Ferguson reveals major Messi regret that cost Man United big

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed a tactical error he made against Lionel Messi that may have cost Manchester United the Champions League.

Not playing Park Ji-sung against Lionel Messi could’ve cost Manchester United victory in the 2011 Champions League final, says Sir Alex Ferguson.

The legendary Red Devils boss opened up on the club’s 3-1 defeat to Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona at Wembley, where Messi stole the show with a man of the match performance.

The Argentine restored Barcelona’s lead early in the second half after Wayne Rooney canceled out Pedro’s opener. David Villa later scored to wrap up the victory to deny Ferguson of a third title.

Now the Scotsman has opened up on how his failure to pit Park against Messi may have cost United the game.

“That’s where I lost the final against Barcelona at Wembley,” Ferguson stated in a Q&A session with former United player Gary Neville for SPORTbible.

“I should have changed at half-time and put Park Ji-sung on Messi. That was a mistake… I was going to do it at half-time, then I said: ‘Well, we just equalized before half-time, they may see the game differently, we may grow into the game better’.

“We were actually quite good in the last 10 minutes of that half. We came into it and we could have been in front.

“But if I’d played Park against Messi, I think we’d have beat them. I really do.”

Ferguson also branded former South Korean midfielder Park as one of his three most underrated players at Old Trafford.