Fergie will keep cool in Old Trafford cauldron, says Scholes
On his first visit to the Theatre of Dreams five years ago, Jose Mourinho famously raced out of the dugout and ran down the touchline as he celebrated the goal that took eventual winners FC Porto into the last eight.
Mourinho is back this week, again as underdog but with a much stronger Inter team, hoping for a repeat.
Scholes wants the opposite, of course. But even if the Red Devils maintain their incredible quest for five trophies, he will not be waiting for Ferguson to fly down the touchline.
“At his age?” laughed the former England star. “He’d probably collapse.
“It would be nice to see but I don’t think our manager goes in for that type of thing. He will probably stand up, have a little clap and be pleased we have gone through.”
Not that Scholes is taking anything for granted.
United may have emphasised their class with a 4-0 hammering of Fulham to reach the FA Cup semi-finals for the fourth time in six years at the weekend but the victory came at a cost, with Rio Ferdinand picking up an ankle injury that puts his presence against Inter in jeopardy.
At least United do have Jonny Evans to come in, as he did for the first leg when Nemanja Vidic — again linked with AC Milan — was suspended.
Evans was outstanding at the San Siro, although United are still cursing their failure to take advantage of their dominance by grabbing an away goal.
It leaves them vulnerable to Inter scoring, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Adriano capable of doing damage, though neither impressed in Milan.
Scholes recalls a couple of occasions, against Monaco in 1998 and Real Madrid in 2000, when United failed to win from similar situations.
However, they did also overcome Barcelona in last season’s semi-final to book what turned out a night of glory at the Luzhniki Stadium last May.
“It probably was the perfect way to play a home leg, after a goalless draw,” said Scholes.
“We did well to get the draw in the first place because Barcelona is such a tough place to go, then we defended really well and got the goal at home, which, in a European tie, was ideal. We’ll take that again on Wednesday.”
Another winning goal would be nice for Scholes as he was the man who thundered the strike that took United to Moscow. “Now and again I still score these big goals,” he shrugged. “But whoever scores does not really matter as long as we get through.”
The sight of Scholes left on the bench at Fulham hinted at a place in Ferguson’s starting line-up tomorrow, with the same true of Ryan Giggs, while the places of Dimitar Berbatov and Cristiano Ronaldo appear assured.
However, Ferguson will be giving nothing away, knowing his head-to-head record of just one win in 13 confrontations with Mourinho suggests Inter’s wily coach can take maximum advantage from any bit of information he can lay his hands on.
United should not be short on confidence though, having already pocketed the Club World Cup and the Carling Cup, with the Premier League seemingly in the bag and just two wins away from landing the FA Cup.
United also have the memories of Moscow to fall back on, at least ensuring United will not give up their crown lightly.
“We had a great night in Moscow and we want to experience that feeling again,” said Scholes. “But last year is gone now. This is a new year and we want to win it again.”
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