Sir Alex Ferguson has rejected criticism of the Champions League.

The competition has faced accusations of predictability in recent years as the group stages have become something of a procession with the same clubs dominating year after year and England providing three semi-finalists in each of the last three seasons.

But the Manchester United manager insists UEFA have the right format in place.

"I do not agree the preliminaries are meaningless and simply a money-making exercise," Ferguson told United Review.

"People are arguing that the big clubs always come through and that the seeded fixtures are a waste of time.

"Obviously the group games are not as dramatic as the knockout stages but the critics are missing the point.

"The group system is a league. All sports competitions have a starting point that includes the minnows, from the FA Cup to Wimbledon in tennis, or The Open in golf.

"You can't start with the FA Cup Final, or Wimbledon final and cut out the competitive build-up.

"When you put it like that, it is nonsense, of course. But that has not prevented a spate of recent criticism and accusations of the game exploiting the fans."