Ferguson still thinks that he PL should have granted a postponement of the Villa game:
"The Premiership turned us down because it was Manchester United really. If we had been given permission you can imagine the hue and cry there would have been."
United requested the Villa switch when the draw for the first phase of the Champions' League was made.
"At that point we didn't know what position we were going to be in, in our section. They could have been the two most important games, back-to-back, away from home. If we had been given permission we would have stayed in Athens until the Friday then flown to Cyprus where the game is on a Tuesday."
Ferguson added: "We asked permission to move the game and the Premiership refused us. I can understand them, but I think Villa were okay about it, and foreign clubs do it all the time."
"We could have stayed out there, and that was the reason behind the request. Thank goodness we have got the points. Coming back from Athens at 4:30 in the morning means we are going to have to train in the afternoon on the day we get back. By the time the players get home it is going to be half past five so they are going to have to go straight to their beds. They are scheduled for a 2:30pm training session on Thursday, then we will train on the Friday morning, go into the Aston Villa game and then we are off to Cyprus on the Sunday. The travel itself means about 16 hours of flying."