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David Moyes hailed Manchester United as Champions League dark horses after their epic comeback against Olympiakos eased the pressure on him.
United reached tomorrow’s quarter-final draw with a stunning win at Old Trafford, with striker Robin van Persie bagging a hat-trick to send the Red Devils through.
Although bookies have made United the biggest outsiders left in the competition, Moyes claimed they can emulate unfancied Liverpool in 2005 and Chelsea in 2012 by going all the way.
Asked if United could be the competition’s dark horses, the Scottish manager said: “I hope so, I suppose we’ll be the underdogs in the draw, but I genuinely believe this club of is capable of doing it.
“If we show our capabilities, which we haven’t done too often this season, we can be a match for any team.
“We were disappointed after the first game, losing 2-0, and it gave us a big job to turn it around, but we managed to do it in this game.”

FIFA Ultimate Team celebrates its fifth birthday this week, an event which will be marked with a worldwide FUT tournament.
But what makes the game mode so addictive? EA Sports took the idea of playing online against friends and random opponents and combined it with the childhood pursuit of collecting football stickers, or POGs, or GoGos, or 'insert childhood obsession here'.
I caught up with Mat Prior, the man behind the first ever edition of FUT, and Adam Shaik, the creative director of FIFA Ultimate Team. The two men have been instrumental in the success of the game mode, and when I speak to them, they are understandably beaming with pride as FUT nears its fifth birthday.
"The rush of it is down to the emotional connection to the schoolyard, opening packs and getting someone like Messi, or getting someone who's not any good," says Mat.
"We take the fantasy football approach a step forward and allow gamers to realise their dream and build their team, there's a uniqueness, and a chemistry mechanic."
FUT addicts will know that each team is a delicate balance of yin and yang, and this was a very conscious decision by EA Sports.
"The key ideal is that there couldn't just be an end to it, it's not just about collecting the 11 best players and then you've finished, you build it around your first good player.
"If you get a good English midfielder - you're likely to build your team around a 4-4-2 formation," says Mat.

Creative director Adam Shaik says it's all about making sport relevant to gamers.
"It did appeal to so many of those different ways in which we connect with our support, we reinforced trying to make it feel more relevant to gamers.
"One example being Team of the Week, when you watch Match of the Day you end up discussing if certain players will make it onto the Team of the Week, and that changes who you may want for your team, on a weekly basis.
"This constantly makes it feel like there's something more you have to do.
"People who it play it really really enjoy it, they have a great time, and get super engaged with it and want to do more and more."
One thing most football fans will identify with is the constant argument between friends over the issue of player ratings. And they're not alone.
"It happens within the office too," says Adam. "We have very different opinions on who is better and why they're better.
"It's usually the first thing a player says when they come in to work with us... 'why isn't my speed rating higher?', 'why aren't I stronger?'.
"Our audience are so passionate about football, we don't all see things eye to eye."
Mat sums up that insatiable taste for improvement with the example of Fernando Torres:
"People go and discuss the players they'd like to get on FUT for hours, it's so inclusive. Depending on what team you had, one man's garbage is another man's gold.
"You might get Torres, he might make your team gel, for another team he could be useless.
"There is no best team, there are so many different combinations."

FUT: The numbers

Andy Murray has split with his coach Ivan Lendl after two years working together.
The Scot's management team have released a statement stating they have "mutually agreed" to end the partnership which saw the British No 1 win Olympic gold and two Grand Slams, including Wimbledon last year.
Murray, who has struggle to re-find his form since undergoing back surgery last September, is in Miami preparing to defend his Sony Open title.
In the statement, Lendl said: "Working with Andy over the last two years has been a fantastic experience for me. He is a first class guy. Having helped him achieve his goal of winning major titles, I feel like it is time for me to concentrate on some of my own projects moving forward including playing more events around the world which I am really enjoying. I will always be in Andy's corner and wish him nothing but great success as he too goes into a new phase of his career."
Murray said "I'm eternally grateful to Ivan for all his hard work over the past two years, the most successful of my career so far.  As a team, we've learned a lot and it will definitely be of benefit in the future. I'll take some time with the team to consider the next steps and how we progress from here".
Lendl has recently played exhibitions in Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Nashville, Charlotte and at Earl's Court in London. The Czech-born American said then he had to discuss Murray's participation in the IPTL in the off-season which could affect their usual winter training block in Florida. Lenld has also been giving clinics in the Canary Islands as well as opening new courts in South Carolina at the Ivan Lendl Junior Tennis Academy.

Two fighters turn a boxing ring into an engagement ring after a bout by proposing to their girlfriends.
Tough Adrian Firkins, 44, and Ricky Welsby, 24, showed their sensitive sides by going down on one knee after the final bell.
And they got a standing ovation from fans when Debbie Tyler, 41, and Nikki Vyse, 22, said yes.
Adrian, of Halesowen, West Midlands, said: “I’m glad I got through it and didn’t get knocked out, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to propose to Debbie.
“It took a bit of pressure off knowing someone else was next to me on one knee!”

 

The boxers had hatched their plot before the three-round WBU welterweight bout at a hotel in Brierley Hill, which ended in a draw.
Ricky, of Cradley Heath, added: “A draw was a fair result and both the girls said yes, it was just brilliant. Nikki was so happy.
"It’s probably the most nerve-wracking thing I have had to do in my life.”
Debbie, 41, Adrian’s partner of 16 years, said: “I had no clue what he was doing and when I saw the ring I was gobsmacked.”
Nikki, 22, added: “I don’t usually like being the centre of attention – I was shocked and didn’t know what he was doing on one knee.

Arsenal have announced that Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla and young starlet Gedion Zelalem have all signed new contracts with the Gunners.
Wales international Ramsey, outstanding in the early months of the season when he notched 13 goals for the Gunners before picking up a thigh injury in December, has agreed terms on a deal until 2018.
Playmaker Cazorla, 29, was Arsenal's player of the year last season and has continued his good form this term for Arsene Wenger's side. The Spanish international has agreed a deal until 2017.
Zelalem, 17, who made his first-team debut in January, appearing as a substitute in Arsenal's 4-0 FA Cup fourth round win over Coventry, has signed his first professional deal.
Speaking to Arsenal's official website, manager Arsene Wenger said: "We are very pleased that Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey and Gedion Zelalem have committed their futures to the club.
"Cazorla and Ramsey are absolutely key players for us, and this news is a boost to the whole club.
"Gedion is very young of course, but he has shown already that he has fantastic promise, and we all look forward to his development with us."

Delighted to sign a new contract at @Arsenal. Really believe that this team can achieve great things and win trophies
— Aaron Ramsey (@aaronramsey) March 18, 2014

 23-year-old midfielder Ramsey is still yet to play for the Gunners in 2014. His last appearance came in the 3-1 Boxing Day win at West Ham.
However, ahead of a possible return in the coming weeks, the 30-cap Welsh international says that he's "delighted" to have committed his future to the club.
"I'm delighted to have signed a new contract. I've been here for six years and I'm so happy," added Ramsey.
"I think we've shown so far this season what we're all about and the direction that this club wants to go in.
"I want to be a part of that, and to be a part of something special at Arsenal."

Defiant David Moyes insists he is safe from the chop – even if Manchester United go out of the ­Champions League.
A European exit at the hands of lowly Olympiakos will heap further pressure on the Old Trafford club's board to axe Moyes after a disastrous first season in charge which has seen them go from champions to also-rans in the Premier League.
But the Scot claimed he retains the full backing of the board and said he is making plans for this summer and beyond, despite this troubled campaign.
“My future has not changed one bit,” said Moyes, whose side trail Olympiakos 2-0 from the first leg in Athens.
“I’ve got a great job and I know exactly the direction I want it to go in. It’s not been the season we hoped we would have at this present moment in time, but I have ideas of what I want to do and put in place when the time is right.”
Despite United being 12 points off fourth spot and set to miss out on the Champions League for the first time in 19 years, Moyes - handed a six-year contract when he took over from Sir Alex Ferguson - said he had no reason to fear his job was under threat.

There are a number of different views on who is to blame for Manchester United's decline but this supporter is under no illusions who he finds responsible.
Speaking to YouTube channel Full Time Devils, this fan tore into beleaguered boss David Moyes after Sunday's humiliating 3-0 home defeat to Liverpool.
It was the latest blow to the Scot's debut season at Old Trafford and the supporter believes the time has come for him to go - or in his sympathetic words "pack his bags and do one."
The furious United fan slammed Moyes for "ripping the heart out of the club", continuing: "You look at the touchline for some inspiration from your manager and he is stood there with his hands in his pockets."
He extends his rant by suggesting the boss isn't - and never will be - good enough to manage the club because he "hasn't got a scooby-doo."
And with Moyes' future is looking increasingly bleak by the week, this clip isn't likely to fill him with much optimism.

Champions Red Bull were disqualified for cheating as Grand Prix racing’s brave new eco era was born in chaos, reports Byron Young from Melbourne.
New signing Daniel Ricciardo was kicked out of an historic second place as Nico Rosberg won the Australian Grand Prix at a canter.
What should have been the dawning of a new age was wrecked as the Milton Keynes operation defied the rule-makers instructions time and again to fix their fuel flow.
With more flow could be conjured more speed.
And they plunged the sport into a deepening drama as they branded the FIA’s fuel sensors “immature technology” and vowed to appeal.
Team principal Christian Horner the said: “Hopefully through the appeal process it will be quite clear that the car has conformed at all times to the regulations.
“These fuel flow sensors fitted by the FIA have proved problematic throughout the pitlane, and since their introduction at the start of testing, there have been discrepancies.
“We wouldn’t be appealing if we didn’t think that we had a defendable case. It’s immature technology, and it’s impossible to rely 100 per cent on that sensor.”

Ker Robertson

Instead of a cathartic beginning to the new-look F1, complete with futuristic hybrid energy, smaller, quieter engines (love them or hate them) the seedy side of F1 was exposed again.
Suddenly they conjured nearly three times at competitive speeds for Ricciardo to finish runner-up. Champion Sebastian Vettel’s spluttering retirement after three laps was more what we expected from them.
But tonight it was revealed the champions had been in a three-day running battle with authority. And having been warned in mid-race their fuel flow was unacceptable, the Red Bulls chose to charge.
The new era opened with remarkable performances from rookie Kevin Magnussen promoted to second and ninth-placed Russian Daniil Kvyat who, at 19, broke Vettel’s record as the youngest points scorer.
Almost unnoticed in the end, Lewis Hamilton’s engine failed before it had run a single racing lap as he limped out.