RYAN Giggs is already looking towards the target of helping Manchester United reach a third successive Champions League final.
As United trooped back through Manchester airport yesterday, there was no parade to look forward to, only the realisation of letting themselves down in Rome on Wednesday night as Barcelona were crowned Europe's best team.
Sir Alex Ferguson will waste no time analysing what went wrong and attempting to find solutions.
And Giggs has already set a challenge for his team-mates to achieve.
"Great teams and great players always look forward to the next challenge and we are going for a third Champions League final," said the 35-year-old.
"No one likes to experience this kind of feeling and we must use that as motivation next season."
To a man, the Red Devils have held up their hands to admit Barcelona were the better side at the Stadio Olimpico, with a clear edge in all areas.
It is not the way Giggs intended to begin his summer holidays and presents a marked contrast to the jubilation they experienced 12 months ago after beating Chelsea in a penalty shoot-out.
But, while the veteran Welshman is as crushed as anyone by the chronic failure to perform, he insists there are moments to cherish from the campaign as well.
"It has been a fantastic season and we must not forget that. We have achieved so much," he said.
"All we have done is fall just short at the final hurdle in the Champions League.
"We are still a great team and we have great players in that dressing room."
Whereas this season history beckoned in Europe with the ultimately doomed attempt to become the first team to retain the biggest club prize in the game since it was reinvented as the Champions League in 1992, next year it will be at home.
Having drawn level with Liverpool on 18 league titles this term, Giggs knows one more - which would be his 12th - would not only allow the Old Trafford outfit to overtake their north-west rivals, it would also see them become the first side in English football to win the championship four years in a row.
"To win three Premier League titles on the trot is an unbelievable thing to do," said Giggs.
"Now we must look to make it four."
Sir Alex Ferguson will waste no time analysing what went wrong and attempting to find solutions.
And Giggs has already set a challenge for his team-mates to achieve.
"Great teams and great players always look forward to the next challenge and we are going for a third Champions League final," said the 35-year-old.
"No one likes to experience this kind of feeling and we must use that as motivation next season."
To a man, the Red Devils have held up their hands to admit Barcelona were the better side at the Stadio Olimpico, with a clear edge in all areas.
It is not the way Giggs intended to begin his summer holidays and presents a marked contrast to the jubilation they experienced 12 months ago after beating Chelsea in a penalty shoot-out.
But, while the veteran Welshman is as crushed as anyone by the chronic failure to perform, he insists there are moments to cherish from the campaign as well.
"It has been a fantastic season and we must not forget that. We have achieved so much," he said.
"All we have done is fall just short at the final hurdle in the Champions League.
"We are still a great team and we have great players in that dressing room."
Whereas this season history beckoned in Europe with the ultimately doomed attempt to become the first team to retain the biggest club prize in the game since it was reinvented as the Champions League in 1992, next year it will be at home.
Having drawn level with Liverpool on 18 league titles this term, Giggs knows one more - which would be his 12th - would not only allow the Old Trafford outfit to overtake their north-west rivals, it would also see them become the first side in English football to win the championship four years in a row.
"To win three Premier League titles on the trot is an unbelievable thing to do," said Giggs.
"Now we must look to make it four."
Copyright (c) Press Association
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