three points ahead, same goal difference, playing at home, two home games [Chelsea and Blackpool] and one away [Blackburn Rovers]."

Ferguson was in confident mood, buoyed by the possibility of "a big-game player" like Darren Fletcher regaining his strength in time for the Champions League final, although he will not start tomorrow. Ferguson also believes he has the centre-halves to deal with whatever attacking combination Ancelotti selects (although the Scot expects Drogba to start). "No matter what they do, we have the players to handle it. We have experienced players at the back in Ferdinand and Vidic."