It was the second time in his Old Trafford career that the England striker had been handed the captaincy, after he first led the club to a 3-0 UEFA Champions League victory over FC Copenhagen last season.

The 1-1 draw in the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday ensured that United progressed from their group unbeaten and Rooney is confident United can go on to reach the final.

"It was fantastic to captain the team, and I think it was a good result and a good performance," said Rooney.

"We'd love to win the Champions League this season," he added.

"Hopefully we can go one step further than last year and reach the final."

Rooney also praised the performance of United's young players, who he felt rose to the challenge in an intimidating atmosphere.

"It's a great experience for them to get Champions League football under their belts," he said.

"I'm sure it will have helped them a lot. (Gerard) Pique, (Jonny) Evans and Simmo (Danny Simpson) did really well. They have great ability and bright futures ahead.

"As a team I thought we did very well and got off to a great start, putting them under a lot of pressure. Gerard Pique scored a great goal and we had a couple of chances in the second half to win it. We kept going after they scored and in the end a draw was probably a fair result."