Nistelrooy regrets loss of Becks appeal

Ruud van Nistelrooy fears David Beckham's departure from Manchester United could make goals more difficult to come by.

The Dutchman hit the target 40 times last season and many of his strikes came on the end of a pinpoint Beckham cross.

"David will be a big loss," said the striker. "We will miss him very much."

"Everyone knows about Becks and his right foot. There is a kind of magic that comes out of it, which you rarely see. It was fantastic to be with him for two years and that is what I will keep in my mind."

"He did so much both technically and tactically last season," said van Nistelrooy.

The Dutchman admitted he had hoped Beckham's transfer to Real madrid would not go through.

"Even though it became more and more likely he would go, I was hoping the transfer would not go through. But it has and we must move on."

But Van Nistelrooy believes United are close to another Champions League success following their 1999 triumph.

United twice beat Juventus, who lost on a penalty shoot-out to AC Milan in the May final, in the second group stage, including a record 3-0 in Turin.

However, they came unstuck in the quarter-finals, bowing out 6-5 on aggregate to Real Madrid who in turn were beaten by Juventus.

"I have been the Champions League top scorer for two years in a row. Now the time has come for me to win it instead of just being top scorer," he said.

"Real are not unbeatable. They put us out of Europe last season, but we played almost equally as well as them."

"We will be very competitive again this season in the Champions League and I cannot pick a favourite between us, Arsenal, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Juventus and Inter Milan."