Man Utd's Giggs 'Excited' About Facing Inter

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CL: Ryan Giggs after securing a draw for Manchester United at Celtic Park. (PA)

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Ryan Giggs is looking forward to "two interesting games" when Manchester United take on Inter Milan in the knock-out phase of the Champions League.

The Red Devils were drawn against Jose Mourinho's men today, and Giggs is clearly energised by the prospect of facing the Italian giants.

"I'm really excited about it," the Welshman told United's official website.

"You want to play against the best teams in the Champions League and Inter are certainly up there. They've won the Italian league in the last two seasons and we'll be up against Jose Mourinho again, so there's plenty to look forward to.

"It's going to be tough because Italian teams are technically always very good. They make it difficult for you to create chances and historically Italian defences have always been the best so they will be two interesting games"

Giggs was also relishing the prospect of United gracing the San Siro stadium once again, and spoke about the game back in 1999 when United knocked Inter out of the competition on their way to Champions League glory.

"We've got good and bad memories of playing there [the San Siro], but hopefully this time round we'll have more good memories. We're there first before we take them back to Old Trafford and we hope that's an advantage for us. The San Siro is one of the great stadiums to play in and a great platform on which to perform at your best. Hopefully we'll do that," Giggs continued, before talking about the two-legged tie back in 1999.

"They were two good games, although both were tight affairs. I remember Scholesy scoring late on at the San Siro to put us through after we'd beaten them 2-0 at Old Trafford."

As for the rest of the draw, Giggs feels that its strong nature means that big teams are going to be disappointed somewhere, but hopes that United can stay focused and go on to be the first club to retain the Champions League trophy since it switched to a league format.

"There are some great ties and I think the last 16 is really strong this year - there will be some big teams going out at the knock-out stage. It's going to be a tough competition to win as it always is. No-one has managed to retain so that's got to be our aim this season," Giggs added, by way of conclusion.

Zack Wilson, Goal.com