On the game
“It’s a game everyone’s been waiting for. A fantastic challenge for us, two teams & two clubs who embrace the best parts of football. I’ve got everyone fit that I need to be fit but we’re all looking forward to it. This team doesn’t know when it’s behind. Obviously the acid test is tomorrow, and we have to get through that. It won’t be 0-0 tomorrow, I can assure you of that. History always plays a part in these kinds of matches. It’s unfortunate the teams are meeting as early as this. I’d have preferred it to be Wembley. We’re ready. Of course we are. When I started as a coach many years ago I dreamt I’d be playing against these teams as a manager.”
On the history
“Real have won the trophy 9 times, I think it’s beyond me and my career, but you never know…”
On Ronaldo being better now than at United
“Absolutely. Because of the maturity. He’s at peak of his career. To score goals he’s scored is phenomenal.”
On Van Persie
“He’s now approaching that (Messi’s) level. He’s been sensational, a good coach to my young players.”
On De Gea
“The boy has shown his character, because he’s taken a lot of [unfair] criticism. He’s like a young kid. He wobbles, he gets up. He wobbles, he gets up. Eventually he walks. The boy is walking now.”
On Kagawa
“We didn’t play him on Sunday because he had a long journey back from Japan. He will certainly be involved at some point tomorrow.”
On Marca calling Rooney a “hooligan”
“I’m not interest in what a Madrid paper says. Rooney can’t speak Spanish can he?! So he’s alright.”
On retirement
“I’m enjoying my work; while I’m enjoying it and my health is good, I’ll carry on. It’s against the law to force retirement, but I won’t work until I’m 90, I’ll tell you that.”
Man Utd News 24/7
It’s not beyond you Sir Alex, get your third this this year and take it from there.
It’s not beyond you Sir Alex, get your third this this year and take it from there.
Photo Finish!
‘everyone fit that I need to be fit’
Scholes didn’t make the trip apparently – knee injury. I guess he wasn’t part of the boss’s plans anyway?
Can’t wait for the inevitable waves of Ronaldo led attacks at the Bernabeu. We can hold them off enough to score & even it 2-2 to take it back to OT & finish it off 0-0.
Absolute gem words from the manager.. “The boy is walking now” & “Rooney can’t speak Spanish can he?! So he’s alright.”
Bring it on….
Ha. Great comment on De Gea.
kanchelskis – Hello pal. I was just saying to a pal how the genius of Fergie has been in force again. Gradually phasing Scholes out so we almost don’t even miss him. Hasn’t played in any of the big games and thats testament to Carrick and Cleverley etc. 12 months ago we were fucked without him. I remember being at games loads of times thinking “Bring fucking Scholes on, we need him to keep the ball”. As awful as it sounds we hardly miss him now.
United to win 2-0 piece of piss.
daz – Ha “piece of piss” quality. I actually think we will win out there too pal.
Only 19 more years until SAF is 90. Why not ?
I say 3-2 man united we just can’t be behind we got the best strikers in the world working together if the score we will score again thats the way we do it if you score we score more ,,and he is walking I love it only fergie can do this
C’mon reds GGMU !!!!!
King Eric … g’day mate, how’s things? Early morning here, came on for a quick look, saw SAF’s comment about the de gea. Great stuff, eh? Fantastic line, sums it up perfectly — not just about de gea but about all the youngsters that have been coming through over the last few years. Wish I had thoiught of that line when having all those stupid arguments on here with idiots who kept saying this youngster or that youngster wasn’t “united quality”. Rafael, Smalling, Jones, Evans, TC, Wellbeck … cunts on here have taken shots at all of them (and still do) but I wouldn’t change one of those players. Trust Sir Alex to nail the issue in few short, succint words.
Your comment was spot on about Scholes too. I reckon we’ll be saying the same about Giggsy this time next season, too. And soon after, Rio. I’ll confess I wanted the transition to happen a little more quickly but as always, Sir Alex knows best. I suspect that now he’s brought these youngsters along this far, he’ll want to stay with them for a while and see what they can do now that they’re “walking”. Because you know what? Next thing, they’ll progress from walking to running! The sky’s the limit, I say, because there’s no end to what these guys can achieve, and Sir Alex won’t want to hand that over to anyone else. Cheers pal!
Right all of a sudden the nerves have kicked right in! Fuck! id be happy with a score draw. Anything more that that is a bonus.. but as S.A.F said. This is what its all about.. c,mon United!
K.E
I’m alright mate. Spot on. I think we are/should gonna give them a couple of things to worry abou.We have the players to go to madrid and make a definitive statement.Feeling really pumped. So many players i hope have a good game. Maybe use the experience as a spring board. Clevs,Jones,Rafa,DDG even Rooney. He’s a big game player for us this year and i expect that to continue.
I think Kagawa will start. Retaining possession is essential tomorrow and Kagawa is needed for that.
scholes would av been the player we needed in Madrid
Are we ready? Are we ready? Yes, we are ready!!!!!!!
“The boy has shown his character, because he’s taken a lot of [unfair] criticism. He’s like a young kid. He wobbles, he gets up. He wobbles, he gets up. Eventually he walks. The boy is walking now.”
- Sir Alex Ferguson
A quote to remember.
@Costas
Kagawa will definitely start and I hope along with Valencia, Carrick and Cleverley, so we get our passing rhythm going and keep that left side tight.
If someone else starts, well he’s a United player so he has to do the job. NOw it’s up to SAF to decide who is the strongest to play these kind of games and who has the character.
There is no room to experiment now, it’s all about player’s characters and willingness to give their all.
StatesideAussie – that is why the boss must resist the temptation to play jones in midfield, play a teqhnical midfield of carick cleverly valencia kagwa with rooney playing off RVP, and we can hurt them
I would say another two definate starters are Vidic and Evans
very good read…never heard about it before…http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/how-real-madrid-helped-to-rebuild-manchester-united-after-munich-disaster-8492422.html
Please tell me that I am not the only supporter who thinks that we will win BOTH legs of this tie!!!!! Real are a good club but are FAR from invincible.
I’m in very nice mood bcouse sir fergie know how to end madrid live
18 hours to kick off.cant help but wonder about the possible line up tomorrow.
start with rio/evans or rio/vidic?
kagawa start?
chicharito see some needed game time?
TC/carrick combination in midfield?
jones to man mark ronaldo?
cheers to the gaffer .he def gonna get it right.
soooo pumped for the game.not gonna bother sleeping 2nite.call in sick 4 work..get the beers..meet the boys and leggo. our biggest test so far this season and we gotta come out tops.1 united!! CMON!!!!
Up for it saf , we are man utd , and can stay united , we are the king determitions and never give up..i believe we will send madrid to the pecking order.. I ‘m proud of my players ,coches and the fans.. Unity is the secrets of our success. GGMU.
My team: Would play a 4-1-3-1-1 with
———–De Gea————
–Rafael Rio Vidic Evra–
———–Carrick————-
Valencia Jones Rooney
———–Kagawa———–
————-RvP————–
Carrick in front of back four protecting
Jones man mark Ronaldo across whole pitch
Valencia and Rooney follow runs of Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo
Kagawa presses Alonso
Lineup good for counterattacking but can hold possession and fight
Quality that from the boss. I like a few others on here fancy us. Least a draw!! Rooney 2 rvp 1.
A – you must be crazy to even suggest leaving cleverly out is a good idea, and holding possession will not work, if you choose jones over cleverly
whats your preferred line up and how will you counter real’s threaths?
I think Rooney will play as a central midfield with 4-5-1 formation, leaving RVP as a lone striker. Ronaldo won’t be man-marked by Jones (if he starts), we will play it safe. And if the Betis, Getafe and the first Sevilla games can teach us something is to make sure Real won’t play to their strength which is a counterattacking football.
And remember guys, Real is a strong squad no doubt about it, but give our beloveth United some credits will you? Our team is strong. Sure we have some defensive errors, but what team doesn’t? City’s backline is shaky, and so are Barcelona and Madrid. Our squad is solid, we have one of the deadliest striker in the world now (if not a pair of them) who scores for fun.
We should be confident, as a matter of fact I’m so confident that we would win it, heck with a draw.. the only thing that can stop us if Pepe starts stomping on people faces literally.
A – my lineup?
DDG
rafeal ferinand vidic evra
carrick cleverly
valencia rooney kagwa
RVP
That is the best way to go, as it is important to keep good control, as in Europe, ball possession is critical . And seeing jones passing of the ball, is awful
but if kagwa is not fully fit, I would change kagwa for welbeck
Hope Nani plays in place of Valencia. Chicha to come on and pop 2 goals in. Counting down to the kickoff.
we have more scorers on our squad than they have.
Funny how externally, virtually everybody has Madrid hands down to go through without too much difficulty. I think it was Costas that had said it first- it’s good that we got Madrid at this stage as we have no choice but to take them seriously, as we know that complacency is United’s enemy in Europe.
Personally, I think this is the best moment to take them on, they obviously have some tension in the side with Mourinho and all, and the return fixture is right after two back-to-back games versus Barca.
De Gea
Jones, Ferdy, Evans, Evra
Valencia, Carrick, Anderson, Kagawa
Rooney
Hernandez
What I think Fergie will play tonight. Expect me to gloat if I’m right.
Louis he just said that van Persie is on Messi’s level. I think he starts
‘We got rid of Real Madrid,
Hallelujah! We got rid of Real
Madrid, Hallelujah!’
Boy this thing is getting into me slowly, the lads are in for a game of their lives in madrid
Start kagawa and anderson alongside carrick welbeck, we need players who can decide a game aswel as harass this spanish fuckers, make no mistake they might pass the ball aswel as barca but this fuck still knows how to use it effectively if given the opportunity to, their two wingers CR7 and di maria are two incredibly fast players and their stamina is one for the big games, they keep trying for 90mnts at same speed therefore we need to concentrate for the whole game, its not over until the whistle goes cause I know for a fact this season this has only been able to show flashes of what they can do for a couple of minutes and then drop like a stone but going by our recent game vs everton although we kept on losing possession but it wasn’t that critical as we could make sure we didn’t lose it in a more dangerous place, what pleased me most is how we tracked back once we weren’t with it, the lads putted their body in the line defending that’s the character that could see us through over this 2wo encounters.
And davids shot stopping ability could keep madrid at bay aslong as we don’t allow them to go past our back line david will do the rest, that’s the game that could define his season and eventually shut off them ABU cunts
Are you on drugs louis or just another erm… Troll
You leave two of our best players
Rafa and RVP
Louis, no Rafael?
I think Nani, Kagawa will be in the team. I think we shall play for a very early goal then we shall start picking them off from there like jabbing in boxing. I like that no one is even talking about our team, we are just under the radar. We know who Madrid will put out but only Fergie knows who our team is going to consist of. Surprise element is the key and I think that we shall win this 1st leg
I honestly think Sir Alex will field a very attacking team
Here we go.Arguably our biggest match of this season and the kick off cannot come soon enough.In previous years we always had stand out players who shone brighter than the others.But this year what excites me is that each and every player is driving the team on and is contributing and doing a job wherever or whenever they are needed.As Van Persie says “we are in it together”.The players are playing to show what they can do beyond their ability.The team comes on top over any individual.That’s the reason we have got jonny evans scoring from the defensive position,patrice evra nicking assists like a winger should and it is the ‘play for the team’ trait that has prompted players like welbeck and kagawa rooney jones to play out of position.Every player in our squad is eager to make a contribution to the team and catch the eye of the manager and Sir Alex has instilled this quality in the team that no amount of money can buy.
I shall spare myself the trouble of picking my line up for the game because each and every player in our squad is capable enough to play in this big game.So hope whichever team SAF chooses they strengthen the belief that it is United the opponents should fear not any individual.
Here we go.Arguably our biggest match of this season and the kick off cannot come soon enough.In previous years we always had stand out players who shone brighter than the others.But this year what excites me is that each and every player is driving the team on and is contributing and doing a job wherever or whenever they are needed.As Van Persie says “we are in it together”.The players are playing to show what they can do beyond their ability.The team comes on top over any individual.That’s the reason we have got jonny evans scoring from the defensive position,patrice evra nicking assists like a winger should and it is the ‘play for the team’ trait that has prompted players like welbeck and kagawa rooney jones to play out of position.Every player in our squad is eager to make a contribution to the team and catch the eye of the manager and Sir Alex has instilled this quality in the team that no amount of money can buy.
I shall spare myself the trouble of picking my line up for the game because each and every player in our squad is capable enough to play in this big game.So hope whichever team SAF chooses they strengthen the belief that it is United the opponents should fear not any individual.
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LMAO Louis unless Van Persie was murdered there is NO WAY IN HELL that he doesn’t start this game. and you leave out rafael? LOL bad line up man.
As for the game. I’m not yet really nervous. I am surprisingly still a bit calm. I know that at this stage the time for talk is over. We’ve got to show that we can beat a team as good as stacked as Madrid at club football’s highest level of competition. It is also important that we keep our composure at all times. That place is like a cauldron when you are on the backfoot, it is very easy to become a nervous wreck. The players have to understand that there will be points where Madrid will come with furious intensity, you just have to ride it out and regain a footing as quick as possible. All the best and I am proud of the boys regardless of the result.
Should I be sober or high for this one that is the question!. Can be very nervy with a sober mind???
De Gea
Rafael Ferdy Vidic Evra
Jones Carrick
Young Rooney Kagawa
RvP
Morning lads, Matchday! Brilliant!
Wish I could be there and still hoping to get to the home leg, fingers crossed.
Its going to be down to how we hold up and a huge amount on the referee.
This is Felix Brych, the ref that sent Vidic off at Otelul in 2011. The crap refereeing that Celtic saw last night is always going to give one pause about european refereeing.
That said, We haven’t lost in 3 ties with Brych the same is true for Real (also 2W 1D)
These are our 3 games. I well recall Vidic sending off. We did ok, but wouldn’t fancy our chances if we are down to 10 v Madrid.
Felix Brych Ref (DWW):
0-0 Draw away to Marseille, Feb 23, 2011
2-0 win away to Otelul Galati, Oct 18 2011 (Brych sent off Nemanja Vidic)
3-1 win away to FC Braga, Nov 7 2012
Some have wondered if Brych has an anti english bias.
He sent off Vidic for nothing more than a yellow offense.
He sent off Crouch(second yellow) in another harsh decision when Spurs were away to Real Madrid.
He gave Spurs 4yellows and Real 2 yellows that night. Alot will depend on what Brych gives us as I feel with Pepe there will be fouls.
DDG
Rafael Rio Vidic Evar
Carrick
Valencia Ando Ronney
kagawa
RVP (3 goals)
Man Utd 3-2 Winners . Mark my words
De gea
Rafa Ferdinand Vidic Evra
Carrick jones
Tonyv Rooney clevs
R.vp.
Go go go make them shit in thier pants ,,,,,marca said that rooney looks like demon and blah blah boy they just pissed the wrong guy ” he our shrek he’ll make you wreck” he will take you down you bet your candy ass he will score today for sure
My line up for today
David da gea
Rafa vidic rio evra
Nani carrick clevs kagawa
Rooney
Robin van persie
Nani ? Don’t think so there’s a reason he only get’s bit parts and this game is one of them.Guts and determination are required here and he hasn’t got them.
Red4ever that will look like my lineup too but only at CB is where we might see a change. Evans for either. We sometimes defend too deep when we have Vidic and Rio but then again I would have Evans and Vidic due to Evans being younger and able to recover quickly if he gets beat. Real are full of speed, we need quick reactions.
I think Nani will play for the simple reason that he can run with the ball, keep it, beat a man and he has a shot and inventiveness. This game to me has Nani written all over it. Nani and Kagawa will be our wild cards. I think going forward we shall have the 2 forwards and the 2 wingers interchanging very fast.
My Line up for today
De gea
Rafael Rio Vidic Evra
Jones Carrick
Nani Rooney Kagawa
Rvp
I Just hope this team can play counter attack at its best…….
My team for tonight
De Gea
Rafa,Rio,Vida, Evra
Carrick,Anderson
Tony,kagawa,Rooney
RVP
ON DDG:
“The boy has shown his character, because he’s taken a lot of [unfair] criticism. He’s like a young kid. He wobbles, he gets up. He wobbles, he gets up. Eventually he walks. The boy is walking now.”
wow. Awesome speech! Haha.
Lets get the 3rd CL fergie needs and deserve!!!!
Real madrid players might try their tricks to force the lads making defensive mistakes.so we should be in our best state of concentration.
Any attempts for predicting the possible lineup is just statistical and whatever the fellow reds put on paper could change on the pitch.anyway let us hope we can hurt them in their mansion.
This game has Nani written all over it. Nani said a couple of weeks back “the manager has told me something I can’t reveal” Real Madrid is what he meant I guess… Maybe who knows.
Sully, you also think the same on Nani, nice
@kk yup mate I would also like to see evans but I think its such an important game and rested rio,kagawa,nani totally vs everton so I think they will start ,,,,if nani wants to come out of ronnies shadow this is the time I think fergie told him to tear madrid apart to do anything he can to win for us ,,he has the capability just needs the hungur of ronnie and he can do great ,,just hope he has great game today go lads coz we are man united we do what we want
id lov to c kagawa tc carrick nani across our .chica should also be there since we may not kill real by a 1000 chance bt one or two wel get
I have though it over and over again, would I put Valencia or Nani, and until now I always have Valencia over Nani in this game, BUT
I have changed my mind,
DDG
rafeal ferdinand/evans vidic/evans evra
carrick cleverly
Nani Rooney kagawa
RVP
Our 100% best line-up, want it or not, Barca when they play Madrid put their best eleven and don’t try to only shut Ronaldo down, and we should do the same.
Stateside – Hello mate, good thanks, how are you? Oh this current crop with lads like Powell too to factor in and another addition or so can achieve all sorts. The future is VERY bright,.
De Gea
Jones Vidic Ferdinand Evra
Rafa Carrick Cleverley Rooney
RVP
Hernandez
Yeah fergie told in an interview that it will not be a 0-0 draw so hope we beat the shit out of them forget about ronnie I have a feeling rooney will coz havoc in madrid today I think rooney hat trick
I am with parry . There is not a cat in hells chance Nani will start this. Nor will Ando.
Anthony – Yeah interesting line up that with Rafa infront of Jones. I also think Rooney will play out wide left.
King I just think the game is made for Hernandez. There will be plenty of space in behind Madrid back 4. Think its certain wide left for Rooney. The only thing i’m not sure about is whether we will go with a midfield 3 or 2. If a 3 then RVP will be up top alone. As for Rafa in an advanced role. Think we won’t lose his energy. As i expect our fullbacks to stay pretty rigid tonight.