MANCHESTER, England Roy Keane is definitely out of Manchester United's Champions League semifinal, first leg against Bayer Leverkusen today but will be fit for the return next week, Manager Alex Ferguson said on Tuesday.

A newspaper report in England claimed the inspirational Irish midfielder would be fit for the first leg at Old Trafford after recovering from a hamstring strain suffered against Deportivo Coruna three weeks ago.

United initially thought he would be out until the middle of May, hopefully fit for a possible Champions League final on May 15, but Ferguson said on Tuesday he was way ahead of that schedule.

"Roy did a bit of training yesterday and he has trained this morning," the manager told a news conference.

"He won't play tomorrow, but hopefully he will be ready by next week. I am very surprised by the progress he has made. It's remarkable."

Ferguson said that United used revolutionary medical equipment to speed up Keane's recovery, Reuters reported.

"The treatment we gave him was different," Ferguson said. "We had an oxidization cylinder that he spent three days in for four-and-a-half hours-a-day. That certainly helped his recovery."

Keane will be joined on the sidelines by Ronny Johnsen and Quinton Fortune, who both have hamstring problems, and David Beckham, who has a broken foot.