By Gary Spate
December 30 2003

REAL MADRID manager Carlos Queiroz is rueing the possibility of seeing his side face Manchester United in this season's Champions League final. Queiroz quit as Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant in the summer to take over the reins at Real Madrid following the sacking of Vincente Del Bosque.

Queiroz is pleased that he won't have to face Manchester United in the Quarter Finals, that honour falls to Bayern Munich.

"The worst opponents would have been Juventus or Manchester United," he said. "That would have been worse than Bayern."

Queiroz is hoping for a reunion with his old club in the final of Europe's prestigious competition.

"I want this final. It would be a beautiful dream, fantastic to have Real Madrid and Manchester in the final."

Queiroz also threw praise at David Beckham's progress at Real and said he is very pleased at how well he has settled at the Bernabeu Stadium.

"His willingness to learn has been tremendous. Each game at every training session he looks, listens and learns something new. I am not surprised by his physical and technical qualities playing in the centre even though he has played on the right since he was 16," he added.

"With the status he had it was not easy to say 'now you have to change position' but he was the first one to want to learn a new position. His character and willingness have been tremendous. He has not feared from day one the feeling of being lost in a strange country. I am happy with the way he has started."

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