Rangers boss Alex McLeish believes Manchester United are equipped to go all the way to the final of this season's Champions League.
McLeish watched his Scottish champions end up on the receiving end of a 3-0 drubbing from their English counterparts and has no illusions about United's place in the European hierarchy.
He said: "They are certainly going to be in with a shout along with the other top teams. They are a top, top club, they are playing in a really strong league every week and that intensity hones their sharpness for the Champions League."
United completely dominated the match to take six Champions League points from their two games against Rangers. Man of the match Roy Keane led by example, creating the opening goal for Diego Forlan - his fourth in consecutive games - before Ruud van Nistelrooy ended his month-long barren spell with a close-range double, the first knocked in with his knee.
Ferguson praised Keane and his two strikers, saying: "Roy Keane's fantastic - he's the best player I have had here and I have some great players. It's his authority, his play, it's everything he does.
"You saw the change in Ruud's game after his first goal, in the second half he was marvellous. I expect strikers to score off a rebound. There's one here that lived off them for almost 10 years - Denis Law. There's nothing wrong with scoring a scrappy goal - I've scored a few myself and I've not had a striker who was different.
"I think Diego's a different situation, he's thriving on games and his goal was a marvellous hit, an instinctive hit. He's capable of that, we have seen him do it many times in training, and he's a threat.
"I took him off simply because he's played four games in a row, including extra-time against Leeds and we have to think about Sunday.
"If you score every week you give the manager the problem of how do you leave him out? He scored in the three games before this, that's why he played, now it's four and he will play at Liverpool on Sunday."
Rangers now have to beat Stuttgart away to have any hope of qualifying and Ferguson insisted United will try to do their bit by beating the Germans at Old Trafford.
He added: "If they win at Stuttgart they should qualify. We want to win the group, no doubt about that, I don't think Rangers will worry about Manchester United's attitude in the last game."
