Ferguson hails 'terrific' Berbatov

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The £30.75million Bulgaria captain bagged his second successive brace in Champions League combat on Tuesday night, taking his overall tally to five, following up his double in Aalborg last month with two in United's comfortable 3-0 home win over Celtic.

"Dimitar produced some fantastic pieces of football," said Ferguson. "The players are starting to understand what type of player he is a bit more now."

He added: "I always feel he produces passes that mean something. Three or four of them were absolutely superb and overall he has five goals for us already, so he is making a terrific contribution."

Both Berbatov's goals appeared to be offside, which was fairly ironic as Wayne Rooney had one ruled out when TV replays showed he had timed his run perfectly to get on the end of Cristiano Ronaldo's through ball.

At least Rooney got his name on the scoresheet late on, completing a one-sided 'Battle of Britain' with his ninth goal in seven games for club and country.

It is the kind of hot streak that has been the trademark of Rooney's career, although Ferguson feels the England star is starting to inch towards the level of performance that is expected to win Ronaldo numerous world player of the year prizes.

"Wayne is capable of getting to that level," said Ferguson. "Both him and Cristiano were teenagers when they came to us but their progress has been fantastic.

"The only reason we are not talking about Wayne at the same level as Cristiano is the fact one of them scored 42 goals last season. That is why Cristiano should win the Balon D'Or.

"If Wayne can get to that sort of level, he is there."