Sami Hyypia confident of testing Manchester United

Bayer Leverkusen coach Sami Hyypia has insisted that his side will not be daunted by the prospect of facing Manchester United in their Champions League opener tomorrow night.

Hypia's team have made a confident start to the campaign and travel to Old Trafford in fine form after winning four of their first five games in the Bundesliga.

The former Liverpool defender has challenged his players to prove that they are capable of performing against the English champions in a tough Group A that also features Real Sociedad and Shakhtar Donetsk.

"Manchester is a great team," ESPN quotes him as saying. "They have won everything in the past ten years.

"We should not stand in awe. I hope that my players not only want to look around the tradition-rich ground and line up for Wayne Rooney's autograph.

"The players won't watch the stands wide-eyed when warming up. They know this atmosphere. The stadium in Dortmund is bigger."

The Finn is no stranger to success at Old Trafford, with his last full game for Liverpool in 2009 coming in a 4-1 away win against United.