Sir Alex Ferguson jubilantly declared that Manchester United will “bounce” into the Champions League final against Chelsea next week after securing their tenth title in 16 seasons, adding that this team will eclipse the treble-winning side of 1999 if they secure the European crown in Moscow.

A 2-0 victory over Wigan Athletic at the JJB Stadium yesterday ensured that United won the title, with the decisive second goal scored by Ryan Giggs on the day that he equalled Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 758 appearances for the club. It completed a miserable afternoon for Chelsea, who were not only frustrated in their attempt to overhaul United, with a 1-1 draw at home to Bolton Wanderers, but also suffered fitness scares over John Terry, who dislocated an elbow, and Didier Drogba, who injured a knee.

Terry was fit enough to lead his weary team-mates on a post-match lap of honour at Stamford Bridge and insisted that he would be “OK” for the Champions League final on May 21, but the contrast with the mood of United's players at Wigan could hardly have been greater. As Giggs completed a memorable afternoon by lifting the Premier League trophy - and picking up his tenth medal, a record - Ferguson said that his players would head to Moscow next Monday with a spring in their step.

“The great thing is that we're bouncing into the final,” Ferguson said. “We can look forward to it. If we had lost the title today, it would have been difficult. When we lost the title at West Ham in 1995, we lost the FA Cup Final to Everton the following week. We were dead then. We're not now.”

Cristiano Ronaldo, who put United ahead from the penalty spot with his 41st goal of a remarkable campaign, said that the league table proved his team were superior to Chelsea. “This was a team effort and I think we deserved it because we are the best team in the Premier League,” the Portugal forward said.

Ronaldo has won most of the plaudits this season - winning both the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year awards - but Giggs, 34, stole the limelight yesterday, coming off the bench to secure the title with a well-taken goal with ten minutes remaining, a fitting way to equal Charlton's record, which he will beat in Moscow, assuming that he plays.

“I've said before that I'm not bothered about records,” Giggs said. “It's all about championships. I've got ten now and I just hope I get another.”

One more title for United would equal Liverpool's record of 18, a tally that Ferguson is determined to eclipse before he contemplates retirement. “I think it [the eighteenth] will come,” he said. “This side is young. It's developing all the time. There are plenty of years left in them. They will do it [beat Liverpool's record] in their own time.”

However long it might take to do that, Ferguson believes that this team are about to be crowned as the best of his 21 years in charge, even though his 1999 side won the Champions League, the Premier League and the FA Cup in 1999. “If we win the European Cup, this has to be my best team,” Ferguson said. “It will have to be judged that way because it's such a young team.”

Ferguson dismissed the notion that he might retire if his team won in Moscow, saying: “Retire? That wife of mine just bullies me, so she would throw me out at seven every morning. That's a definite - no'. I daren't risk the wrath of that lassie from the Gorbals. She's quite formidable.”