Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is planning to party like it's 1999 in Barcelona's Nou Camp fortress

Whatever the modern crop of players achieve, they will do well to top the European Cup successes of 1968 and 1999.

With United in Barcelona for the first time since the 1999 final, it is their most recent Continental triumph that is stirring the blood most this week.

Scroll down for more

Those who were present as Sir Alex Ferguson's team scored two injury-time goals to bring Bayern Munich to their knees at the Nou Camp will never forget it.

In the past, however, lurks danger — at least in the mind of the ever-pragmatic Ferguson. To the United manager, former glories are there to learn from, not romanticise.

And so Ferguson will send his players out to face Barcelona with a simple message. He said: "I don't know what the players talk about, but they know all about 1999. They have all seen it. It is on the MUTV re-runs all the time. But what is more important is how they can shape their own history.

"What happened back then is not lost on anybody. But it is almost 10 years ago now."

To hear Ferguson remind us how time has flown since his defining moment as a manager was momentarily startling. More than that, it served to emphasise how disappointed he is not to have been back to a Champions League final.

Scroll down for more

Failure to overcome the challenge of a talented but weakening Barcelona side will devastate him. It will perhaps be more painful than last year's failure against Milan and previous semi-final disappointments against Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund.

This time he has the weapons to win. If United play to their strengths, they should progress to next month's final in Moscow.

"It is about raising the bar," added Ferguson. "We have had challenges in European football and sometimes we have failed.

"We need a raising of the bar, no question. We need more concentration and a better retention of the ball, definitely.

"We did some work on that on Monday. It is not a mental thing, it is just the concentration level.

"We don't want to come here and not perform. If we don't perform, we will not go through."

Memories of his team being ripped asunder by the likes of Kaka, Clarence Seedorf and Gennaro Gattuso in the San Siro a year ago still trouble Ferguson.

This time round, the United manager has reason to be more confident. Barcelona remain capable but vulnerable. Their coach, Frank Rijkaard, looks destined to leave this summer, their best player, Lionel Messi, is just back from injury and another safebreaker, Ronaldinho, has fallen from grace to such an extent that Manchester City recently thought about buying him.

But Ferguson is taking nothing for granted and, as such, his rhetoric yesterday was designed to inspire.

"The Juventus semi-final in 1999 was without doubt our best performance in Europe," he recalled. "That is exactly what we need.

"Juventus was an examination of their character and their bottle. They went 2-0 down and then went at them and ended up winning 3-2."

In 1999 in Turin, United were hauled back from the brink by captain Roy Keane. Do United have that type of player now?

"We have moved on from those days," added Ferguson, resolutely. "You look at the form of Michael Carrick and Anderson and you don't have any fears. Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo are as good as the players we had in 1999. They play without fear.

"The players know that this is a semi-final and you can't win a semi-final without showing your true mettle.

"We were not ready last season. I am more confident now."

Tonight may be a sombre one for United's most experienced midfielder, Ryan Giggs. He is expected to start on the bench, another sign of the passing of time.

Ferguson is expected to play a midfield three of Carrick, Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves, with Ji-sung Park assisting Ronaldo and Rooney further forward.

Some have suggested that tonight's game would have been the purists' final.

"I think this would have been the most attractive final," agreed Ferguson. "I hope it's a great game."

In his heart, he would settle for a drab affair that his team win 1-0.