Sir Alex Ferguson has fiercely criticised the Premier League for failing to aid Manchester United in their Champions League quest.

While Ferguson does not blame the huge number of games his side have played recently for their crushing 3-0 defeat against AC Milan - 5-3 on aggregate - he does not believe the Premier League, who rejected a request to push Saturday's Manchester derby back by 24 hours, have helped them.

"We play in a very tough league and we have been using the same players with no respite for quite a while now. AC Milan have been able to rest their players at the appropriate times," said Ferguson. "The Premier League have made an unfair decision against us by making us play Manchester City on Saturday."

He added: "The TV people were happy for the game to be played on Sunday morning but the Premier League wanted to maintain the integrity of the competition.

"You can work out what integrity means. They are the ones who made Tottenham play Chelsea one-and-a-half days after a UEFA Cup tie."

Despite an obvious fatigue factor, Ferguson admitted he never saw such a poor performance coming.

The Scot admitted United were slow out of the blocks and promptly lost their precious one-goal advantage from the first leg when Kaka drilled home after just 11 minutes.

Clarence Seedorf capped an outstanding performance by burying number two in the same corner on the half-hour and though United improved after the break, they never threatened to match their amazing comeback against Juventus in 1999. Milan eventually grabbed a third through substitute Alberto Gilardino.

"We needed to get through the first 25 minutes without cutting our own throats," said Ferguson. "We needed to try and remain calm and keep possession but we conceded two sloppy goals. You should not be losing goals like that.

"It was a disappointing night. I expected more from my players but we have to take it on the chin."