Fergie: If he turns up, you expect problems

Jose Mourinho believes the world will stop to watch when Cristiano Ronaldo makes an emotional return to Old Trafford tonight but Manchester United’s players have been warned by their own manager not to fear him as they seek to knock Real Madrid out of the Champions League.

Ronaldo hasn’t played against his former team since leaving for Spain in 2009 and is guaranteed a hero’s reception from the fans, who never stopped worshipping him as he finally returns ‘home’.

All the pre-match hype for the last-16 tie, which stands at 1-1 following a first leg draw in Madrid, has been about the Portuguese winger who cost Real €100 million and has become one the world’s greatest players; and some of those flames have been fanned by Alex Ferguson himself, who has never hidden his admiration for a player he signed from Sporting Lisbon.

Now, however, Ferguson believes the time for hype is over. So when asked if Ronaldo could be inspired by the inevitable standing ovation he will receive from United fans, the Scotsman turned to humour to deflect the question in his pre-match press conference.

“My biggest concern is he turns up,” he joked. “What do you expect when you play against a team with Ronaldo in it? You expect problems on the night. So we have to try and curtail that as best as we can. It won’t be easy because he does it every week; he’s been excellent, the lad.

“The experience young Rafael had in the first half over in Madrid will hopefully help him because he will be given the same task again. But I don’t think it’s one we should fear. If you go in worrying about the damage Cristiano can give us, then we forget what we can do ourselves.”

Ferguson has been at United almost 27 years now but such is the worldwide interest in this fixture that even he has noticed how intense the hype has been.

“It is a massive build-up,” he admitted. “The number of photographers at the training ground was an indication of how big it is. Both teams are in form. Real had two fantastic performances against Barcelona. I saw the first one and they were absolutely superb. They have found form at the right time whereas we have been consistent for quite some time. As a European night, I don’t think it gets much bigger than this one. Two clubs with great histories and it is set up to be a great game. I don’t think it will disappoint, either.”

As for Mourinho, returning to the scene where he first made his name as a young Porto manager following a landmark Champions League victory at Old Trafford that saw him run the length of the touchline to celebrate, he was careful to avoid overstating Ronaldo’s influence on Real’s chances of victory.

When asked what would prove to be the difference between the sides he said: “I have no idea. They are on a fantastic run — better than ever; reaching the FA Cup quarter-final, winning the Premier League already in March and don’t lose a match in months. We are also in good form in 2013, because 12 or 13 matches with one defeat is quite a good result. So that is the one-million dollar question, what will make the difference? Nobody knows and tomorrow the world will stop to watch this tie. It doesn’t look a tie. It looks a final. Let’s see which teams arrive at Wembley but I doubt the expectation can be bigger than this one.”